The surrealistic cloud of being engaged left Diana with the very real task of planning a wedding, the first step was to prioritize. They knew they wanted an event that was comfortable and open in nature, a true celebration of their commitment.

She also was certain that they wanted to make this event “theirs” and decided the best way to do so would be through creating the entire thing from scratch. Crafting many of the projects on her own and leaving the tasks she knew were impossible to the professionals, making the perfect crafty DIY Texas wedding. To see more of this wedding captured by Elissa R Photography be sure to click here.

From Diana:

There were a few things I knew I wanted from the beginning. I wanted my wedding at Mercury Hall, a beautiful venue in central Austin, and I wanted Sam Doores and the Tumbleweeds to play – everything else I built around these two things. I tried to save money in all the areas that were feasible, but also knew where to spend it. For things I could not tackle myself, I found wonderful vendors, my caterer was amazing, my florist created the most beautiful arrangements of succulents and yellow billy balls that tied the wedding together, and of course my photographer was out of this world. 

We are lucky enough to be blessed with a large group of very talented friends, and it was through their help that we were not only able to have the wedding we envisioned, but to stay in budget too. We have a friend who is a great cook make our cake and all the pies, and a mixologist designed our signature cocktails. Not to mention the fact that my husband, being an owner of Austin Beerworks (a local brewery), took care of the beer. In addition, we had an entire team of worker bees get to the venue two hours ahead of time to set up. The day of the event I had decided that I would be happy with however they decorated, since I would have no control over it, but I didn’t need that encouragement; it was absolutely perfect. 

The wedding party wore clothing perfect for spring, sun dresses from Urban Outfitters for the girls and linen suits for the boys. I decided that since I was getting married I might as well have two dresses, so half way through I swapped out my beautiful lace wedding dress for a fun and swirly short dancing dress. Between the outdoor dance party on the lawn and the photobooth inside, our guests had a wonderful time through the night.

I also took on an insane amount of DIY craft projects to make the event personal. I made a pinwheel backdrop for the photobooth by creating pinwheels out of scrapbook paper and adhering them to twine dangling from dowel rods. The table centerpieces were decorated with wine bottles that had been collected over our entire engagement, felt flower garlands on twine, and paper pinwheels. I had my florist make beautiful succulent and billy ball boutonnieres for the wedding party, and I created fabric ones for family. All our signs and table numbers were picture frames and plates painted with chalkboard paint. For our favors, I wanted something that our guests could actually use, so, in their interest, I created an aphrodisiac love tea. An herbalist friend advised me on which herbs would best and I ordered them in bulk online. I then combined them into reusable tea bags and had a rubber stamp made to label each tag. 

Photographer: Elissa R Photography
Venue: Mercury Hall
Makeup: Rhea McCarter
Caterer: Pink Avocado
Coordinator: Kristi Treadwell with Joyful Details
Dress Designer: Unbridaled
Flowers: Pollen Floral Art
Groom’s Attire: Men’s Wearhouse
Jewelry: Etsy
Shoe Designer: Seychelles
Veil or Hair Accessories: Unbridaled
Reception dress by Aidan Mattox | Hair: Jenna Harrington | Cake: Alberto Nuche (friend of the bride) | Officiant: Tim Hamilton

Purple seems to be the rising star around here, it has graced our pages regularly in every shade imaginable. Honoring this love affair with the regal hue, we have  Natalie and Eric’s DIY purple rustic wedding held at the Twin Oaks House and Gardens in San Diego, California.

This secluded venue features artistic and poetic gardens inspired by love, imagination and tranquility. Obviously the couple wanted to capture all those things in their wedding decor and details, spending tons of time creating the centerpieces and DIY touches. Captured by San Diego wedding photographer Priscila Valentina Photography. You can see more in the full gallery by clicking here.

From Natalie:

We fell in love as coworkers at Starbucks. After two years of dating Eric popped the question and within a few days we were investigating venues. Immediately after seeing Twin Oaks House and Gardens we were sold. Eric and I felt that a woodsy/garden vibe seemed to capture our personalities well, and we tried to portray that in our decor as well as other elements in the wedding. Being the fourth sibling in my family to get married, we had a lot of support and experience to help us out.

As you know we adore a good chalk board sign. Natalie made this super cute one that says, ” If I was a flower growing wild and free. All I’d want is for you to be my sweet honey bee.” Underneath they listed the bridal party what a great alternative to a traditional wedding programs. Incredibly cute!

In lue of a candle or sand ceremony we opted for what is called “God’s Knot” which was a fun project for my mom and me to create, and now resides in our home as a meaningful decorative piece.

We spent a lot of time creating the centerpieces ourselves as well as the rest of the flowers for the wedding. My good friend and bridesmaid, Erin Alexander, created the incredible silk floral arrangement that is hung over the gazebo. Though the venue was beautiful by itself, we were able to add DIY touches here and there such as the chalkboard signs, which helped us save on our budget. We were also able to get creative with our guestbook, using a suitcase for notes in the place of your average book.

