Blue Weddings - DIY Bride

Mia + David’s Sweet & Wholesome Wedding

We all know that planning a wedding is no easy task. When the wedding is a very DIY wedding… well, that certainly requires months of advance planning and executing, and of course, talented friends and family. For our super creative and talented bride Mia, she knew exactly what her dream wedding would be like and immediately started planning and working on the details as soon as she knew that she would marry David.

This sweet wedding consisted of so much DIY details, it’s awe-inspiring. I have so many favorite details from this wedding, and had a really hard time trying to pick them out from TréCreative Film & Photo. But if I had to pick my utmost favorites, it would have to be Mia’s dreamy dress and rosette boutonnieres. Mia, along with her dear friend Kierna, constructed her gorgeous vintage lace wedding dress for less than $45. They also created the beautiful boutonnieres and bridesmaids’ bouquets from pages of old French books and dictionary.

Other DIY details include invitation suite (Mia designed them their silhouettes as the main motif and hand lettered the invitations), headpiece, bouquet and garters, the flower girl baskets and flower head wreaths, the ring bearer’s nest, the cake topper, and the chalkboard directional sign.

What a sweet, sweet couple. Ialso want to share a couple of other sweet details:

The bridesmaids gifts include Sseko sandals, which are made by Ugandan women earning money to go to college.

But the sweetest one of them all?

Mia’s locket on her bouquet was actually a present from her grandfather. The locket originally belong to her grandmother, whom passed away before she was born. The locket says “I love Lenny” (also short for Mia’s middle name “Helen”, and grandmother’s name)… and when her grandmother opened to see it for the first time, that was also the first time her grandfather had expressed his feelings for her. Awwwwwwww!!!

Congratulations on your beautiful marriage Mia + David!

Photographer: TréCreative Film&Photo//Wedding Video: Mia + David//Wedding Date: August 04, 2013//Wedding Location: Fremont, California//Cake Designer: Amia Bakery //Caterer:Mikonos Grill//Event Venue:Shinn HIstoric Park & Arboretum//Cinema and Video: TréCreative//

Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Kaitlyn + Tim’s DIY In-the-Woods Wedding

You don’t have to completely DIY everything in your wedding to be considered as a DIY wedding. Here at DIY Bride, we very much appreciate seeing different creative ways couples and their friends and family come up with to personalize the wedding. This summer Connecticut wedding I’m sharing with you this morning is a spectacular ~~all~~ hands-on wedding from Katie Slater Photography. Kaitlyn + Tim both come from a family history of farmers, so it only makes sense for their union to be set in the beautiful outdoors. Their apparent love for nature, farming, and rustic touches dominate as the main themes for their wedding.

Oh look at that all pink peony bridal bouquet! What a beauty! Swoon. You know what else is also very dreamy and hikes up the envy-meter? Horse-drawn carriage. That’s right! Kaitlyn + Tim had horse-drawn carriage to transport all of the wedding party to where the ceremony was held… with all the guests looking on. But their picture-perfect day started even before that, where they shared a very emotional First Look.

Notable DIY details from Kaitlyn:

“Tim works for the state cutting down trees. He cut down a beautiful birch and I demanded that he take it home and not waste its beauty in a wood chipper. He cut them into round disks using our neighbor’s amazing saw. The mason jars were originally clear and we used glass paint to make them appear to be a vintage mason jar blue. The mason jar decorations were hand assembled…The table numbers were all hand made from sticks in my back woods. This was my friend Tara’s idea. She deeply regrets it because it took countless hours to make them all! The rest of the materials were from Saveoncrafts.com and were assembled by my bridesmaids and I. The tea stained doilies were actually stained using diluted coffee at 3 am two days before the wedding. Tim was laughing because he didn’t think he would ever in his life dry 300 doilies at 3 am with a hairdryer in a room full of girls…

(For wedding favors) Tim and I have 60 blueberry bushes. We honestly picked every single blueberry produced by our bushes the summer prior to our wedding. They are heirloom organic berries. The mothers and I made made several batches of our secret blueberry lemon jam recipe. It took days! My maid of honor designed the labels for the jars. My bridesmaids helped cut the fabric and tie each and every jar.Place stickers were also designed by my MOH.

The archway decoration for the ceremony was made with materials from saveoncrafts.com and my MOH and I created it together over a few days…” Fantastic job done on the arch you two! I love it when besties work on pretty projects together!

I want to mention one last very sweet detail this couple did. Kaitlyn + Tim had a candle made (shown above) in honor of his older brother Andy who passed away when Tim was in 8th grade. Kaitlyn mentioned that it was very hard for Tim not to have his brother there, so this was their way of making sure his presence was there.

