DIY Dallas Wedding at Three Three Three First Avenue

Abby Capalbo
March 13, 2015
Categories: Real Weddings, The Blog, Traditional Elegance
Tags: Bouquets, Candles, Desserts

I am totally blown away by this Bride. She whipped up a DIY wedding that is equal parts beautiful and thoughtful, and I honestly don’t think it gets better than that. From the invitations to the floral vessels (and every sweet detail in between) she created a wedding that is packed to the gills with personality, and thanks to Shaun Menary Photography there is more to see here.

Colors

Seasons

Fall Weddings

Settings

Ballroom Weddings Religious Institution

Styles

Classic Weddings

From The Bride…Our wedding weekend was such a meaningful, beautiful and fun celebration of our relationship and the many people who are a part of our lives. We have been best friends for almost 10 years, so we were fortunate to have a solid group of friends that were excited to celebrate with us. For us, that was what the whole weekend was about, so we really kept that as a focus the whole time. When things didn’t go as planned, we reminded each other of that and were able to stay calm for the most part. We also asked our close friends to hold us accountable during that season.

I had not spent much time thinking or dreaming about our wedding day, so when we got engaged, I had to kick it into gear! The first 2 weeks were the toughest, and I try to tell everyone that. Once you get your major vendors/venues booked and outline your budget, it gets much easier from there (or at least it did for us!) We talked about the top 2-3 budget items that were important to us: for me, it was the design details, the band, and the photography; for him, it was the band, the photography and the food/alcohol. So, it made it easier on us to know where to splurge and where we could shave some costs. It also helped us pick our battles during the planning process.

Since I was probably most excited about the design details, I will tell you more about the ones that I really loved! I designed our save-the-dates and invitations myself, and I hand painted each invitation with a watercolor wash. While I am grateful that I never have to do that again, I loved adding a personal touch on each person’s invitation and the way people appreciated the love and care that went into their invitations. I also did all of the lettering on our envelopes, chalkboards and place cards. It was fun to see all the things I had worked on come to life, and our guests loved how the event felt like “us.”

Another detail I particularly loved was the way we incorporated our family and friends into the day. For our ceremony, we had minister friends officiate, sing and speak. One of our friends Allyson Wermelskirchen is a spoken word artist, so we asked her to perform a piece in the ceremony based off the scripture we used. The lyrics to her poem are now hanging in our house and will be special to us forever.

Perhaps my favorite detail was the floral arrangement vessels. My mom gathered antique silver pieces that have been in her family for nearly 100 years. Many of the pieces were golf trophies that my grandmother and great-grandmothers had won throughout the years. We took the pieces of all shapes and sizes to our florist, and they created the most beautiful, special arrangements using them. We are so grateful that they loved the idea and took on the added challenge with excitement.

DIY is not for everyone! But, I loved how many details at our reception made it feel personal. Find a few ways to insert details that make the day “you” and not just a pinterest board! If you go DIY, include your future spouse, friends and family in the process. It makes for some great memories, and they feel like they were a part of the celebration. My rule of thumb was if it was more stressful than it was exciting, cut it. I applied that to everything! Also, once you get to game time, just let it all go and trust your vendors/participants. What will happen will happen, and it will be lovely.