Country - DIY Bride

Amanda + Tom’s Stunning Rustic Mint Green Wedding

There are so many reasons why this northern San Diego wedding is just perfect. Amanda + Tom are a beautiful couple, to say the least, but their decision to have their picturesque wedding at Hidden Valley Retreat has got to be one of the best decisions they made for their big day. It’s incredibly beautiful, seemingly secluded, and naturally rustic… and captured perfectly by one of our favorite photographer- heidi-o-photo, everything about this wedding is just absolutely amazing, like Amanda + Tom are with each other.

Amanda + Tom created ALL their decor pieces. Some of my favorites that they did:

~They covered the letters for the word “LOVE” and attached them above the entryway to the ceremony site.
~The silverware was tucked into cute burlap pockets they sewed (love the lace touch!).
~The table numbers were constructed by attaching mismatched house numbers to wood slices.

And of course, to pull it all together, they set up the day before with the help of their friends under the guidance of their event planner, Hannah Smith Events.

I love that not only you can tell how much fun their guests were having, but also just how much fun Amanda + Tom were having. I adore the cowboy boots Amanda and her bridesmaids were wearing, keeping the whole wedding vibe lighthearted. And just how delicious do those pies look! Talk about a great non-traditional alternative! Anyone wants a slice of peach pie?? I do!!

Much congrats to Amanda + Tom!!!

Photographer: heidi-o-photo//Wedding Date:08.31.2013//Linens and Coverings:Abbey Party Rentals Temecula//Caterer: Carriage Trade Catering//Event Planner: Hannah Smith Events//Event Venue:Hidden Valley Retreat//Floral Designer:Jill Again//Equipment Rentals: Teal Green Design &rentals//Musicians:Three Blind Mice//Makeup Artist:Touch of Grace//Cake Designer: VG’s Bakery//

Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Britney + Brian’s Vintage Mechanic Wedding

I can’t even begin to describe just how much I’m in love with our gorgeous couple, Britney + Brian, today. I’ve been going nuts over their photos by Allie Lindsey Photography all morning, and I’m so excited to share them with you now! Britney + Brian are such a beautiful couple- they’re so in love with each other that it shows on every photograph of them on their wedding day… photogenic couple plus the talent behind Allie Lindsey Photography equals stunning photos.

Britney + Brian chose “vintage mechanic” as their theme to represent their style. Since Brian is a mechanic, Britney really utilized the materials from his shop to DIY their wedding. I’m incredibly impressed with Britney, as this wedding is so beautifully decorated and thought out!

Did I mention how in love I am with this couple? Let me say it again! I super adore their First Look and their portraits. So much love and so much gorgeousness! I totally love how Britney really fuze her sense of style with Brian’s mechanic background to make this wedding truly theirs and totally unique. I’m also super impressed with the engraved tags as place cards- what a cool idea to double as a favor as well!

Much congratulations to our beautiful couple Britney + Brian, and much much thanks to Allie Lindsey Photography for bringing us this breathtaking wedding!

Photographer: Allie Lindsey Photography//Wedding Date: 10.13.2013//Cake Designer: Amazing Cakes//Floral Designer:Avante Gardens Florist //Caterer: big b’s bbq//Reception Venue: Fullerton Arboretum//

Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Alison + Christian’s Yellow and Grey Rustic Farm Wedding

Featured wedding for the day comes from the talented Jeff of Brooke Courtney Photography. This Pennsylvania wedding at The Farm at Eagles Ridge was love at first sight for our couple Alison + Christian. They had a vision of getting married at a “big open barn with lots of natural light, hardwood floors, and rustic charms”, and that’s exactly what they got. Alison has always loved the colors yellow and grey, so obviously, she felt that golden yellow with grey accents would be perfect for her early Fall wedding in the country… and I couldn’t agree more with her!

Alison + Christian wanted to DIY their decor to make sure that their wedding is truly about them and added vintages pieces wherever they see fit. They “collected vintage postcards from all of the places [they] had traveled for [their] guests to write special messages on. [They] made homemade butterscotch walnut fudge for [their] favors.” From Alison: “My maid of honor, Kendra, made all of the bunting that was hung in the barn. She cut yards and yards of fabric and sewed for months, and her family even helped hang it all the day of. The groom’s sister, Larissa, is an amazing cook and baked our entire wedding cake from scratch. She customized it to fit the fall season and flavors we love, like pumpkin spice and caramel apple. My father cut all of the wood slices from fallen trees near our home that our table centerpieces and wedding cake sat on.”

Alison honored her mother by wearing her wedding dress. Not only was it super comfy for her to wear, but it made her feel her mother’s presence. I love the photograph of Alison holding a framed picture of her mother… there’s just something so sweet and heart-tugging about it.

Thank you so much to Jeff of Brooke Courtney Photography for submitting this uber-sweet wedding… Much congrats to Alison + Christian!!