Kaitlyn:

“The candle was a vase engraved with “In Loving Memory of Andy.” We filled the vase with water and added a floating candle to the top. This way his candle will never burn down and can be lit for years to come. Tim’s younger brother Casey asked to have it for his wedding coming up in the fall of 2014.”

Thank you Kaitlyn + Tim and Katie Slater Photography for sharing with us this beautiful & super dreamy DIY wedding!

Photographer: Katie Slater Photography//Wedding Date: June 29, 2013//Transportation:Cedar Knoll Draft Horses//Cake Designer: Chocolate Rose Bakeshop//Floral Designer:Edinboro Flower Shop//Dress Store: La Reine Bridal//Dress Designer:San Patrick//DJ:Upbeat DJ//Reception Venue:Wright’s Mill Tree Farm//Bridesmaid Dresses:WToo//

Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Natalie + Joey’s Theatrical Wedding

I love featuring weddings that showcase unique venues. For Natalie and Joey, their unique venue is Lab Theater, where Natalie works as an assistant. What makes this 6,000 square-foot experimental “laboratory” warehouse-turned-theater cool isn’t just its history, but the fact that this huge space has absolutely no ~~windows~~. I actually find the decision to host a wedding where there are no windows pretty daring for any couple as lighting is super important for photography-sake as well as for setting the mood. Photographer Marc over at Lens and Luma Photography championed the challenge and did a pretty incredible job of producing magnificent photojournalistic-styled pictures of their big day.

I love that Natalie and Joey used the backstage as their getting-ready room and the actual theater stage as for the ceremony. I also love that throughout all the pictures, it was clear that they were happy, comfortable, and relaxed. It was almost like they were getting ready to put on their best show without looking all frazzled.

Natalie and her friends & family worked on a few DIY projects for the wedding. The unique center pieces of origami and pom-poms, the photo booth, as well as the blue & green lighting pom-poms that were decorated across the theater were their work.
Big thanks to Marc over at Lens and Luma for showing us such a beautiful and ethereal wedding. When I saw the after ceremony photos taken at backstage, I almost teared up. It’s only at weddings when you can truly feel that the union of two lovebirds is not just a union of two people, but two family and all of their friends. And how neat was it for the guests to have the bride + groom to perform for them… Congratulations to Natalie and Joey!

Photographer: Lens and Luma Photography//Wedding Date: September 7, 2013//Wedding Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota//Venue: Lab Theater//Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Bianca + Rosie’s Peacock Wedding

For Bianca and Rosie’s summer wedding in Washington, DC, they handcrafted most of their items that made their day oh-so-special. The couple’s small, super intimate affair was big on capturing their love for each other, and of course, their DIY talents. Their photographer Holly Graciano did a superb job of catching all the little private moments Bianca and Rosie had throughout the day that really would make anyone smile.

Bianca and Rosie DIY most of the details: The bouquet, boutonnieres, hair pieces, programs, hand-embossed cards, gift bags, “bride” and “wifey” lettering on the robes, and the “love” box that they locked during the ceremony. The box, containing letters written to each other as well as a bottle of wine, is to be open on their first anniversary.

From the photographer:

“They had their emotional first look at The DuPont Circle Hotel, followed by an afternoon ceremony at Chelsea Gardens that was officiated by Tiffany Newman. Because their wedding was such an intimate affair without attendants, we had lots of time for photos at Meridian Hill, before meeting their guests for dinner at Lincoln restaurant.”
Wondering what the finger mustaches were about? They were temporary ‘stache tattoo that everyone wore on their fingers in honor of the real tattoo that Bianca wears on her finger. How cool!
Photographer: Holly Graciano Photography//Wedding Date: August 24, 2012//Location: Washington, DC, USA//Officiant: Tiffany Newman//Ceremony Site: Chelsea Gardens//Restaurant: Lincoln Restaurant//

Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Abbie & Javi’s Sea of Love Wedding

Growing up as a lobster fisherman’s daughter, what else can be served for dinner other than… well, lobster! It is of no surprise that this fun wedding is lobster themed, coining “Sea of Love”. And I want to eat that yummy crustacean so badly that I repeated the word “lobster” 4 times already in 3 sentences. OK, enough and onto the wedding. This adorable couple decided to get married at the bride Abbie’s family camp at Camp Wohelo in Maine. What makes this location so awesome is that this summer camp was actually founded by Abbie’s great-great-grandparents and has been run by her family ever since. It is where Abbie spent every summer as a little girl, and it is also where her great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother ALL got married. Talk about family tradition! So it goes without saying that Abbie and Javi had no trouble deciding where to host their wedding. Bethany & Dan Photography did an awesome job capturing all the fun and dancing, details, beautiful scenery, and of course, the yummy eats!

