Whimisical DIY Wedding at Hartman’s Herb Farm

Abby Capalbo
April 30, 2014
Categories: The Blog, Whimsical

To say I love this couple would be the understatement of the year. They crafted a whimsical and eclectic soiree that leaves all adjectives unworthy. It was a day perfectly them and perfectly curated with so much love it shows through every beautiful image by Tiffany Medrano Photography, and you can see it here.

From the Bride…Working from a coffee shop one day, I found myself in the dating section of an online site. I came across this sincere, funny and intriguing post and of course couldn’t resist the urge to contact its writer. After exchanging emails we overcame our fears and our insecurities of meeting each other in person, instead trusted and followed our hearts. We knew from our first date that we wanted to get married so it was no surprise to anyone when we announced our engagement.

We had just over 100 guest at our wedding. What was most important to us was our friends and family and of course including their children! Second to our relationships what was most important was the venue, photographer and “farm to table food”. We knew we wanted a rustic, chic, outdoors wedding with elements that had a vintage eclectic farm feel. Most of all, we wanted our wedding to be authentic and honest.

I also wanted to have everything in one place. What better place than the Hartman’s Herb Farm Bed & Breakfast? It had a great rustic atmosphere and beautiful landscape. We knew it was the perfect venue for us. Without sacrificing quality, because everything was from the farm, grown at the farm and done at the farm, it was fresh and organic. We loved the idea of supporting local farmers. Our guests could not believe that everything was homemade and raved about how delicious everything was.

And so my vision for a vintage farm theme was well on its way. They were able to accommodate most of our wedding party and family for the weekend. We used different collected elements to decorate the reception area (burlap, herbs plants, flowers from the gardens and greenhouses, mason jars, tin containers , tea cups and floral plates adorn the table center pieces, each one different from the next) while keeping the ceremony site as is.

Our centerpieces were old books, vintage tins, globes and a mix of various mason jars and vintage bottles filled with flowers and herb plants from the Hartman’s Herb Farm gardens and greenhouses. We also did heirloom teacups/teapots from what I have collected and from our location. Our “guest book” was a collection of fabric squares that the guests signed, later to be sewn together with the intention of creating a quilt to commemorate our special day.

Melissa Tolmie was a God-sent, one of my best friend and my wedding coordinator. We both shared the same love for great vintage finds and antiques. She understood my vision and many items were from her own home or bought from Etsy. My bouquet was one of my favorite DIY projects with long hours spent collecting brooches from ebay and local thrift shops, it really paid off and was well worth the time and effort. Melissa surprised me with one more brooch added to my bouquet on the day of the wedding. It was a small photo of my parents and truly transformed my bouquet from a DIY project to a family heirloom that I will treasure forever.

Having Tiffany Medrano as our photographer was a blessing. She not only does amazing work, but she is our friend and knows us both well. Sean and I knew we were going to end up with photos we would cherish for a lifetime. She captured all our hard work and little details perfectly. Her eye for details and storytelling through her photos help us relive our wedding day and to be able share them with anyone who couldn’t attend our big day.

As one who’s been to many weddings and been in many weddings, I felt overwhelming pressure to make our day perfect and enjoyable for our friends and family. After many weeks of planning, stressing over details, it finally hit me one day (not to mention the gentle reminders from my now husband Sean) that this day is about us expressing our love and commitment to each other and that no matter what happened (or didn’t happen) it would be awesome, perfect for us!

I would say besides a couple of moments of panic and meltdowns, I was calm. I don’t have enough words to describe how amazing all of our friends and families were for our wedding day. They helped us make our vision come to life as I surrendered to the day and was just a happy bride marrying her best friend, the love of her life. I am forever grateful to them all. We feel so blessed and that it truly was the best day of our lives and the wedding of our dreams.