Real Wedding: Jandee and Shane

If you don't love anything else about this wedding, you will fall in love with the venue! It is a tree filled overlook in the mountains and could not be more gorgeous! When you throw in a stunning bride and a vibrant bouquet, this wedding had amazing written all over it. The lovely photos come from Jason G.

Here are so details from the bride Jandee:
We wanted the wedding to be more of a weekend event rather than just one day. For most of our guests this was a destination wedding, so we wanted to have it somewhere that would provide a relaxed atmosphere and plenty of rooms. A colleague suggested Rockledge Country Inn and we were immediately attracted to its charming atmosphere and beautiful Colorado craftsmanship. We were able to rent out the entire house for the wedding party and rented Onaledge, which is another home the B&B owners have, for family. They were within 20 feet of each other so it was very easy for everyone to be together for the long weekend. 

We made our own wine for the wedding at D'Vine wine in Manitou Springs. The whole process was so fun and interesting. They really took the time to explain why we were doing what throughout the couple of months that it took to make. We ended up renting the space out for our rehearsal dinner. Everyone loved being able to see where we took the time to make the wine at.

Seeing the whole thing come together was a lot of fun. If I had to pick my favorite it would have to be the first dance. Shane and I spent months and a lot of money taking dance lessons to prepare. We had this whole routine, which once we got out there, went out the window! We ended up just doing our own thing and it was perfect.

Photographer | Jason G

Venue | Rockledge Inn

Event Designer | Sapphire Celebrations

Hair | Girls and Curls

Don't forget to enter for you chance to win $150 from Williams-Sonoma!

Real Wedding: Ariane and Ethan

There is something so lovely about a DIY backyard wedding. Today's is chock full of sweet rustic charm and darling details. The bride, Ariane, summed up planning a small budget wedding perfectly: "Even though our budget was small, I knew I had to pay attention to the details to make the event seem bigger than it was." This is exactly what you should do when planning a budget wedding. Even the smallest of details have a big impact on the overall look and on your guests.

From the lovely Ariane:
Ethan's Aunt and Uncle own a beautiful home in Swampscott, Massachusetts and offered to host the wedding in their backyard as soon as they heard about the engagement. We couldn't resist, since it is such a gorgeous space and the free price fit into our very small budget. Ethan and I had talked a lot about how we wanted the wedding day to go. We were uncomfortable with spending lots of money on just one day and we knew we could make it special in our own way without a large budget.  I'm a fairly crafty person and with the help of our talented friends and family, we were able to pull off the perfect vintage, backyard wedding on a tiny budget. The wedding day turned out to be more beautiful than I had imagined.

Our wedding was completely DIY.  My mom and I found Martha Stewart printable invitations at Michael's on sale - 100 invitations, envelopes, RSVP cards and envelopes for $20.00.  I designed the invitations and hand stamped a design on each one.  I also designed, the menus, programs, and save the date cards myself.  I made 100 tissue paper pom decorations thanks to a Martha Stewart craft idea, hand painted the table numbers, and hand stamped the tags on the mason jars we used for glasses.  Even though our budget was small, I knew I had to pay attention to the details to make the event seem bigger than it was.  The last thing I wanted was to make the day seem cheap.  Little details make your event special and memorable for everyone.  The rest of the decorations were things we found at yard sales or already owned.  Making everything myself got stressful at times and we jokingly called the wedding our "huge mistake."

It truly was a family affair.  Ethan's brother is a chef and cooked most of the food we served which revolved around a backyard cookout theme.  Ethan's mom baked all of our pies and desserts including gluten free and vegan options for our friends with food allergies.  We bought flowers at the whole sale flower show in Boston and my friend Rebecca made the flower arrangements using blue mason jars we bought at a vintage store.  My mom is an artist and quilter and hand sewed our chuppah, which meant so much to us since the chuppah represents the home the couple is building together.  

We had a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony and a not so traditional reception.  Our immediate families gathered around the chuppah with us as we said our vows.  It was such a joyous occasion and everyone was radiating love.   Our fantastic photographer, Lauren Piper, captured all of the wonderful moments of that day.  She really caught the mood and the vintage feel of the wedding.  We had all of our closest family and friends with us to celebrate as we became husband and wife.  It was a perfect day.  I think it was so special because we had all worked so hard to make it happen - I know I put in plenty of blood, sweat and tears into the day.

Photographer | Lauren Piper
Bouquets | Roses and Thistle
Gown | J. Crew
Earrings and Shoes | J. Crew
Belt | Little White Dresser
Bridesmaid Dress | Anthropologie
Make Up | Daniela Shappee
Groom/Groomsmen Suits | J. Crew
Cake Topper | Baumbirdy
Stamp | Paperwink
Chuppah | Mother of the Bride
Ketubah | Gallery Judaica

Real Wedding: Rebecca and Owen

Fall is such a gorgeous time of year in the north, and this wedding pretty much has the perfect autumn wedding venue. The trees are so golden and picturesque! Not only is the place stunning, but this couple is pretty sweet too. They took a lot of thought into making sure their day was as eco-friendly as possible. This couple proves that you can help the earth a little and look fantastic doing it!

From the dapper groom, Owen:
Right from the beginning, we knew that having an environmentally conscious wedding was not just important, but essential. That's why Harrington Farm was the perfect location. They serve local, organic food and get energy from a nearby wind turbine. Our good friend Yvette runs a website dedicated to sustainable design, and she designed all our invitations and Save the Date cards, using recycled paper and the most environmentally friendly inks.

As usually happens, we ended up with more invitations than we needed.  So Rebecca took the extras, and cleverly using some glue and an ink stamp, created our place cards!  We reduced waste, and as an added bonus everything matched the color scheme.

Once all the important stuff was done, and the day finally arrived, we were finally ready to relax and celebrate.  From day one, finding just the right band was at the top of our list.  Soul Kitchen was perfect.  They were upbeat and fun and kept everyone's feet moving all night long.  Developed during many years of Thanksgiving preparations, the Milburys have a tradition of singing Motown into spatulas and cooking spoons.  As a welcoming gift into the crazy family, Rebecca was presented with her own engraved spatula, and everyone stood and sang "My Girl" while the band played on.  We couldn't have asked for a better ending!

Photography | Concept Spring Studio
Reception | Harrington Farm
Florist | Danielson Flowers
Paper Goods | Re-Nourish
Band | Soul Kitchen
Hair | Jeffery Lyle Salon