DIY Wedding in Rhode Island
It’s Real Wedding Wednesday kiddos which means that we are sharing little snippets from the gorgeous weddings that come our way, then you can pick and choose which ones to fall in love with. We’ve provided the full gallery links for each so you can really spend some time getting to know the ones that you love best. This next one is DIY perfection. To see the full wedding, click right here (including the inspiration boards that inspired the day!).
photos by Michelle Amarante Photography / {click here to see the full wedding}
I know every bride says it, and I’m sure they mean it, but our wedding was truly the best day(s) of our lives. We had a year and a half engagement and I started planning right off the bat! It was a good thing to because we filled the wedding with little touches and DIY projects that made everything perfectly us.
Even before I met Doug I found the place where I wanted to get married while at a business conference. Whispering Pines is tucked away in a woodsy section of Rhode Island. We booked the whole site for Columbus Day weekend for our 80 person wedding. Once we chose Whispering Pines we started telling our guests who started referring to the weekend wedding as “camp”. We decided to go with the rustic camp theme with wood slices, wildflowers, care packages for guests, and camp t-shirts for favors. We stuck with an aqua and poppy color scheme and I think the look really came together.
I wish I could tell the entire story of our wedding with all the little stories that made the weekend memorable. Like how the night before the wedding the girls and I snuck into the boys cabin to play pranks, very “summer camp” of us, but they were up waiting with shaving cream. It was hilarious and I wound up spending a few hours the night before our wedding with my groom and the boys. I know, scandalous. The whole wedding party got about 4 hours of sleep!
Our budget wasn’t huge so we tried to maximize the most important things. Whispering Pines, though lovely, isn’t cheap. It sounds shocking but it was 3/4 of our budget for the venue, food, and overall experience. We figured that’s what people would remember and we were right! We had about 5K to spend on all the other details & vendors.
One of the major themes of the wedding was trying to use things that we could re-use after the wedding. We needed an “altar” for our outdoor wedding so we decided to buy a side table that we could use outside for the unity candle, now it’s Doug’s bedside table. The frame that we used for our setting chart now houses all my earrings, using just a mesh screen behind it. The blanket box for the campfire throws now sits at the end our our bed holding our extra blankets. Someday it’ll be our children’s toy chest. I didn’t feel as guilty buying unique and quality things knowing that they’d be put to good use after the wedding.
I worked really closely with Joy from Flower Thyme in Wakefield, RI to get just the right look for our flowers. My inspiration was big ball dahlias, which have a huge pop factor without being too expensive. We filled in with white hydrangeas, fern fronds, hypercerium berries, bright red tulips, and various wild flowers. It was impossible to find an aqua flower so we opted for a bight blue bow on all the arrangements. We loved our photographer Michelle. Loved. MIchelle was so sweet and professional. She even brought her 16 year old son as a second shooter, so he can learn the business, at no extra cost to us.
For my girls I chose a bright poppy color and told them to pick any tea length dress in that color from the Dessy line – in either Nu-Georgette or Duchess Satin. My sister, the MOH, choose a long dress to look a little different. My dress was a great find. I went dress shopping twice, the first just being a quick run through where I didn’t even try anything on. The dress I choose, Abigail by Sophia Tolli, was the first dress I tried on. It was perfect for me and the setting and I never felt more beautiful. My shoes were a $20 find at DSW and I plan on wearing them again and again.
After the wedding many guests changed into their camp tees, yes camp tees, to head over to the campfire for s’mores and sparklers. Since October can be chilly, especially last fall, we knew we wanted blankets for the campfire. I found all the fleece throws, mostly non matching blues and reds, for $1-$3 each everywhere from CVS to IKEA to Joann Fabrics. Everyone was so comfy by the fire we stayed out until the last guests retired to their rooms.
13 Comments about “DIY Wedding in Rhode Island”
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Love the beautiful mix of colors... so fresh and alive... and the seating chart looks great.
Did you make the just married sign?
WOW! Such a beautiful wedding. It seems we have very similar visions! I absolutley LOVE the flowers. They are stunning.
Where did you find the blanket chest? I have been collecting vintage afghans and need something to house them for our wedding near the fire pit.
Beautiful! I love the color scheme and the floral arrangements are so pretty. I also love that you purchased things with the intent to use them in your home. Very smart :)
Your wedding is beautiful.... can you tell me where you got your bridesmaid shoes? I am having so much trouble finding them!!
How did you make your seating chart and where did you find the frame? I love it!
LOVE the seating chart! More details on how you made it please! :-)
Your entire wedding was incredibly lovely! All the colors were amazing!!
Your wedding looks like it was full of character and characters. ;) The seating chart is my favorite and the fact that you're able to re-use it in your daily life is awesome!
Really love the bride's philosophy. Such a vibrant and pretty wedding.
Everything is lovely but I am especially fond of this unique seating chart! Noble trees= awesomeness!
Hi everyone - I can't believe we're on SMP! Thanks so much Abby:) Thanks everyone for all the sweet comments! To answer questions:
Bridesmaid shoes: Each bridesmaid chose their own shoes to match their style and budget. I know from R to L on the shoe picture it's Liz Claiborne (I am wearing the same shoes but no one can see mine), j.crew wedge, and Macy's. I'm not sure about the other 2. I just told them to get "gold and strappy" and it really worked out.
Seating Chart: I got the frame from Two's Company, where I worked as a designer while living in NY just before the wedding. That was luck & a good find but any multi-paned frame would work. The idea of making individual place cards made me a little crazy since I knew I was making all the paper signs, invites, programs, maps, etc. This way I didn't need to print a big sheet of paper & it was cheaper. It also helped only having 9 tables - a bigger wedding might be more confusing since I did mine by table, not alphabetically. There were 16 panes in the frame so I filled the extra spaces with scrapbook paper that matched our colors. I also used that paper for signage so it looked more cohesive.
Blanket Box: Doug found the toy chest at Mill Stores, a nearby unfinished furniture store. It was only around $30. He stained it and burned the word "blankets" into it. His mom also burned a cedar scented Yankee Candle in it (open lid of course) before the wedding so it smelled authentic:) It's the little things.... she also sewed the labels onto the fleece throws. The guests loved them.
Signage: Yes I made the Just Married sign but it was an idea stolen from Martha. She had a similar sign over a sweets table. I just made a circle template, added letters with random fonts, cut slits, and slid the words onto the ribbons. Easy project!
Thanks again for all the kind words. It's so nice to things I took from blogs and created our own day with - now it's maybe inspiration for someone else! Reused inspiration:)
Oh this wedding is so lovely - I love the little personalised details, and the flowers are to die for! Congratulations on such a lovely, meaningful wedding!
As the Special Event Coordinator for Whispering Pines, I must add that Tracy & Doug were truly creative and a pleasure to work with. This wedding in particular always stands out in my mind because of the bold color choices that made everything pop in our natural landscape. We loved their organization & dedication throughout their planning. Carrying out their "camp" theme for the entire weekend was a great touch and it proved that little details really go a long way.
Tracy & Doug, I look forward to seeing you in October when you come to share your one year Anniversary with us! We are thrilled you had such a memorable day at Whispering Pines and we wish you much love and happiness for the future.