As a DIY bride myself, I totally get it when bride’s describe their big day and how thankful they are to their family and friends who helped them out along the way. Because let’s face it, you absolutely can not pull off the DIY day of your dreams without all those helping hands and support! Wild Eyed Photography captured all the personal details and you can see even more right here.
From the Bride… Kevin and I met over seven years ago in a tree planting camp and have been on a love adventure ever since. Our relationship has never followed the conventional path and we wanted our wedding to reflect the unique journey we have traveled together. It was very important to us that we DIY as much of the wedding as possible so that we could represent ourselves in the décor and mood.
As the wedding day inched closer we realized that in order to pull off our DIY wedding we were going to need to rely heavily on our family and friends to help us out. Everyone we asked was happy to lend a hand and it made us feel surrounded by love and support on our big day. We asked our dear friend Liz to perform the ceremony and we wrote our own vows. We were married down by the water under a beautiful tree that my cousin, Tara had decorated with a chandelier she had made using mason jars. Our friend Phil played the guitar and sang “Lost Together” by Blue Rodeo as we walked down the aisle. As Kevin and I stood up in front of our closest friends and family and said our vows, the whole world fell away and all I could see or hear was my husband and his words of love. Hands down the most overwhelming and beautiful part of the day.
We decorated the tables with burlap runners, the centerpieces were vintage green glass vases that my cousins and aunt filled with flowers that they had picked for us and I stamped the guests’ initials on little tags that I placed in their wine glasses with a sprig of lavender. From the beginning I knew that I had wanted to use vintage books on the tables instead of table numbers. It all came together perfectly when I was in The Paper Place one day and saw a collection of old library book sign out cards. I used the cards to write the title of the book in place of the table number and listed the guests’ names in the lines underneath. Our friend Alex Davies created the most beautiful and delicious wedding cakes and behind the cake table I hung a piece of plywood that I had decorated by covering it with old sheet music. Instead of a traditional guest book we collected vintage postcards and had people sign them and drop them into an old birdcage. One of my favourite decorations was a “romance tent” I created by hanging an Ikea Bed Canopy from a tree on the beach and filled it with blankets, pillows and twinkle lights.
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photography: Wild Eyed Photography | Wedding Venue: Family Home in Ottawa, Canada | Wedding Dress: Carol Hannah