Photographer: Jeff of Brooke Courtney Photography//Wedding Date:10.06.2013//Event Venue:The Farm at Eagles Ridge//Videography:Foundation Videography//Flowers:Country Lane Flowers//Event Planning:Stylish Occasions//

Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Dawn + Dan’s Sweet Summer Wedding in Virginia

Today’s wedding is a sweet mix of traditional, rustic, and romance. Lauryn of Lauryn Galloway Photography did a wonderful job capturing all the small sweet and darling moments throughout Dawn + Dan’s summer Southern wedding in Virginia. Using a romantic palette of dark grey, yellow, and fuchsia pink, their family and friends all pitched in their time and talent to decorate their day.

My top favorite details of the day: Tissue pom-poms and paper lanterns stranded with lights and hung all over the reception area; Rustic details on the ceremonial mantle that acted as the backdrop. Every single little detail, like the fuchsia rosettes adorned on the “love always” wedding banner, tied all colors together and just added that little something extra and different.
Thank you so much to Lauryn Galloway Photography and Dawn + Dan for sharing such a lovely wedding with us. It is a perfect combination of traditional, rustic, and modern at the same time!

Congratulations Dawn + Dan!!!
Photographer: Lauryn Galloway Photography//Wedding Date: 08.24.2013//Venue: Cloverdale Barn//Caterer: Shaffer’s Catering//Floral Designer: Bluebells//Doughnuts: Marker Miller Orchards//Music: The DJ Connection//Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Martha + Ryan’s Country Wedding in New Hampshire

So many of our talented couples we featured on our blog completely DIY their wedding, except well, the photography and videography. Our couple today, Martha + Ryan, is of no exception. With photography by Steve Holmes Photography, Martha + Ryan set their stage at a large field owned by their neighbor. With literally nothing on site, they had to figure out ways to not only to decorate, but also bring in electricity, water, and bathroom… and even make their own bar!

Bagpipes, fireworks, bird seeds tossing, sand ceremony, classic red pickup truck- this wedding with a country flair has it all. I adore Martha’s dances with their dog Axe, and gosh, that firework show! Lots of warmth brought in by the bright hues of red, gold, and orange, Martha + Ryan make sure their guests felt welcomed, had loads of fun, but most of all, a wedding they’ll all sure to remember for ages.

Congratulations to Martha + Ryan!!

Photographer: Steve Holmes Photography//Wedding Date: 08.10.2013//Caterer:Fiddleheads Catering//DJ:Peak Entertainment//Makeup Artist:Studio H//Submitted via Two Bright Lightstephanie Court Photography // Felice and Ben /// 9/14/2013

Heather + Chris’ DIY Wedding at the Family Farm

Our second feature for the day is brought to us by Nikki May Day Photography. This colorful summer wedding was held at a farm belonging to Heather’s relatives in Pennsylvania, featuring Lake Erie (for the ceremonial site) and a big barn where the reception was held nearby.

Both Heather + Chris are creative people (Heather art directed and Chris handled design and production). Together, they put lots of neat special touches to their day. From the photographer:

“They designed their own Save the Dates, Invitations, Thank You’s and Programs and they were AWESOME. They even designed their own H&D temporary tattoo’s (which were a huge hit) as well as making their own light up H&D sign. All of the direction signs were hand painted, the wedding pie was home made, the linens were all collected by Heather, and even Heather’s engagement ring was customized by Chris.”
I super adore their invitation suite, I mean, how can you not when you have a couple who are incredibly talented as Heather + Chris? I also love how they are not afraid to use bold colors such as yellow and red to showcase the playfulness of their wedding. Flower seed packets for favors? They totally have my heart!

Congratulations to Heather + Chris!!!
Photographer:Nikki May Day Photography//Wedding Date: 06/15/2013//Dress Designer: Saja//Dress Designer: Saja Wedding//

Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Erin + Randy’s Antique in the Fall Wedding

Erin + Randy’s Vermont wedding isn’t exactly the type of DIY wedding where everything was done by themselves or family and friends. But that doesn’t mean that they didn’t do a whole lot of personalization and created a celebration that was truly theirs. Photographed by Orchard Cove Photography, this wedding features rich hues of the Fall colors- spiced wine, burnt orange, antique gold and lots of ivory.

During Erin + Randy’s 1.5 years of engagement, they spent many weekends driving all over Vermont antique shopping- mismatched whiskey barrels to mark the aisle, hobnob milk votives, old mason jars to line the perimeter of our venue to create a magical ambiance, antique bronze vases for single buds.

From Erin:

“We repurposed a wooden flower box as our card collector, used Vermont barn board for our ‘Erin & Randy’ sign for the side of the road, found reclaimed apple crates to bring height to our ceremony flowers, created cake stands from vintage cups and platters and opted for a $5 window display with handwritten details instead of typical wedding programs. We made a series of signs to pay tribute to our guests who travelled from all over the country to be with us, noting the distance they travelled to be part of our special day. Instead of paying for calligraphy for our escort cards, we hand-wrote them and stood them up with corks (that our bridal party had a fun time procuring!). We used twine and clothespins to display old photos from our childhood, our parents’ weddings and photos of our guests from years past.

