{Our Wedding} The Decor

Our wedding was entirely DIY. While I'm finishing up school, I live with my sister-in-law's parents. Her mother, Janae, is incredibly talented and has an amazing eye. Since I was planning a wedding while still in school, Janae worked with me to perfect every last detail, I couldn't have done it without her!


Our guestbook was a framed mat that we had made, with one of our engagement pictures in the center. I can't wait to display it in our home!

Our centerpieces were fairly simple. Over the course of planning the wedding, we collected milk glass vases of varying shapes and sizes. We just ordered a bunch of loose stems from the florist, and arranged them in the vases the day of the wedding.

I am a details person. So many of the details were either made or from thrift stores. Our favors were stamped paper bags filled with candies. I loved how the candies looked displayed in their jars!

This is a more sentimental decoration, but I'm so glad we did it. We found an inexpensive garden trellis and strung pictures of Matt and I from when we were little.

Over the summer, my mom, sisters, and I made about two-hundred ribbon wand wavers. (Here are the instructions.) Sparklers were a no-go for the venue, so we opted for something less hazardous. :) I wasn't sure how they'd look with our guests waving them as we were leaving, but it ended up looking really pretty! Pictures of that to come. :)

I love this sign I bought from here.

Our gorgeous wedding cake, flavored with lavender. Made by my friend and bridesmaid, Lauren.

Our wedding started at 7 pm, so we had an all-dessert reception. A friend made ten, huge layer cakes and we ordered some fruit tarts from Whole Foods. (A lot of our cake recipes came from here.) Janae made the gorgeous croquembouche.

This was my absolute dream come true, and I still can't believe that we were able to have hanging, lit chandeliers at our outdoor wedding. I had collected five chandeliers, all from thrift stores (and all $12 or less! Thrift store owners were willing to barter when I told them it was for my upcoming nuptials.) We sanded them down, and re-painted them gold. One of my best friend's dad is an electrician, and he spent the day before and day of stringing the lights from tree to tree. I seriously felt like I was in a magical fairy-tale land the entire reception.

© www.adambarnesphoto.com 2010

Up next: Our first dancey-poo.