The venue’s staff was amazing, especially Megan, our Day-Of Coordinator who made everything run so smoothly. Our DJ, Paul Peterson, was a blast and perfectly captured the classic rock/folk vibe we sought. Last but not least, the amazing photographer duo from Priscila Valentina Photography captured our day better than we ever could have imagined. They were so accommodating, showing up early, and staying late so that we could get the most photos possible of the day.

Advice To Other Brides:
My advice to other brides who are wanting a DIY feel is to plan your projects well ahead of time so as not to become too overwhelmed. Most importantly, make sure to stay true to your vision no matter what opinions others may have. Remember, it is your wedding, have fun with it!

Photographer: Priscila Valentina Photography
Venue & Coordinator: Twin Oaks House and Gardens
DJ: Paul Peterson
Dress Designer: Maggie Sottero
Groom’s Attire: Alfani Red
Ties: The Tie Bar
Makeup: Mary Santos | Hair: Suzette Kerr | Veil or Hair Accessories: Handmade by Bride’s Mom | Flowers: Bride’s Friends and Family

We’ve always been captivated by horses and love the idea of incorporating them into your wedding, especially if you are horse lovers like our next couple. Like most couples, they wanted a relaxed atmosphere where they could spend the day and dance the night away with their friends and loved ones.

Emily’s parent’s house where she grew up riding horses was the perfect spot – Chris loved it as much as she did. Complete with a farmhouse,  old stonewalls,  and a big red barn. It was the ideal place for Chris and Emily from the beginning. You can see more horse wedding ideas in the full gallery captured by Orchard Cove Photography.

Their wedding stationery tied perfectly in with their equestrian style wedding and designed by Griffin-vites. The bridesmaid’s dresses in a perwinkle blue from J. Crew went with their whole blue theme. Everything tied together beautifully.

On Wedding Decor & Details:

We wanted the day to feel natural and the look to be true to the farm setting but also be beautiful—we were striving for the right blend and contrast of the rustic and the elegant. We didn’t want to take away from the setting, with the horse barn and the stonewalls around the house, so we tried to stick with “less is more” for decorations, bringing in some pops of color for flowers and a few natural and vintage elements scattered around. Chris re-built the most prominent stonewall that would separate the cocktail hour and the dinner tent and he also built one of the bars that we used out of salvaged wood from our barn. My sister painted signs from more barn boards to direct people around the property. We used a wooden gate to hang the escort cards and also keep the cocktail space separate from the dinner tent. I didn’t want to be too matchy-matchy with a very specific two-color scheme, but we loosely used a dark blue and a soft blush pink as our inspiration and went from there. We ordered grapevine balls and wrapped them with twinkly lights to hang from the tent and decided to use the dark ballroom chairs to complement the grapevine. My grandmother sewed table runners out of a natural burlap, bringing in some texture and layering onto the ivory linens. The whole day came together thanks to all of our family and friends who helped us set up and added their own touches.

Makeup & Hair: Hair Daze
Caterer: Lake Sunapee Country Club
DJ: The Pulse of Boston
Dress Designer: Melissa Sweet
Flowers: Art of Nature
Groom’s Attire: Men’s Warehouse
Shoe Designer: Cole Haan
Stationery: Griffin-vites
Bridesmaid’s Dresses: J. Crew
Calligraphy: Dancing Pen Calligraphy
Rentals:  Lakes Region Tent
Ceremony Musicians : Putnam-Pirozzoli
Jewelry: Priscilla of Boston |Officiant: Reverend Richard Dutton

When you have a beautiful bride, a sweet groom, an ultra stylish (and entertaining) bridal party, and a simply stunning setting -there’s no way the day is going to be anything but spectacular! Kelsey and Dave planned a brilliant Anthropology-inspired wedding that was the perfect combination of comfortable & organic, yet chic and full of so much love.

The bridesmaids’ vintage floral dresses complimented the groomsmens’ pastel bow-ties, suspenders & TOMS, as did Kelsey’s vintage style dress and Dave’s pale yellow cardigan… and this doesn’t even touch on all their fun details at the reception that filled The Enchanted Barn! Our favorite is the embroidered table numbers from The Bakery Home and Design. So cute…right? Magnificently captured by Wisconsin husband and wife duo  The McCartneys Photography. You can see more of this Anthropology Inspired Wedding by visiting the full wedding gallery.

Guess where Kelsey & Dave got their insanely awesome free wedding programs? They got them right here on the Wedding Chicks! You can download your own Heart and Arrow Custom Monogram by clicking here. All you need is some paper, a printer and a little bit of creativity. The Heart and Arrow Custom Monograms are available in an array of colors. It’s so easy and a super cute freebie!

