Iowa Wedding with DIY Gorgeousness
I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! Tait and I were actually at the Cape all of last week so before I begin, I wanted to send a HUGE thank you to Erin, Elaine and our Guest Bloggers for keeping the blog afloat (and totally gorgeous) while we were gone! You girls are the best. Okay, so we have the loveliest of lovely weddings for you this Monday morning. The bride and her friends and family crafted all of the gorgeous details on a $13,000 budget and made it look like a $50,000 budget…something we LOVE to see. And the photographs by Eric Yerke..well, totally beyond. I am seriously swooning over this little beauty and I know you will too. Click here to see even more!
Click here to see the full wedding in all it’s fabulousness!
We met this past October during Oktoberfest in Amana – it was definitely love at first sight. On New Year’s day, Adam proposed and so began our fairytale.
As a graphic designer I had many ideas and thoughts going through my head as what I wanted the wedding’s theme to be… I have always wanted to have an outdoor ceremony – something so beautiful and real about having your wedding outdoors. To me its one step closer to God – surrounded by all his creation. And our reception had to be in the Festhalle Barn! The location of Oktoberfest… Where we met! With all its rich and strong history and elegance it was a great place that not only had meaning but potential!
There was one thing besides our tight budget ($13,000) that was very important to us. I wanted to carry throughout the wedding day the “feeling” that our guests would have. A feeling of a whimsical fairytale that they were swept into the beauty of nature in our ceremony and experiencing the elegant contrast of the rich wood barn against the flowing fabric and tranquil candlelight – - while they listened to the soft jazz / classical music of the band while they enjoyed their night away from their reality.
Some of the interesting snippets of the wedding / decoration…
We bought wine glasses from all sorts of second hand stores, vintage stores, goodwills, etc. — which made them all different shapes and sizes – creating a very homey individual look. Also the guests got to take the wine glasses home with them as a favor. All of the brass we used to decorate with throughout the reception area came from Goodwill’s so there was no sets — just playful and random. The fabric we used to drape was muslin (which you know is extremely affordable). We used lots of fabric softener to make it easier to drape. The backdrop for the reception (behind the band & photo booth) was cardboard pieces that I painted then we taped them together.
The menu was made up of a piece of wood which I sprayed chalkboard paint on then wrote the menu on — the frame was from an antique store. For our ceremonial unity we used different types of rope/string/etc. So… Adam came up with a piece that depicted him, I did and each set of our parents did. Then during the ceremony we tied them all together.
The directional signs for the wedding were just old pieces of barn board that we hinged together and my mother in law painted. Oh and all the little candles were bought at Hobby Lobby (not sure how wide-spread that store is…) which were very inexpensive! Another place that saved us money was GotPrint.com — we printed all of our invite pieces from this website for… I think around $280.
Planning / Coordination / Design & Decorating – Done by the bride with help from family and friends / Photography – Eric Yerke / Ceremony Venue – Kent Park / Reception Venue – Festhalle Barn in Amana, IA / Cake – Deluxe Cakes & Pastries / Groom’s Suit – DKNY / Dress – The Bridal Connection, designed by Christina Rossi / Bride’s Shoes – Menbur, bought from Endless.com / Bridesmaid’s Dresses – Victoria’s Secret / / Hair – Tracy Andes / Flowers (bouquets & boutonnieres only) – All Seasons Weeds / Flowers (table arrangements) – Amy Raes / Wreath, Swag – Mother of the bride / Ceremony Music – Janet Carlon, Amy Carlon, Joey Russell / Band – Freestyle Band / Caterer – Howard Ball / Beer – Millstream Brewery / Appetizers – Amana Meatshop
43 Comments about “Iowa Wedding with DIY Gorgeousness”
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The jewel tone palette is so perfect! And of course, I'm a sucker for a barn with pretty string lights...so romantic (sigh)!
I loooooove the bridesmaids' dresses. The color palette is perfection! Lovely for summer. The couple is adorable. What an awesome wedding.
This is awesome! Proof that a gorgeous wedding is possible if you have great, personal details!
a gorgeous wedding. the photography is amazing. beautiful all around.
I've been planning a barn wedding in Iowa as well and this helps greatly seeing just how beautiful it can turn out - THANK YOU for featuring an Iowa wedding!!
I just love the bride's shoes! The design is adorably classic, but the "I Do" on the sole is super sweet. What brand are they?!
I was lucky enough to be invited to this wedding and it was as beautiful and creative as it looks. Taking home my wine glass brings memories of the day every time I use it. The photographer did a great job catching the "extra" touches that were everywhere!
The moustaches are hilarious! Never seen a wedding bouquet like that before. Looks super-great!
I really love this color palette, the flowers, and photography. And boy did she let the bridesmaids shine. That first shot is smoking hot!
OMG - we almost had our whole wedding at Festhalle - I absolutely HEART that place! Beautiful wedding, well done.
The tables are beautiful. What type of fabric is used on the cake table and the head table? It's kind of crinkled looking and shimmery. Absolutely gorgeous effect.
Mary, it looks like Crinkle Taffeta, but I am not positive. Lovely wedding all around! :-)
Love that you featured an Iowa wedding! This is beautiful!
This post hit home for me and my spouse, great job!
I love this! My wedding reception is in 9 days at the barn! I am so excited! Where did you get that gorgeous chandelier?!
lovely! i want your wedding! just curious, how many people can festhalle barn hold?
I am from the Amana area and LOVE these photos! Is there any way to get in contact with the bride to ask her some questions?
