Nath & Jake's Wedding Story
It's only fitting for me to post a little blurb about my wedding. While there is still snow on the ground and the temperature feels like single digits, I find myself warmed with thoughts of this past warm and breezy September. Where we said our vows under the broken rays of sun and a rich green oak tree on my husband's family farm. Under the organza draped over a thirty foot tree limb that caused me so much stress the day before.
Thankfully my fearless father-in-law climbed a ladder and stapled it right into the branch. Meanwhile, I focused on lining up my ferns and mums that I got on special at Stauffers.
I met my husband 3 years ago at a charity bbq event. Despite him being with 3 women, there was instant chemistry between us and I tracked him down until he noticed me. And he did. He made his way over and our first conversation was effortless. I found out a couple months later that this conversation was based on a personality quiz that Jake found on Youtube. He really made up my mind when he sent a bouquet of fall flowers to my job after a month of dating. I knew then that he was the man I was going to be with forever.
After going back and forth about where we would have the wedding that was budget friendly we finally decided on having the ceremony and reception on my husband's family farm, free of charge! That saved us about 9,000. But it quickly became clear that it was a long road to the finish line. The barn which has been functioning as storage for hay and straw for many decades was quite a task to clean up. My husband spent many summer nights cleaning out the barn and testing the reception lights. I spent many nights taking pictures and providing moral support.
Here is a sneak peak of him working hard on our welcome and beverage signs.
Gold is one of my favorite colors. Gold reminds me of timeless European royalty. Adding a little sparkle and shine with pops of berry shades always makes for a classic wedding style that's easy to work with. Handmade welcome signs, directional, beverage signs, gold painted beer barrows, and gold water baths added a rustic quality to fit our farm based wedding.
Along with building signs, giant Jenga Set, cleaning out the barn, Jake insisted on making our feature lights: 3 of these beautiful wooden wheel chandeliers. Two of which we raffled off to two lucky guests.
I've always been a book worm and spent most of my childhood in the local library. Naturally I wanted to have our wedding in a library or old bookstore. But learning to compromise early with my husband I settled with incorporating books into our theme. The used weathered books I picked up at the Salvation Army for about $.50 -1.00 per book. I made bookmarks to use as escort cards, out of watercolor paper foiled with accents of gold.
I did painstaking research on the easiest diy bouquet. I couldn't decided to go fake or real. So I started pinning all of my top favorite bouquets and why I loved them. I really love the relaxed and garden feel of eucalyptus, fern and ivy. That became the most important detail in the flowers. I was tempted to drop hundreds to buy fresh flowers of my dreams or hire a florist as I was overwhelmed with too many options. On a whim, I ended up coming across a fall faux bouquet of the exact colors and flowers I wanted at Michael's for about $5 per bouquet. I then ordered the fresh greeneries of baby eucalyptus, ferns and ivy for$200. We took apart the faux flower bouquet and rearranged them with the fresh greenery. At the last minute I decided to spray paint 2 or 3 stems of my eucalyptus gold to add a special personal touch to my own bouquet. I even had plenty of leftover greenery to decorate the cupcake table, our bride and groom table and gift table.
The only vendors we hired were: a dj, photographer, videographer, string quartet for ceremony, tables, chairs & linens, BBQ caterer and tuxes. We spent just a little over $10,000 overall.
I later changed into a flirty chiffon and sequin cocktail dress to start off our reception.
The weather couldn't have been more perfect. Mother nature topped it off with a full moon to light the rest of the night. .
I could easily continue with all of our diy projects, bloopers and snags that we ran into because a wedding isn't a wedding without a little drama. But this being my first blog, I will take it easy on my audience.
Enjoy a little teaser from our wedding!
-Brian Shaub Videography