Our DIY Wedding: The Ceremony

Most of my year was spent working up to this day and it didn't disappoint! We did almost everything ourselves or with the help of friends and family. I wanted to make sure we had awesome images to remember the day by though, so I hired Julie Cate Photography after seeing her work online and falling in love with her natural, ethereal style.

I was so unbelievably nervous as I was getting ready...not because I was afraid of something going wrong, or the fact that I was getting "married", but the hugeness of it all was just overwhelming. I always felt like I was forgetting something (and I few times I was, but my bridesmaids kept me in check, haha!).

Once things got started I made sure to take everything in, remember it, and enjoy it. That way my wedding didn't just go by as a blur, and I'm so thankful for that. It honestly was the happiest day of my life.


My dress was the first thing I bought (actually my Dad bought it for me - thanks, Dad!). I had a specific picture in my mind of what I wanted my dress to look like and so after Scott proposed I went scouring the internet looking for "The Dress". I found it through Etsy on Xtabay Vintage, a vintage dress shop based in Portland, OR. It was from the 50's, in near perfect condition, and only $300! Seriously, if you live near Portland stop by Xtabay - everything in there looks like it came straight off the set of Mad Men.


Scott had a pet cockatiel named Peatree when we first met. That bird was his best little buddy - he'd raised it from a baby and taught him to sing and talk. He'd greet us every day as we walked in the door with "Hey Peatree, whatcha doin'?" and we'd let him out of his cage so he could fly around and play at night. Scott always saved his tail feathers when they fell out. We lost Peatree almost 2 years ago and I've never seen Scott so sad. I decided to put one of Peatree's tail feathers in his boutonniere.

I ordered all of our flowers from FiftyFlowers.com and they really turned out beautiful. I couldn't have done it without the help of Scott's mom and aunts who, as it turns out, are pros at flower arranging! I had no idea, they didn't even tell me! We got started and I was afraid they wouldn't know what to do, then they're whipping bouquets together like it's nothing. I asked how they got so good at this and Scott's aunt told me they had planned on opening a flower shop at one point. We had all the flowers done in ONE hour! They are amazing.


We used antique garden roses, peach spray roses, white campanula, and yellow billy balls in the flower arrangements. My big bouquet accidentally got left at the reception site (it was sitting in a vase of water and got mixed in with all the other flower vases - whoops!) so one of my bridesmaids gave me her bouquet to use. I actually think I like the simplicity of the smaller one better in the picture above.


These shots were taken at the reception after I found my bouquet. I really fell in love with those garden roses. They feel and smell amazing too! I wish I could have them around all the time but my thumb is just not that green.


We ordered a lot of our supplies from Save-On-Crafts.com, including this bird's nest. I took some extra fabric from my cake topper and made this little pillow for the rings. Our officiant was terrified that we were using the real rings for this but it worked out perfectly! I tied it so that the rings wouldn't fall off after the bow was undone, but they could still be removed easily.


I literally searched all of Florida (and parts of Georgia) for a beautiful live oak tree we could get married under. After I had just about given up, my maid of honor told me about this tree just north of Gainesville called the Cellon Oak. It's the largest oak tree in Florida and sits on a tiny park out in the country. It's only 15 minutes from our house! Everything started coming together after that hurdle was crossed.


LOVE the spanish moss draping over the back of the aisle. It was just what I'd imagined! And the weather was wonderful that day too.

I made the flower in my hair out of chiffon following this tutorial from Adventures in Dressmaking.

So happy!!!!


Pictures from the reception coming up next :)

Have any of you used your crafty skills in your own (or someone else's) wedding? I'd love to see!

Coincidentally, Zoe from So, Zo and I got married on the same day (and she was brave enough to make her own gorgeous dress). Congrats, Zoe!

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