We are having our wedding reception at the Festhalle Barn next Spring and LOVE the way the Muslin was draped!!! I would like to do something like this next year but am unsure of how much fabric to get?? Any suggestions??!! Beautiful wedding and I even got the relaxed whymsical feel from the computer screen!
Great personalities. Goes to show you don't have to be too serious on your wedding day. Also, love a man in suspenders!
@ Jamie - The festhalle can hold quite a few... not sure the exact amount but I would say for sure 300.
@ Laura - I'm the bride :) and I would be glad to answer ANY questions you have!
@ Rachel - I still have the fabric we used, if you would like to buy it, it's yours! I purchased it at Hobby Lobby.
I am getting married in the barn in September. I was looking for a barn in the area and came across your wedding and loved it! I too loved the Muslin, so Rachel, if you plan to buy it from Laura, would you be willing to sell it to me after your wedding?
Laura, I have a few questions for you. What time did you end your reception? The contract says noise should be kept down after 10:30pm, so I'm wondering if that means the wedding needs to end at that time. If you had out-of-town guests, were there any nearby accommodations that you'd recommend? We already booked the entire Guest House Motel, but we will need more. Thanks!
kelli- I don't have ALL the muslin I did from the wedding but a good portion of it. You may buy it from me if you would like! I think we ended around midnight. We had a live band so the noise wasn't so bad for surrounding houses. I would suggest going to the closest houses and making sure they know what to expect. Yes! Great that you booked the guest house. Also, there's a lil B&B in Homested called Zuber's. I know the owner, she's a great lady! Then after that we had people stay in Little Amana. Hope this helps!! Please tell the lady that you booked the Festhalle with to give you my contact info and we can chat more :)
Laura--
I absolutely love your wedding and it is the same vibe I want for my own! We are planning a June 9th, 2012 wedding but we just booked the barn because it is filling up fast! I was wondering more about your ceremony at Kent Park. How many guests did you have, and because it was in the park, did you get ready at a B&B or the guest house before?? Congrats on a beautiful wedding & I hope you are enjoying being newlyweds!
Meredith, We had about... 150-175 guests at the park. We actually got ready at my inlaws house since they live in Amana, but the B&B would be wonderful. Or even somewhere in Coralville would probably work since the park isn't too far from there :) Also, if you want to talk about the wedding in more detail please feel free to get my information from the lady you booked the barn with! Thanks!
Wondering about your tablecloths. Did you rent them or make them. Also where did you rent the chairs.
I am getting to this so late, but I looooove this wedding (and not only because I grew up in Iowa). And I must say - the bride and her bridesmaids are gorgeous!
I've been looking for a place like this! I'm not from around here so I didn't know what was really available. Can you give me the contact information for this venue? My wedding is soon, so hopefully it's still available!
Hello Laura,
My daughter is also having her reception at the festhalle this summer '11. Were you able to sell your muslin? If not, I would be very interested in purchasing it. You swagged that so attractively! Also, a question about the festhalle chairs. Did you use the ones provided with the barn rental or did you rent others? If you used the festhalle chairs did they require any cleaning or covering? From your pictures it looks like you have something a little special for the head table at least but couldn't really tell about the other seating. Thank you so much! Hope you have been having a wonderful first year together!
Kristin: I have already sold the muslin. Sorry! I purchased it at Hobby Lobby (in case you're interested). Chairs... We rented some for the head table but the rest were from the Festhalle. They aren't horrible but not amazing. They worked for us :) Not too much cleaning, maybe a quick one. Thanks so much!
I love love love your photos!! I am having my reception at the Festhalle on June 23, 2012 and have been trying to figure out how to decorate it! After looking at your photos I fell in love and know what I am going to do! We have also struggled with finding a ceremony and a officiant, but I like the idea of a park wedding! Anything a bride should know as far as the barn or area goes, like vendors? Any advice is appreciated as we are in the very beginnings of planning!!!!
Laura-
Gorgeous wedding! I'm planning my wedding for the fall of 2012 and having purple as my color. Who did your flower arrangements on the tables? Did you use silk flowers? Thank you!
I am no longer certain where you're getting your info, but great topic. I must spend a while learning more or understanding more. Thanks for fantastic info I used to be looking for this info for my mission.
Amber: Yes a park wedding is wonderful! Ours was in Kent Park. And as far as the barn goes... Make sure you have lots of fans to move the air around as it was quite warm in there for us!! Other than that it was a great location :)
Ashley: The flower arrangements on the table were done by my cousin. We actually ordered the flowers through a wholesaler and saved TONS of money :) If you're interested in her info let me know!
Hey Laura-amazing wedding!! I too am planning a Sept. 8th, 2012 wedding at the festhalle-wondering how many yards of fabric you used?
In case anyone reading this is hoping for a 2012 summer wedding at Festhalle, I wanted to let you know that I had reserved the Barn for August 18th, 2012, but will be releasing it sometime this week (probably Wednesday). We're still getting married! Just decided to do it in California, instead. :-) I'm not sure if they have a waiting list, but if you're interested in reserving it that weekend, you should give them a call later this week at 1-800-579-2294.
Amanda- Oh my, I can't remember for sure. I would say 125 yds??? Or Maybe 150 yds. We used some of the fabric at the ceremony so it's hard to say. But get more than you think you can always double up - which is what we did. :)
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I am trying to get ahold of the barn- can anyone give me contact information? Also- do they do wedding ceremonies? Lastly!
Laura- where did you get the chandelier?