A New England Wedding full of DIY
This Connecticut wedding is perfect for many, many different reasons. First, it is beyond sweet and charming. Second it is a complete family affair with a ton of DIY straight from the heart and last but certainly not least, it was all executed for under 10k which most of us know, is no small feat. And the best part? The bride has left some great tips below on how to save money and still throw a gorgeous wedding. Photographed by Public Image, this wedding is a trifecta of pretty goodness and we are soaking every last detail in.
{click here for the FULL wedding gallery}
Daniel proposed on July 21st, and after a little encouragement from our family and friends we decided on an October wedding at my family’s home in Connecticut. The decision to have a Connecticut wedding (we live in Boston) was largely influenced by the fact that my father had passed away the previous December, and it was important for us to honor his memory while still creating a day that was a joyful celebration of our marriage. Ultimately, having the wedding at home created a strong sense of my dad’s presence. After we decided on the at home wedding, Daniel had the idea to replace lighting a unity candle with planting a tree, both to honor my father (who obsessively planted trees) and symbolize the beginning or our lives together. We chose to plant Mt. Laurel, which was my dad’s favorite flower and the inspiration for my name. In addition, we used a piece of my father’s artwork, a print of birch trees, as the cover of our programs. I love that when I look at our wedding photos, even though my dad is not in them, I am surrounded by all things he planted, built, designed and collected.
We knew we wanted a intimate and relaxed wedding, so along with our families we did most of the work ourselves. The few vendors we used, for food and photography, were already friends or acquaintances, which kept the informal, at home feel. Daniel and I printed the invitations and programs ourselves, scoured antique stores and flea markets for decorations, and spent many, many hours working in the yard. My lovely sisters made and canned the apple butter for favors, and my very talented sister-in-law did all of the flowers. We also had a large group to help with set up the day before and morning of the wedding. We can’t thank our friends and family enough for all of the time, energy and support they gave to us during the planning stage. With their help we were able to create a wedding that was as beautiful as it was joyful. I think my sister-in-law described our wedding best when she said, “After an incredibly difficult year filled with loss and sadness, Laura and Dan’s marriage was a beautiful reminder that joy cannot by snuffed out by despair.”
A few ways we saved money…
Flowers: We saved a ton of money by having my amazing sister-in-law do our flowers. We purchased the flowers for the bridal party bouquets wholesale online, but the rest of the flowers came from local farms and the grocery store. Choosing to use seasonal, native flowers was a large part of keeping the floral budget affordable.
Alcohol: We saved money by limiting the alcohol selection to beer and wine. For beer we had Yuengling, which is delicious, cheap and a treat for our guests because it is not sold in New England (a guest from Pennsylvania supplied it). To add some variety we supplemented the Yuengling with pumpkin ale and hard cider. When it came to the wine the owner of a local store supplied a selection of reds and whites and allowed us to return any unopened bottles. As an added bonus, he lent us tubs to store the wine and gave us a key to his ice chest.
Decor: When it came to decorations our best resources were Etsy, thrift stores/flea markets and our backyards. I learned that in New England it is best to visit flea markets at the end of the summer, because the vendors don’t want to store their stuff all winter and practically give it away (like two case of mason jars for five dollars)! Also, our budget forced us to be creative with what we already owned and the natural resources around us. As a result, some of my favorite decorations cost almost nothing. For example, I used my button collection on the place cards and collected sycamore bark from my street for table numbers. Also, I was able to scale back some ideas I had seen on StyleMePretty. I loved the idea of making my own napkins, but because of the cost of fabric and amount of sewing it would require we chose instead to use squares of fabric to ground our centerpieces. I was happy with the look, and my grandmother (upon Daniel’s suggestion) incorporated the fabric into a wedding quilt she made for us.
When it came to photography we chose NOT to save money. It was important to us to have beautiful images of our big day and spending more money on our photographer was one of the best decisions we made.
Overall, because of our time and budget constraints we had to be flexible when planning. This turned out to be a blessing because some of the things I liked most about our wedding came together when our original idea didn’t work out. During the planning stage a friend liked to remind me that it wasn’t about the wedding, it was about the marriage. There were times when I had to step back and remember that the important thing was the sacredness of our vows and the joy in our union, not my table decorations. Keeping the celebration of our marriage as the focus allowed me to enjoy the day fully and that joy is what I remember most about our day and what I think shines through in our pictures.
