July 21, 2012

4 years ago today I married the best friend I could ever ask for. It has been a crazy adventure since then, with ups and with downs, but through it all his love has been unyielding and my love for him has only grown.

As we planned our wedding it was a necessity to plan creatively. Though working with a tight budget, we were able to pull off the wedding we wanted by utilizing thrift stores, yard sales, DIY, hand-me-downs, and the helpful hands of our family and friends. Here is a look back at our special day!

We were lucky enough to get to have our wedding at a family friend's farm in King William, VA. This house is such a dream and it's even more beautiful in person. The wedding party walked this path to a circular rose garden filled with our family and friends who were seated on hay bales and hand-pieced quilts.

Hay Bales - Courtesy of Edgehill Farm
Quilts - Eno Family and Friends
Arbor - Dan Eno
Stained Glass Windows - Wedding Gift

Something Borrowed

Aunt's bracelet.

Somthing Blue

Blue TOMS for part of the day, but I walked down the aisle barefoot!

Something Old

I wore my Grandma's wedding dress, recreated and altered by my wonderfully talented Aunt.

Something New

The day of our wedding Dan gave me a necklace with a blue stone because he knew I was planning on walking barefoot and wanted me to have my "blue"!

Our wedding would not have been the same without the help of our family and friends. Family members came all the way from California to work and help  make our day special. My Aunt was our rock star in the weeks leading up to our wedding. She made all of the bouquets and flower arrangements, recreated and altered my Grandma's dress for me, and made a matching dress for my flower girl out of a vintage wedding dress we found at a thrift shop! On the day of she took on the role of wedding planner and even offered to yell at anyone I wanted! ("They can be mad at me all they want, I'm going back to California!") The work she did leading up to and on the day of our wedding was the best gift she could have ever given us. Her creativity and attitude of selflessness allowed my mom to relax and enjoy the day and left me without a care in the world. Love you, Aunt Keely!

thrift stores, yard sales, DIY projects, and hand-me-downs...

I am so thankful to have been raised in a home where we grew up shopping at the thrift store. When we'd go with my Grandma she'd call it "the fun store", and when we went with my mom it felt like a treasure hunt..."what will we find this time?!" We grew up thinking creatively about just about everything: instead of seeing a store of discarded items, we saw opportunity; when something broke, we figured how to fix it or we used it in a new way. This is something we still do - it's how I've furnished our home and it's how we decorated our wedding.

Each table had a variety of jars and vases layered with bottles, pink depression glass, and small trinkets, all sitting on a burlap sack. Vintage books were stacked to provide varying heights for the table decor and vintage buttons were scattered throughout like confetti. 

The gift table had a vintage suitcase where guests could put cards or other small items so that they did not get lost in the shuffle, and we used a vintage pickle jar as our "Honeymoon Fund". One of my favorite things from our wedding is our tree stump that Dan carved for me. It's such a classic gesture of love and looks great in our living room!

Collection of jars, vases, and bottles - Thrift Stores and Yard Sales
​Vintage Pickle Jar - Yard Sale
​Lace, Burlap Ribbon, Burlap Sacks, and Vintage Buttons - Amazon
Vintage Books - Thrift Store (Tip: When looking at old books, remove the dust-cover! These beautiful designs were hidden underneath - and they're all different!)
Mini Bird Houses and Hanging Birds - Target (clearance Christmas ornaments!)
Pink Depression Glass - Mom's Collection
Tree Stump - Dan Eno

We used our wedding cake as a nod to JMU, where we met and both went to college. Our cake topper was Duke Dog getting married, handmade by my sister! She worked so hard creating this sculpture for us and it was a very special addition to our wedding. Our mini-cake and cupcakes were made by a family friend and, as you can see, the icing had perfect face-smearing quality!

Duke Dog Sculpture - Chloe (created with colored clay, beads, wire, and left over lace)
Cake and Cupcakes - Georgie Culley
Cupcake Wrapper - Amazon

Thank you for taking this walk down memory lane with me. I hope this helps you dream up ideas for your future wedding, plan your soon-to-be wedding, or reminds you of your special day. Wedding days can be such a whirlwind and making plans can be stressful, but looking back I wouldn't change a thing. Happy July 21st!