Venue: The Enchanted Barn
Makeup: Calista Salon
Hair: Calista Salon
Caterer: The Enchanted Barn
Day of oordinator: Nicole Woehrmann
DJ: Benjamin Bolopue of Blooms & Tunes
Dress Designer: Galina
Flowers: Brent Douglas Flowers
Groom’s Attire: Gustys Bowties
Jewelry: Vintage, and RainaLee Studios
Shoe Designer: Urban Outfitters
Stationery: Handmade with Wedding Chicks Printable
Shoe Clips: B. Poetic
Groom & Groomsmen Shoes: TOMS
Bridesmaid Dresses: sohomode
Bridesmaid Bouquet & Boutonnieres: EcoLecticEvents
“Sweet Love” Banner: sherisewsweet
Mr and Mrs” Banner: SimpleWeddings
Chalk signs: Written by Kristin Susens, “best woh-man” to the Groom
Embroidered Table Numbers: The Bakery Home and Design
Guestbook: Cut the Cake Designs

Nadia and Jeff’ had a dreamy shabby chic garden wedding. Nadia hand-crafted many of the details in the wedding, including the white ceremony carpet filled with over 2000 petals which were hand-glued by the bride.

The bridesmaids all wore different colored blush dresses and the dessert table was filled with scrumptious treats, including a personalized iPad groom cake, all photographed by Phoebe Joy Photography and coordinated by Majell del Castillo Events. To see more of this shabby chic garden wedding click here.

Photographer: Phoebe Joy Photography
Venue: Rancho de Las Palmas
Makeup: Grace Lin Professional Makeup Team
Cake: Pastries by Edie
Caterer: DJ’s California Catering
Cinematography: Video Keepsakes Inc
Coordinator: Majell del Castillo Events
DJ: The Wedding Music DJ’s
Dress Designer: (Ceremony Gown) Martina Liana
Flowers: Exotic Green Garden
Groom’s Attire: Friar Tux
Jewelry: Tiffany & Co
Shoe Designer: Luichiny
Stationery: Espera Satya (Indonesia)
Prop or Furniture Rentals: 2 create designs
Reception Gown: Christos
Caricature Artist: James Malia
Silhouette Artist: Silhouettes by Sylvia
Photobooth: So Cal Photo Lounge
Groom’s Cake: Jana’s Creative Cake
Bridesmaids Dresses: Nordstrom
Bridal Prep and First Look Venue: Westlake Village Inn

Dan and Laura love gardening and the outdoors. It is around these loves that they chose to get married on Whidbey Island.  Married at  Fireseed Catering (their wedding venue on Whidbey) with little touches here and there that exemplify their love.

Hand stamped spoons with words like ‘Oregano’ and ‘Thyme’ were arranged on the reception tables. These spoons guided guests to their appropriate seat, or the vintage gardening book that guests could sign and leave wishes for the new couple. Small, intimate and joyful and all photographed beautifully by Kirk Mastin of Mastin Studio. To see all the beautiful images click here and read on to her more details form Laura.

From The Bride:

Our Valentine’s Day tradition is to plant our sugar snap peas in the garden together. This signifies the official start of the gardening season for us, which we love, but also gives us pause to consider all of things we grow and build together in our lives. Last February 14th as I dug my spade into the earth in order to plant our peas, I instead found a buried little box beneath our beautifully compost-laden soil. I was utterly confused at how a cute little box sealed in a zip-lock bag came to find itself exactly where I was going to plant my first pea pod. As I slowly realized that this was my wedding ring, I looked at Dan and started crying.

We love gardening and the outdoors, so it was a natural and easy theme for our wedding. In fact, much of the ‘décor’ were existing pieces from our garden (herb markers, veggie harvest baskets, backyard lanterns, wooden planters, galvanized steel farm bucket for beverages). We wanted the wedding to feel like an extension of us rather than a one-time planned and over-arranged event.
We met in a dive bar in Washington, DC called Wonderland. Dan and his friend Niall flipped a coin to see if they would go downtown or to the local dive bar.  Niall won the toss and they went to the dive bar where Dan met Laura. Laura had been at a Christmas party and her friend dragged her to Wonderland, party Tupperware in hand and all. The Tupperware turned out to be a great conversation starter…

Kirk is fantastic to work with. He is incredibly talented and has such a gift for finding just the right shots to capture the essence of the moment. He brings a creative and artistic perspective to wedding photography. He went above and beyond our expectations – even down to the thoughtful and detailed image packaging.
We knew Fireseed was the perfect fit for us as soon as we drove up. It’s an old farm with a beautiful organic vegetable garden, expansive flower beds, and lush green ferns around a beautifully restored old barn. The owners are a couple that also run a catering business. Their culinary creations are made with fresh seasonal ingredients from the on-site garden or nearby farms on Whidbey.