Since this Sea of Love wedding is all about lobsters, Abbie’s dad actually shipped 30 unpainted lobster buoys to the couple. Every night after work, they bonded over these buoys and put their creative talents to use and painted each one of them with something to represent every important aspect of their lives. What a special way to spend time and have fun with your significant other! Other DIY projects? Abbie spend months before the wedding embroidering, sculpting, sewing, and crafting just about everything else! Abbie wants to point out especially the lobster koozies, seersucker bunting, lobster cake topper, and her garter. How cuuuute was the lobster cake topper?! Definitely one of my faves for this wedding, next to Abbie’s awesome braided updo!
It’s always so much more meaningful when there is such a deep family history where the wedding is held. I love that for Abbie and Javi, it is their way of bringing their family together to continue a tradition via the wedding. There’s really nothing much that can go wrong when there is so much love at one place!
Photographer: Bethany & Dan Photography//Wedding Date: September 01, 2012//Cinema and Video: Aaron Steele Productions//Ceremony Location: Camp Wohelo//Bakery: Good Life Market//Hair Stylist:Lisa Michaud//DJ:Maine Platinum DJ//Equipment Rentals: One Stop Party Shoppe//Floral Designer:Raymond Village Florist//Dress Store: Vocelles | The Bridal Shoppe//

Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Super Love- A Creative Styled Shoot

We featured a fun Real Weddings a couple of days ago where the clever bride crafted a superhero themed get-ready room for the groom and groomsmen. Today, I’m featuring a styled shoot chuck full of great ideas for any Superman lovers out there OR for anyone with red and blue as their main colors. This Superman-inspired styled shoot that the photographer Christine Picheca and wedding planner/stylist Dawn Fillion are sharing with us today called it their “Super Love” shoot. They, along with their talented team of vendors in Ontario, Canada, want to showcase that a couple can be creative, fun, and whimsical, and keep it classy and elegant all the way. They have SO much details going on, I LOVE it!

Where do I begin? SO MUCH DETAIL! The invitation suite is fun and looks like it came straight out of the comics. I absolutely adore the centerpieces of blue hydrangea and red roses. The florist did an incredible job of somehow creating these centerpieces without looking like they’re celebrating Independence Day. Hydrangea and roses are ubiquitous in weddings and these particular types wouldn’t make any budget conscious brides cringe.

The Event planner Dawn Fillion from I Do’s by Dawn was on top of all the Superman details ensuring it created the perfect blend of geek chic. The Superman/Clark Kent painted shoes, the “Super Love” sign, the “Cootie Catcher” Menus and the super-duper adorable sign on the dog were all her inspiration and were created and designed by Carla Tilt of Tilted Shoes and Olga Loeffen of Defining Moments Stationary.
This is definitely one of the best themed style-shoot I’ve seen! From the gorgeous center pieces and bouquet designed by Christine Owen of Settings Design Stylist, to the invitation suite, Dawn Fillion didn’t leave anything to chance. It’s so beautifully styled and incorporated details with so much talent that anyone can be inspired from something in here. I can’t wait to see if one of you will use it in your own engagement shoot/wedding!
Photographer: Christine Picheca Photography//Styled Date: October 12, 2013//Event Planner/Styler/DIY:Dawn Fillion of I Do’s by Dawn: Think Geek, Be Chic//Model(Groom): Damian//Model & Make-up: Ashley//Bride’s Hair: Chelsea’s Hair & Aesthetics//Bride’s Shoes: Carla Tilt of Tilted Shoes//Bride’s Dress & Necklace: She’s So Beautiful//Cake Designer: Mandy Arsenault of Baby Cakes Inc.//Stationary and All Things Paper: Olga Loeffen of Defining Moments Stationary//Museum:Dundurn Castle//Floral Designer/Candy Buffet: Christine Owen of Settings Design Stylist//Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Jen + Kyle’s Tiffany Blue Rustic Wedding

When an amazingly talented bride pairs polka dots and the prettiest Tiffany blue details you can imagine with a team of wedding vendors that includes Debra Gulbas Photography, Rosa Gibson, and the Vista West Ranch, it may as well be Christmas all over. Bride Jennifer worked tirelessly to create the most incredible details of her Tiffany blue, polka-dot themed wedding. The details really speak for themselves, from the handmade flower bouquets and boutonnieres to the incredible centerpieces only a blue box might be better.

Thank you Debra Gulbas Photography for sharing this lovely day with us! Congratulations Jen and Kyle!