Erin + Randy did such a great job pulling together personal details to pull off this DIY wedding. I love the tribute sign post they made indicating the distance their guests travelled to see them tied the knot. However, my absolute favorite is Erin and her father’s daughter & father dance. How adorable were they!

Congratulations Erin + Randy!!
Photographer: Orchard Cove Photography//Wedding Date: 10/05/2013//Dress Designer: Allure Bridals//Bakery: Caketopia Cakes//Floral Designer:Erin Ostreicher//Dress Store: J. Crew//Invitation Designer:Minted.com//Hair Stylist:Scherdiva Salon//Band: The Grift//Event Venue: Tourterelle Restaurant & Inn//Equipment Rentals: Vermont Tent Company//Officiant:Wendy Bratt//

Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Kassie + Chad’s Swoon-Worthy Historical Park E-Session

Kassie + Chad definitely hit the jack pot with their engagement shoot location. George Ranch Historical Park, a 20,000 acre working ranch near Houston, Texas, features historic homes and buildings… and horses. Swoon-worthy photos by Dana Fernandez Photography, this engagement shoot is gorgeous to boot. It certainly helped when they were able to shoot at this picturesque location with no one else around (it was closed on Sunday, the day they had the shoot) since Kassie’s dad knows the owner of the Park.

What a dreamy location! I love all the buildings, the trees, and the space! I also adored their use of props- the sign on their dog, the gold-painted ampersand sign, and “I’m marrying him” chalkboard sign. Although we haven’t seen their wedding, but I can already picture just how sweet their wedding must have been!!

Photographer: Dana Fernandez Photography//E-Session Date: 05/19/2013//Event Venue: George Ranch Historical Park//Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Jamilynn + John’s Summer Camp Wedding

Jamilynn + John’s wedding, brought to us by hillary maybery photography, really makes you feel like you’ve arrived to a cool, chilled, and fun family-run camp for the day that just happened to be also hosting a wedding at the same time. Seriously, this wedding was DIY, rustic, and so incredibly laid-back as they (and Jamilynn’s pretty little girl) said their “I Do’s” in front of mountain peaks, grassy meadows, and blue skies.

Lots of DIY went into this rustic wedding, from Jamilynn:

“We had saved glass jars for months and we painted the insides of them to hold our flower arrangements. We also saved soup cans and planted succulents in them to add to our centerpieces. Kaiser cut a large letter “K” out of sheet metal, then painted and aged it to look antique. People signed the back of the letter as our guest book. Now we have an “antique-sign” to hang on our wall that is great décor.

We also used reclaimed barn wood scraps for the hand painted signs we had around the wedding site. Each sign pointed to the different features at our wedding and to the other cities that people traveled from to attend. Another friend hand-sewed a variety of flags onto sisal rope for decoration on the main lodge. She got a bunch of random printed bed-sheets at Goodwill, cut and sewed 60ft of beautiful and colorful flagging.

Our guest favors were our custom napkins. We ordered peach colored bandanas and had them screen printed with the state of Idaho on the corner. All of the setup and tear-down was done by the wedding party, including fiesta lights, dance floor lights, some minor landscaping, custom wedding arch, PA system, dance floor lighting and catering logistics.”

I love how awesome everything is pulled together when family and friends get involved to help set up a beautiful wedding. Congratulations to Jamilynn + John and their beautiful daughter!!
Photographer: hillary maybery photography//WeddinDate: 06/29/2013//Reception Venue:4H Camp//Dress: ModCloth//Cake Designer: The Sweet Crumb//Food: Ketchum Grill (Pizza)/Bears BBQ/The Cellar (beverages)//Cupcakes: The Sweet Crumb//Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Grace + Nick’s Offbeat Rustic Wedding

In continuing our unintentional theme of “offbeat” weddings, I’m ending our features today with a very picturesque wedding. Our gorgeous bride Grace opted to wear a stunning vintage purple dress for her day, and the couple chose to wear color stones instead of “traditional” diamonds for their rings. This beautiful wedding photographed by Joshua Aaron Photography set a great example that it is completely okay to be yourself and to be different. After all, your wedding day is all about you as a couple!

From the photographer:

“To showcase their love for nature, Grace and Nick had packets of seed for guests, a picnic reception with games, and beer made by the couple themselves.” They also DIY all the flowers themselves as well.
This inspiring wedding at the Vista House is truly spectacular. Our stunning couple not only showcase what’s important to them as a couple, but their fun and unique personalities as well. I love that the talented Joshua Aaron was able to captured the romantic flair of Grace’s vintage dress, Nick’s emotional moment as he sees his bride walking down the aisle, and the breathtaking moments from the paper lantern send-offs. Congratulations to Grace + Nick!

Photographer: Joshua Aaron Photography//Wedding Date: May 18, 2013// Flowers: Kelly Singer // Event Venue:Vista House//Submitted via Two Bright Lights