What was your processional music? “Heard Them Stirring”, by The Fleet Foxes.
Recessional music “Can’t stop now” by Major Lazer
Our best friends, Martha and Brian Callaghan are incredibly talented musicians. We were honoured when they agreed to play a song for us to dance our first dance to. They played “Wedding Song” by Anais Mitchell. It can be a bit intimidating to have lots of eyes just watching you dance, but to hear our dear friends’ voices above it all made it comforting and extra special.

It was a love-filled day all around. It was amazing to have all of our loved ones in the same place. We lucked out with an amazingly clear and sunny day, which is no small feat in October in the Pacific Northwest.

Photographer: Kirk Mastin, Mastin Studio
Dress: Chrissy Wai Ching, Seattle
Flowers: Vases Wild, Tobey Nelson, Whidbey Island
Venue: Fireseed, Whidbey Island, WA
Suits: Perry Ellis
Shoes: Biviel (bride’s)
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Anthropologie
Stationery: Custom, hand-printed meadow images by artist Hope Kozluca
Cake: Fireseed Catering
Jewels: Wedding bands by Annie Fensterstock, Portland | Keishi pearl necklace by K Garner Designs at Etsy | Keishi pearl earrings by Rachel Unger Jewelry at Etsy | Gold bracelets and gold pins with red ribbon as a part of traditional Turkish wedding custom
Music: The funkiest DIY iPod playlist ever

A simple Charlottesville Garden Wedding never looked so pretty. Rachel and Patrick were married at the Ash Lawn-Highland, the home of James Monroe, fifth president of the United States,  located in Charlottesville, Virginia. Captured by the ever so talented Katie Stoops Photography.

The entire wedding is simple and sweet, but done perfectly. All the details tied together perfectly from the bridesmaid’s purple lace necklaces that cohesively blended with the groomsman’s purple seersucker shirts. The To The Banner and Branches design that was used for the invites and programs was so perfect. To see more of this Charlottesville garden wedding be sure to click here.

A picturesque historic house and gardens, Ash Lawn-Highland offers unique locations for both wedding ceremonies and receptions. They accommodate informal and formal, daytime and evening wedding. Each party is provided optimal privacy and flexibility–to plan their wedding occasions as if James Monroe’s home were their own. Looks gorgeous.. doesn’t it?

Photographer: Katie Stoops Photography
Makeup: Moxie Hair Lounge
Hair: Moxie Hair Lounge
Cake: Albermarle Baking Company
Caterer: Champagne Tastes
Coordinator: Weddings by Windy
Dress Designer: Vineyard by Priscilla of Boston
Flowers: Flower Girls
Groom’s Attire: J Crew
Jewelry: Bridesmaids were given custom purple lace necklaces by White Owl
Officiant: Claire Goodman
Shoe Designer: Seychelles
Stationery: Minted
Veil or Hair Accessories: Mother’s veil, Hair accessory & beaded sash: Feather & Frills

Here at The Wedding Chicks, we love sharing a good wedding venue with you. Without an exception, Fernbrook Farms in New Jersey is a perfect place for all you tri-state brides looking for a little something rustic with a whole lot of elegance. With large gardens, vast lawns and farm fields, Fernbrook has a wonderful ability to transform itself into exactly what you are looking for on your day.

You can definitely see that in our next wedding from J-Anderson Photography. To see more of Fernbrook Farms Wedding be sure to click here. On a side note, how about those red wedding shoes from Manolo Blahnik. Super gorgeous.

From The Bride:

“Jeff & I knew that we wanted a wedding that was a little bit elegant, a little bit relaxed/outdoorsy and a lot of fun. We looked all over the tri-state area to find a wedding venue that could fit the bill without being a wedding hall and when we saw Fernbrook Farms knew that it was just right. Fernbrook has an 18th century farm house that has been turned into a bed & breakfast, a few semi-formal gardens & is a working 400 acre farm that the caterers source produce from for dinner.

The caterers helped us incorporate our favorite meat (pork!) into the menu, the florist helped make arrangements with vibrant flowers & succulent plants (to last forever!), our friend officiated to make our ceremony personal, our dog Sodapop joined in as part of the wedding party, all the bridesmaids/groomsmen choose their own outfits and the DJs pulled off a night of non-stop dancing!”

Photographer: J-Anderson Photography
Venue: Inn at Fernbrook Farms
Makeup& Hair: Matthew Sky
Caterer & Cake: Main Street Catering
DJ: Lord Easy & Chris Goldteeth
Dress Designer: Victorio & Lucchino
Flowers: Flower Station
Groom’s Attire: John Varvatos
Shoe Designer: Manolo Blahnik
Stationery: Annoushka Owen
Veil or Hair Accessories: Bridal Veil Falls, Margaret Duncan