Photography: Ricky Chapman of Public Image / Wedding Dress: WToo / Hair: Maryanne Warzecho of Cahoots Hair Design / Hairpiece: Whichgoose / Ties: Rokgear / Customized Birch Tube: Little Retreats / Caterer: Nick’s Catering / Cake: Cakes Unlimited / Ceremony Musicians: Dave Swanson, Jonathan Cook, Melissa Rae
22 Comments about “A New England Wedding full of DIY”
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The DIY ideas are great, and it just shows that there is so much beauty in nature and in simplicity, too. It is also sweet that her father was included in their special day in so many of the little touches.
The buttons are a nice touch, as well as the hanging jars of candles.
What a beautiful wedding - I love all the details and the DIY tips. Congratulations on your wedding and thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing this beautiful wedding! It's so perfect -- I'm really going to take some of these DIY ideas and go with them. I'm so glad this lovely bride reminded us to focus on the marriage and not the wedding. In a few years (maybe even months!), no one will remember what our centerpieces were, but they will hopefully be able to tell that we (the brides & grooms) are engaging in a loving, happy and successful marriage. Blessings on Laurel & Daniel's marriage!!
So simple but so gorgeous! I really like how it looks like - everything is so pretty and don't matter that it's casual in some ways.
Love this. Am bookmarking this wedding for so many reasons.
Ditto all the "love this". I totally have a crush on this wedding, probably because I want my wedding to be the same - simple, beautiful and full of feeling. BTW, really like the different color boleros on the BMs - cute idea!
I love it! And I know the bride! And that makes me feel so special! :)
A fan from Switzerland...
It's so fun to see a wedding from the state where I grew up, and beautiful inspiration on a budget is always good as well. I love the simplicity of the decor they chose - the fabric squares on the tables and button place cards are adorable!
wow! these are great! where did you get the centerpiece fabric? I'm looking for something very similar for my Oct wedding. thank you!
I am blown away and totally in love with this wedding. An absolutely gorgeous and sincere wedding day. Thanks so much for sharing all your great DIY ideas and for proving once again that you can have a lovely, fun and classy wedding without going deep into debt. Way to go, Laura, Dan and the entire team!
Absolutely beautiful pictures~!
This line made me laugh and cry: there were times when I had to step back and remember that the important thing was the sacredness of our vows and the joy in our union, not my table decorations.
Thank you for sharing!
Thanks so much for all of your lovely words!
Kelly: I purchased the fabric from Hawthorne Threads. The website is: http://www.hawthornethreads.com/fabric/pre_cuts . We ordered pre-cut fat quarter bundle, and my sister-in-law did the hemming. A fat quarter is a good size, and a bundle is made up of different fabrics within the same color scheme. Have fun choosing!
This is beautiful! Thank you for sharing! I've been so overwhelmed with wedding planning that I decided to take this week off. Today I snuck a peek at this blog and finally found something I could imagine pulling off in 101 days... and would love to. I like the way you honored your father's memory by including him in so many details.
Thank you for the inspiration! Maybe I'll actually get up the nerve to walk into another dress shop now, remembering "the important thing was the sacredness of our vows and the joy in our union, not my table decorations" or what dress I could afford.
This is simply darling! The DIY projects don't seem to difficult or expensive, yet had a major impact on the look and feel of your wedding. Your ideas are cute and well planned. Congratulations!
I agree with Heather, the most important part of any wedding is exchanging of vows in front of family and guests. Many times peer pressure can be overwhelming and unforgiving. What starts out to be a simple, beautiful ceremony and reception can end up with all the trappings of wedding magazine marketing and the expectations of others.
Congratulations in having a wedding that was within your budget, simple, well orchestrated and exactly what you wanted.
Lenore K.
Thanks for the tips your talking about it so others is able to know! Definitely will keep in mind. To tell you the truth, took me a while to get it right, you got to reignite the place that first brought you together and also stop doing a lot of bad steps we all naturally make if you want to save your marriage
Glad that you're speaking about it so others can know! Will use for sure. But, what I finally figured out is, you have to reignite the place that first attracted you both and also prevent a lot of poor decisions we all do at first if you want to help fix your marriage
Laura,
Wow, what a beautiful wedding! I'm the editorial director for WS Publishing Group and we're putting together a new book on planning weddings under $10,000. Could you email me? I'd love to talk to you about being considered. Your wedding is lovely and would be such an inspiration to readers.
brettan@wspublishinggroup.com
Thanks!
Your wedding looked amazing!! Congratulations and best wishes on your marriage!! =]
Awesome Wedding Photography! You can tell the photographer was a season professional. Very inspirational blog post. Thank you for sharing the images. :-)