I'm Amelia from House Pretty Blog and I'm thrilled to be guest posting for Kerry while she focuses on her wedding! I had my own DIY wedding two years ago, so I thought I'd share some photos and details from the day.
We knew we wanted a casual backyard wedding, so we were thrilled when my husband's parents agreed to host our big day at their lakeside home. We asked some talented friends to design our invitations, which we screenprinted ourselves. I saved one to include in a wedding shadowbox project - along with one of our pocket-sized DIY programs - and I still love looking at it two years later!
I bought my dress online for only $150 (courtesy of a big Bloomingdales' sale) and had it altered. My husband took advantage of a 2 for 1 deal and bought his suit instead of renting a tux. It was more costly, but now he has three really nice suits to choose from for special events (that's a lot of suits for a musician!). My bridesmaids and I got our hair done at my favourite salon and did our make-up ourselves.
I made what felt like a million tissue paper pom-poms, which my bridesmaids and a few friends faithfully fluffed. I also made tissue paper dahlia favours, but unlike Martha's, I filled each "flower" with five jordan almonds, symbolizing five wishes for the bride and groom - health, wealth, happiness, fertility and longevity. My favourite DIY was the guestbook - I cut out pieces of cardstock for guests to write messages on and tape into the book with washi tape. We received some really sweet and funny messages and I'm so glad we have this memento of the day.
We opted for a "dressed up BBQ" over a traditional seated meal. We set up several different seating areas around the lawn, along with four high-top tables. I really liked how this allowed guests to mingle and chat, and it made the event feel more like a party than a "reception" - exactly what we wanted to achieve. A talented chef friend put on an amazing spread, which both vegetarians (that's us) and meat-eaters raved about. For dessert, friends made delicious cupcakes (which I decorated with my DIY heart toppers) and a variety of pies - both options were a big hit with our guests. In addition to a self-serve wine station (friends designed those awesome labels), guests could grab beer, soda and water out of an ice-filled canoe.
Adam's bandmates and a friend played during the ceremony and we used a laptop and rented PA system during the reception. The dance floor was jam-packed all night long! We scored an incredible deal on photography, which included two photographers and their assistant for the entire day, a CD with more than 300 photos to print and use as we please and had a bonus engagement shoot. Even better, our photographer turned into a friend and she recently shot our first set of family photos (we had a daughter last year).
We saved a ton of money by ordering hydrangea stems from a local florist and making bouquets ourselves. My bridesmaids - two of my best friends from university - carried single white hydrangea stems and I carried a mixed bouquet of green and white stems. The morning of the wedding, I stopped by a florist shop and picked up a few bouquets of spray roses and snapdragons to decorate the reception site. I ordered fabric boutonnieres for the guys from a seller on Etsy (she's Canadian!), which looked great.
Transportation
Since there was limited parking at the lake, we hired a bus to transport guests to and from the wedding/reception. I'm really glad we did, since it meant our guests didn't have to worry about the cost or hassle of cabbing it (did I mention we were out in the boonies?) and we didn't have to worry about anyone drinking and driving.
A big thanks to Kerry for letting my re-live my wedding day and best wishes to her, B and Halle!
Thank you so much Amelia! I can only hope that our day will turn out as beautifully as yours did!
Amelia - your wedding was beautiful!! What great memories, and you put such a personal touch on everything. Lovely!
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