Hi Bridal Babes! It’s day number 2 of my wedding week here on Something Turquoise and I’m excited to showcase all of our gorgeous wedding details… and I hope you enjoyed my highlight film from yesterday! Having a backyard wedding, meant we had to get creative and personal with all our details to keep the look and feel we were aiming for. We wanted a twinkle-lit backyard cocktail party vibe with delicious, easy food, drinks and music, while still feeling at home in the backyard {i.e. not super formal, more like a fab party}. The weekend began with rain, lots of it… and not just a shower or two, but an east coast hurricane kind of rain. Therefore, our plan of having tables in the backyard for our reception had to be adjusted on the fly! Thankfully, the home had a covered back porch that we were able to put all of our tables beneath still keeping a cocktail party/cozy backyard vibe. During the wedding process, our biggest worry or concern was weather. When you plan a fully outdoor wedding, it’s definitely something you worry about! A word of advice now that I’m safely on the other side, relax and just enjoy what happens! Not even a little {or a lot} of rain can ruin such a beautiful day. You just have to work with what you have, move your tables, grab some darling umbrellas, drink champagne, kiss your groom and have a blast! Now.. onto the pretty details!
Our Ceremony
For our front porch ceremony, we wanted to keep it really simple. The home is gorgeous as is and therefore we didn’t want to overdo it. We used a dreamy eucalyptus garland with blush ribbon hanging above us with twinkle lights strung in for the ceremony and we also strung twinkle lights up the banisters and topiaries and used some plants up the steps to keep everything really lush and easy. Our ceremony seating was open {no sides} and we used a large chalkboard sign draped in eucalyptus to let our guests know to pick a seat, not a side! For our aisle, Jen made us a gorgeous sign { find the DIY here! } that tied off the aisle and darling chair tags that reserved our families front row seats, yet another one of Jen’s amazing DIY wedding creations that you can find here! We we’re so thankful for Jen’s amazing projects and the fun we had collaborating on so many creative DIY’s!
Our Reception
Our reception began directly after the ceremony in the backyard. Even with all of the rain and cold weather for early October, can I just say, it was beautiful. We hung twinkle lights from tree to tree in the backyard and lit lanterns and candles throughout. It was the perfect twinkle lit reception. We wanted to include lots of personalized details to make everything really feel like us. We included our ‘S’ initial in a few different ways, as well as a couple of my favorite Foiled Prints and engagement photos taken in the same backyard thanks to our favorite photog, Shots by Cheyenne . It made each corner and table really personal to us. It was amazing seeing all of these ideas and Pinterest finds finally come to life! When first walking into the reception, guests were greeted with our welcome table featuring our DIY guest book pumpkin + sign {idea from Something Turquoise !}, honeyfund frame {another ST idea !} and a date night jar to keep everything fun + interactive when they first walked in! We also had our really fun Team Bride + Team Groom buttons {that Jen so thoughtfully made us in her DIY here! } that our guests LOVED. They could wear their pins throughout the wedding and see how everyone knew us! I really loved that we included a child and current photo as it was fun to see our family wearing childhood picture pins! Such a great icebreaker for everyone attending.
Centerpieces
For our table centerpieces, we used collected vases, small lanterns, glassware {and more pickle jars than you’d care to know!} and set them in random combinations on each table that included loose flowers, eucalyptus and candles on blush tablecloths. Which by the way, I’m in love with! We didn’t want white and thankfully we didn’t for the rain, but I love how these kept everything looking warm! We really wanted everything to feel like a boho-chic cocktail party and really loved how the silver, gold and glass glassware and vases really brought the look and feel to life! We didn’t hire a wedding coordinator since I wanted to do-it-all-myself, but we did hire the lovely Elizabeth, from Stockroom Vintage who is an event stylist and it was money well spent. She did a fabulous job decorating, putting everything together and hand lettering all of our details. She really helped bring our vision to life and she since had the reins, I could really relax while I was getting ready!
Drink + Dessert Tables
For our drink and dessert tables, we made kraft paper ‘tablecloths’ and were able to write some fun details on them! I loved this idea as it added a little more whimsy to our tables! Jen loved it too, and is actually going to share a DIY for this project on Friday – so stay tuned, you’ll love it! To keep everything easy, we separated each table by drinks, dinner + desserts. For our drink table, we had everything self-served including red + white wine, lemon water, sweet tea and soft drinks. For our dinner table, we featured a super fun taco bar with all of the fixings, which was easy, fun + delicious! Lastly, our gorgeous dessert table. Instead of the traditional, large tiered cake we took a different approach. A gracious family friend baked our cut cake so we could still traditionally cut the cake, without such an expensive cost! To still include dessert, we purchased four variations of cookies and filled up the cookie jars! This was adorable and an easy dessert for outside + easy for guests to grab throughout the evening.
Twinkle Lights!
After the sun set, the twinkle lights we’re in full effect! The house looked beautiful and we danced together as Husband + Wife! Stop by tomorrow to see our full wedding feature! I’m so excited to share our favorite moments from the big day!
Event Credits
Photographer: Shots by Cheyenne // Videography: Dog and Doe // Venue: Family Friend's Home // Event Styling: Stockroom Vintage // Rentals: Liberty Party Rentals // Florist: A Village of Flowers // Restroom Rental: Posh Privy // Invitations: Wedding Paper Diva's // Catering: Swankey's Taco Shop // Bride's Robe: Love Ophelia // Bride's Attire: The Dress Theory // Bride's Shoes: Urban Outfitters // Bride's Earrings: Bauble Bar // Bride's Bracelets: Project Dahlia // Bride's First Touch Bracelet Gift: My Beloved Co. // Bride's Hairpin: BHLDN // Wedding Band: Zales // Engagement Ring: Custom // Bride's Garter: Studio Mirela // Hair: Aimee Sanchez // Make-Up: Kelsey at Salon West Nashville // Groom's Attire: Noose and Monkey // Groom's Shirt + Tie: ASOS // Groom's Shoes: Cole Haan // Groom's Watch: Nixon // Groom's Ring: Amazon // Groom's First Touch Gift: The Tie Bar // First Touch Custom Card: Paperlaced // Dog Bow Tie + Leash: Target // Wedding Cake Topper: Emily Stefan Shop // Custom Prints: Foiled Prints // Balloons: Supply and Co. // Bride's Hanger: Caroline Calligraphy
Shea Shoemaker, our guest blogger, is a recently hitched stylish DIY bride who said “I Do” to Joseph, the love of her life, on October 3rd, 2015 with their pup Knox by their side. You can personally find + follow her on these social channels:
Pinterest // Instagram // Twitter
