Today’s heartfelt wedding day at the Inn at Barley Sheaf Inn is full of sentimental details and swoon-worthy designs. Original Events Co truly brought the couple’s dream day to life, while the Bride’s guardian angel watching over her on that special day took care of a few details out of their control – like the clouds parting to bring the bluest skies just in time for their ceremony. We get chills just thinking about what that moment must have felt like! Twisted Willow Flowers blew us away with their delicate arrangements, perfectly complimented the dusty blue and blush color palette of their day. See it all at the full gallery – captured by Lauren Fair Photography!
From the Bride… As a girl, I have been planning my whole wedding my whole entire life way before I even met Devin! When he proposed, I couldn’t wait to start a new journey with my best friend and I was so excited to put my mental catalog of wedding ideas into reality. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic began to unfold and safety restrictions were being released, we had to make a difficult decision to postpone our original June 2020 wedding to August 2020. The restrictions were taking a lot longer to lessen than we expected so we then had to move our wedding date two more times! We hoped and held onto the possibility of our original wedding vision and had many sleepless nights going back and forth but we knew in our hearts what we had to do. The safety and health of our families and friends became our number one priority and meant more to us than anything. After a tough and heartbreaking decision, we decided to look at outdoor venues which is how we found the beautiful Inn at Barley Sheaf Farm in Holicong, PA. After doing a last minute venue walk through – we got in the car and looked at each other and just knew we found the place and despite the heartache and tough choices we had to make, we were excited all over again over the possibility that our wedding can indeed still happen.
We had to basically re-plan a whole new wedding with a blank canvas in less than two months. We were fortunate enough to have supportive and wonderful vendors along this roller coaster of a journey from day one. Randi from Original Events Company was kind enough to join the process last minute and helped us with all the last minute re-planning. Her and Christy from Papertree Studio made a awesome team. After getting to know each other, our vendors knew that it was important for us to weave our love interests, personalities and love story into the design of our big day. We truly had the best wedding team!
From our best friend Ago from high school being our officiant who created personal vows and shared stories of us to personal and custom touches in every design aspect we chose . We wanted the day to feel very organic, warm and genuine as much as possible. Our vendors made that possible more than we could have ever imagined and it was the most magical day we have ever lived.
It is well known by all how much we are in love with our English bulldog Max and we wanted him to be a part of our big day as much as possible. Papertree Studio included him in our custom wedding invitation suite on the prettiest handmade paper that ended up being the same handmade paper for our day of dinner menus that she designed for us. Our best friend Gio walked Max down as the ring bearer in a blue tuxedo bandana that matched the groomsmen suits. Max was printed into Devin’s bespoke custom suit jacket liner and also debuted as being a cake topper on our lemon and raspberry filled wedding cake. His face was also on the cocktail stirrers of our his and her cocktails that Devin with a hobby of being a mixologist actually mixed himself for all our guests! The bride’s drink was called “Strawberry Maxarita”!
Someone who we also very much wanted to be there but unfortunately couldn’t was the bride’s father who recently passed away from leukemia. It was important to acknowledge him by finding uplifting ways to memorialize him. Papertree Studio and Randi from Original Events Company created a beautiful mantle piece with photos of him next to a lit candle with framed lyrics from the song “Let it be” by my dad’s favorite band – the Beatles. My “something blue” was a heart cut from my dad’s denim jeans that was sewn into my Alexandra Grecco wedding dress. I wanted something soft and romantic with floral embellishments. The dress paired so well with my matching Alexandra Grecco cathedral veil that had hand embroidered pearls.
