As a wedding professional, I have seen my fair share of wedding styles and decor. I think it is so important for other brides to be able to see real-life weddings and see where they source their details and decor. So I thought it would be fun to walk through my own wedding and share where we got several items from! We are about to celebrate 5 years of marriage but I still think this can be helpful to you as you plan your special day!

As a bride and photographer, I had a very specific vision for my wedding! The best I could describe it as is a classic and simple garden party with purple pops of color. While my Pinterest board has always had elaborate florals and tiny little intricate details, I knew that we would have to simplify and streamline for budget purposes.

Looking back, I think the best part about being so budget-conscious is that it brought my family together in a way that a more traditional approach wouldn’t require. I hope those that helped in any way read this and know just how special they are to Matthew and me and just how much we appreciated their work! 

I will note: The one item/material I DID NOT want was burlap! You’ll see why that is relevant towards the end of the post! HA!

Our invitation suite was exactly what I had envisioned! The amazing owner of the Etsy shop INNKprint worked so kindly with me to customize a few lines. I can’t recommend her enough! My garter also came from Etsy. The shop is closed but you can find great options HERE!

My bridal accessories came from Chloe and Isabel and were gifted to me by my cousin and contained my somethings “blue” and “new”. The dress hanger with my married name was from Etsy but I am unsure of the shop. My mom added the floral pieces for some extra visuals! Here is a link to a similar one!

My veil was actually my sister’s and was my something “borrowed”! Again, Chloe and Isabel for my earrings and bracelet (I still wear these with a lot of my formal outfits). I’m pretty sure my shoes were my most out-there item because I bought them from the most random place… Cracker Barrel. I knew I wanted comfort and the little flowers were so cute! The worst part is that they broke on our honeymoon! They were definitely a budget buy but I was pleased with the look and was happy they made it through the wedding day! 10/10 would do it again!

My dad, mom, and cousin built the barn doors. Hands down, this was my favorite piece from the entire day. They were a labor of love and I was so thankful they made them for us! Flowers came from a family friend’s wedding. The aisle signs also were DIY’ed and we have them available (and the doors) for rent!

The wine barrels came from family and the floral arrangement was created by my mom (serious, she is a rock star) with flowers and greenery from a family friend’s wedding. We decided to do the braided cord for the unity portion of our wedding and, again, my mom made it.

Looking back through my wedding gallery I realized that I don’t have a photo of our full cake table.  That’s a bummer because it was my late grandmother’s old sewing table. It was one of the things that we had pinned for our wedding day that we were actually able to make happen! Either way, it was so special to be able to use it and then to have some pieces from my mother’s wedding dress, veil and headpiece there at the cake table to honor them! 

These frames were sourced from our home and thrift shops and then spray painted and antiqued. You should have seen my aunt and I try to rig them all together. Quite a sight, I’ll tell you! We added little floral pieces for a feminine and romantic touch. This hung behind our sweetheart table.

We made the decision to go really simple on centerpieces and opted for loose greenery and table numbers. The table runners were custom-made by the ladies in our family to bring the light gray color from the guys’ suits.  We opted for a sweetheart table instead of a big long head table because so many of our attendants had familes that we wanted them to be able to sit with. Our table came from my sister’s house (literally her dining room table) and the black and wicker bench was my aunt’s. We loved having the bench because people could take their turn stopping by while we ate and visit with us for a bit!

I am one of 4 siblings and I was the 3rd to get married. With that being said, my family was already pretty planning and sourcing savvy. Our family loves to incorporate real dinnerware so we rented the plates and collected silver flatware from all of our family. This was no easy task because we had to remember who it all belonged to and make sure they got it back. It was a lot of work but I loved the mix of the “vintage” silver with the newer pieces. While I was hoping to find a way to use my mother’s veil and headpiece for my own bridal look, time just didn’t allow. Instead, we decided to display it near our cake and I loved the finished look! 

We don’t have great photos of my favorite part of the reception, the three crystal chandeliers hanging inside the tent!  They were rented from Wedding Renal Solutions of Gordonville, MO. They added the perfect finishing touch to the most perfect day!  

Finally, remember when I said I was pretty adamant about NOT having burlap present on our wedding day? Well, I couldn’t end the post without talking about how I would soon eat my own words. Our outdoor May wedding only happened after a few days of immense amounts of rain. I’m talking almost 8 inches over a 2 day time period. While trying to figure out how to walk down the aisle without ruining my dress, we made the call to family back home to bring in the burlap aisle runner from my sister’s wedding. Needless to tay, we have a laugh about how it saved the day after being so unwanted! Thanks, burlap… you rock.

There you have it! A quick recap of where we sourced our wedding day pieces. I hope this helps you in your wedding planning efforts! 

xo

Alaina