Ok folks, this darling DIY farm wedding is just the perfect way to end our Wedding Wednesday pretty parade. It’s super adorable, personal and crafty all wrapped up in one sweet as can be wedding. Held at the Inn at Fernbrook Farms, all the fabulous images from Di Bezi Photography makes me wish I pulled an invite to this fun fete! For even more be sure to check out the full gallery!
Click here to see the entire image gallery!
From the Bride… My husband and I met almost eight years ago in Mallorca, Spain of all places. That’s right, two Jersey folks ventured out to Spain one summer (I as a nanny and Keith as a grad student studying abroad), and seven years later we were married at The Inn at Fernbrook Farms in Chesterfield, New Jersey. I always knew that I wanted an outdoor wedding, so after a long and grueling search across the states of NJ and PA, we ended up fifteen minutes from our house on a beautiful farm that has been family run since the 1800’s.
My vision for our July 24th wedding was “modern whimsy and burlap with a touch of antique.” From the start, I knew I would be embarking on many DIY projects since I had dreamed about this day for so long and wanted it to feel like OUR event and not a cookie cutter wedding. Overall, it turned out to be a relaxed and personal event that our friends and family are still talking about! Everyone pitched in to help bring all the elements together which, looking back, is a big reason why everything felt so right. I was out there along with my bridesmaids setting up the tables just hours before the wedding.
We constructed paper fans for the ceremony with tags that read, “Thanks for being at our one day that says we don’t want to spend another without being man and wife.” Little did we know how important those fans would be in keeping our guests alive on a 105 degree day! The chuppah was constructed by Keith and my father the week before the wedding. We wanted it to be very natural and simple, and constructed the frame out of birch poles with a burlap canopy top. My father’s wife sewed ALL of our dinner napkins from fabric I collected, each table with their own pattern. I crafted their corresponding place cards with a scrap of their napkin fabric that I pegged to burlapped boards. We made the burlap table runners, table numbers, and collected hurricane lanterns for the dinner tables. My father’s wife also created our ring pillow which was made out of pieces of material that once belonged to each of our four grandmothers, all of whom have passed. It was such a nice way to honor and include them in our ceremony.
The flowers were a group effort, led by a family friend. I wanted the flowers to be simple and classic. I created a loop out of natural twine so that the flower-filled mason jars could hang over the aisle chairs. They came out so beautifully! We also had wreaths hanging at the front entrance and small mason jars on the cocktail tables. The bridesmaid hyrdrangea bouquets were wrapped in burlap and tied with twine.
The hit of the night was definitely the DIY photo booth that I created using a burlap backdrop and our monogram from Anthropologie. I bought props from an Etsy vendor and left disposable cameras on a table and let people go at it. All five cameras were filled with such inventive and fun pictures!
Other DIY touches included chalkboard menu boards, drink stirrers with our monogram, a guest book that contained paper and envelopes for guests to tuck notes into, burlap pocket squares for the groomsmen, handmade wooden signs pointing guests to the ceremony, reception, and cocktail hour and hurricane lanterns filled with floating candles that lined the walkways. We also made dozens upon dozens of homemade cookies that I placed in collected apothecary jars that guests could fill up in cellophane bags on their way out.
Wedding Venue: The Inn at Fernbrook Farms / Wedding Photographer: Di Bezi Photography / Wedding Dress: Ramona Keveza / Men’s Suits: Express / Caterer: Main Street Catering / Bridesmaid Dresses: J. Crew / Band: The Cherubs / Ring Bearer Ties: The Belle and the Beau / Flowers: Friend of the Bride