Aside from all the details, we all felt that my dad was truly there. Every day was a sunny day up until of course – our wedding day. We were nervously checking the weather every minute on the day of. It was gloomy and rained all morning and due to the rain, we had to change a few plans and encountered a few set backs. As we had to change some major elements with the set up, we were so upset because we felt as if we fought so hard to make this day possible that yet again, the universe was trying to make it impossible. The string quartet was performing as guests were arriving and just minutes before I walked down the aisle to them playing “With or Without you” by U2, the rain stopped and the sun came out between the trees where the ceremony was held behind the enormous floral arch that Twisted Willow Flowers designed for us. Guests who had umbrellas were blessed with the bluest skies. As summer was ending, leaves began falling and the glow from the sun touched every ones faces. I knew that was my Dad telling me “I’m here and everything is going to be okay” as I walked down the aisle to start this brand new chapter with Devin. Everyone knew the sun came out because of my dad.
We wanted our escort seating hutch to be romantic and unique. The hutch was decorated with family photos, beautiful vessels and vintage books. Papertree Studio and Randi from Original Events Company created seating charts in gold frames where guests found their names and assigned tables. Gorgeous blooms poured out of the drawers from Twisted Willow Flowers. Next to the hutch, we had custom hand sanitizers made for guests to take to the reception.
Devin and I met in the summer so the season summer always holds such a meaningful time in our hearts. Paper Tree designed the most beautiful cloth signages that stood during cocktail area that said “You are the type of love that always feels like summer” and that saying couldn’t be anymore true.
We love traveling the world and we have been to more than 12 countries together. We had post cards for guests to sign as our guest book during the cocktail hour.
We wanted the reception to be a big reveal so we had our guests walk along a path with luminary pathway lights up until the outdoor tent. Along with traveling, we have seen sunsets allover the world which is why we chose the color scheme with our flowers. When I first connected with Amanda from Twisted Willow Flowers, I told her that I wanted flowers everywhere! She did just that! Twisted Willow Flowers came up with beautiful late summer sunset tones from white and dreamy blushes to soft butter into rich ambers. It mimicked what a gorgeous summer sunset would be. Place seatings included menus on handmade paper with custom gold wax seals, gold silver ware, gold rimmed chargers, goblets and candles in glass votives. The textured floral center pieces and rustic seasonal fruit matched so well with our farm tables draped with dusty blue table runners. Our favorite piece that Amanda designed and set up for us was the floral installation with the basket weave lanterns over the dance floor. It looked so dreamy between the string lights in the tent.
To this day, guests are still reminiscing about our father/daughter dance. I had my older brother Sean dance with me to Ben E. King “Stand by me” with childhood photos of our dad and us. In the middle of the song, my younger brother got up and brought our mom up to the dance floor. Everyone was crying and our hearts were so full. We will remember that moment forever.
The whole day was filled with so much light and love. We danced the rest of the night away and had a after party filled with smores around a fire pit. As guests walked out, we surprised them with a grilled cheese food truck for a night cap. You can feel the magic captured by Lauren Fair’s associate: Minh. At the end of the day, all we wanted was to celebrate each other in front of our favorite people in the safest way possible and we did just that and much more. We truly would go through all the ups and downs of re-planning over and over again to re-live the amazing day that we had. I believe that our wedding is a true example that love is worth fighting for and regardless of any pandemic, set back or weather – love always wins.
Photography: Lauren Fair Photography | Cinematography: Yours Truly Media | Design: Papertree Studio | Event Design: Original events Co | Floral Design: Twisted Willow Flowers | Wedding Dress: Alexandra Gracco | Cake: The Caketeria | Invitations: Papertree Studio | Wedding bands: Jewelry by Eric | Bridesmaids' Dresses: BHLDN | Makeup: Make Me Up Eva | Hair: Top Knots By Aimee | Lighting: Philly Wedding Lighting | DJ: POSH Entertainment | Groom's Attire: Carlos Coto Summit Tailors | Men's Attire: Generation Tux | String Quartet: Highline String Quartet | Wedding Venue: Inn At Barley Sheaf Farm | Dog Walking Service: Pawfect for You | Food Truck: Grilly Cheese | Linens: BBJ La Tavola | Rentals: White Glove Rentals
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