Niagara Parks Floral Showhouse Wedding

Dawn Strong
December 17, 2013
Categories: Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Real Weddings, Rustic
Tags: Rustic Elegance

This, lovelies, is a little something we like to call DIY perfection… aka, one seriously adorable bride (+ family and friends) getting her craft on. I’m talking everything from the fab paper goods to the yummy jam favors to the crazy cool wooden centerpieces. It’s a lesson in pure awesomeness with a big ol’ dash of pretty thrown in for good measure and you can see it all captured by Beth & Ty in Love right here.

And a little something extra special from Outside In Studio…

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Colors

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Spring Weddings

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Outdoor Weddings Rustic Weddings

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Classic Weddings DIY Inspired Rustic

From the Bride… I was a DIY-inspired bride-to-be and dreamed of an outdoor wedding surrounded by the beauty of nature in the springtime. Niagara Parks Floral Showhouse was located just a few steps from the roaring Niagara Falls and this is where I fell in love with a small, young birch tree forest. The sound of the falls and the faint mist in the air added to the ambiance of the location. The trees grew in rows and naturally formed the most beautiful aisle. This is where I would marry the man of my dreams.

On May 19th, bunches of baby’s breath in painted fruit bushels were mixed amongst the birch trees and wooden chalkboard hearts were tied to the guest seats with twine to line the aisle. It was a small, intimate ceremony and needed only the smallest of decor details, the main design elements had been planted by nature. The ceremony included our Miniature Schnauzer, who was walked down the aisle with a wreath of baby’s breath tied loosely around her neck. The best man and brother of the groom played guitar for our guests as they were being seated and a music colleague of his sang a beautiful slowed down rendition of “Such Great Heights” as I walked down the aisle on my father’s arm.

Being a bride on a budget, a long list of DIY projects were tackled with the help of family and friends for our barn reception, held at Balls Falls Conservation Area in Jordan. Many were inspired by Pinterest boards and the SMP blog. Flower box centerpieces were made by my father from old planks of barnboard, homemade peach jam favors made by my mother, red and white wine was bottled by my brother and their labels were designed by a close friend (who also created our beautiful invitations and chalkboard menus). Lace curtains were made into tablecloths and bunting banners were made by a crafty friend. The barn was lit up by hundreds of hanging vintage inspired globe lights, which I actually bought from Target and many tea lights were planted around the barn and on the guest tables (Ikea). Our once dreamed of wedding turned into an amazing reality thanks to the help of many.

Through all the planning, from the start the most important thing to my husband and I was to ensure that our guests have the best time and feel the appreciation we have for each and every one of them. We wanted the barn to have a very relaxed atmosphere with a less formal dinner. Our open dessert table allowed guests to help themselves to a wide variety of goodies. Our wedding band (Parkside Drive) and the late night food truck (Dirty South) were hands down the guest favourites and we’re so glad we decided to do something different from the usual DJ and midnight buffet. We really felt as though the night was as memorable to our guests as it was to us, and we couldn’t be happier with the way the day unfolded before us!