Vendor Information:

Date: April 28, 2012

Location: Dripping Springs, TX

Photography: Debra Gulbas Photography

Event Venue: Vista West Ranch

Caterer: Texas Rib Kings

Event Planner: Austin Wedding Planners by Rosa

Dress Store: Weddings by Debbie

Makeup Artist: Beauty Mark Agency

Andrea + Nate’s Fun Vintage Wedding

Happy Turkey Day Crafties! We hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Today’s wedding from June Lion is a wonderfully whimsical wedding that just so happened to share my exact wedding date and a similar story. That story goes something like: “First comes love, then comes baby, then comes marriage.” So maybe that’s not exactly how it goes, but since we are all about celebrating the things you’re thankful for this week- I obviously clicked with Andrea + Nate because who couldn’t be thankful to have their most beloved family members around them on the biggest day of their life, right?

Graphic designer Andrea certainly didn’t disappoint with her crafting prowess. From the invites to the paper flower bouquets with yarn pom touches every little detail of this wedding was a perfect bonanza filled with cap guns and water balloon cannons and a camping and a homey-vintage vibe, this wedding is nothing short fabulous! Guests fired off cap guns every time the couple kissed and shot water balloons over a hedge (and some passers by).

Thanks so much June Lion for sharing this sweet soiree. Congratulations Andrea, Nate and baby Oliver! We hope you’ll have many happy years as a family and are thankful that you shared your day with us!

Vendor Information:

Date: July 28, 2012

Location: United States

Photographer: June Lion

Caterer: Boneshakin BBQ

Event Coordinator: Bash Events

Makeup: The Prettiest You

Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Ashley + Joey’s Eco-friendly Costa Rica Wedding (need imgs)

Definitely in the top five of my “things I’m thankful for” list are destination weddings! Especially ones in exotic and tropical locations like Ashley + Joey’s that incorporated all kinds of green DIY and are captured so perfectly by talented photographers like Katherine Stinnett Photography. Ashley and Joey wed where they got engaged in Costa Rica, and with some help from friends, family and one heck of a DIY dream event planner, they all created a wondrous aura of adventure, peace, serenity, and perfection.

From the planner:

In our years of living in the Mal Pais / Sta Teresa area we have come to realize that the beauty of it all lies in NATURE. It is this that inspires our design ,that gives us the urge to create and celebrate love. The need to conserve what we have and utilize what is already here, this is the reason we work with natural elements and upcycled items, minimizing the ecological impact in our little piece of paradise and using our creativeness to execute magical moments without making an impact on our planet.

Ashley’s got that perfect color sense to know a good aura when she sees one- and so she choose Mal Pais Green Weddings and Events to coordinate this lovely day. They not only stick to their commitment to the environment but also are stellar crafters. They created the beer bottle candelabras, the coconut fiber wrapped succulent pots, the driftwood signs, and the gorgeous bamboo arch made of bamboo from a local garden. Ashley’s grandmother, who could not attend, created the invite itineraries and menus.

Thank you to Katherine Stinnett Photography, and Mal Pais Green Weddings for sharing and creating this beautiful beach soiree! Congratulations Ashley and Joey!

Vendor Information:

Date: April 19, 2013

Location: Mal Pais, Costa Rica

Photographer: Katherine Stinnett Photography

Caterer: Soma Chef Services

Dress Designer: Nicole Miller

Event Designer: Mal Pais Green Weddings and Events

Floral Design: Floristeria Cristal

Jewelry: Tom Binns Designs

Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Michelle + Devon’s Canadian Vintage Wedding

Michelle + Devon are high school sweethearts. No denying that love stories that include this title are going to draw a major “AWW!!” But these two are not your average duo! Despite growing up together only being separated by a few years, these two got together at prom. A few years later than your’re thinking though. When they crossed in the hallways this time around, these two super sweet, quirky, fun loving teachers had so much share the and with hearts so big. Michelle asked Devon to prom, and the rest is for the books. Family Creative Imagery has captured and shared their sweet story filled with whimsical and vintage details.

Now let’s talk about a crafty team here. Devon’s mother took care of the calligraphy for the invitations while his sister created the illustrations. That brilliant teal and red color combo was a mix of the couple’s favorite colors. The decor was themed after their love of books. Michelle created the beautiful aisle vignettes and centerpieces from vintage finds and good old schoolhouse crafting. She and her bridesmaids also crated all of the flower arrangements. My favorite twist from this wedding was that in order to get the bride and groom to kiss at the reception, a donation had to be made to a charity called Child of Mine, supporting the construction of a school for orphans in India.