OUR WEDDING

I think I knew that I was going to plan my own wedding and do most of the things myself since I was about 13. I grew up a crafty child in the hands of an extremely crafty and creative mother. I just knew that I liked things to look a certain way, and I liked to do it myself. So I also knew that when my wedding day came, I was going to have to plan out everything myself in order to be truly happy with it.

Our wedding basically went according to that plan! With the help of my mom, I planned the wedding, gathered supplies, and made things throughout June and July. At the time, having less than two months was as exciting as it was scary. But now that it's been three months since, I feel like it couldn't have worked out better. I'm not a long engagement type of girl! 

I can honestly say though, that everything fell into place after we found and reserved the perfect location. Ashford Manor is a beautiful bed and breakfast on a gorgeous piece of land. It's about five minutes down the road from my parents house in Athens, GA. I passed it everyday for 12 years on my way to and from school. I always thought it was such a classy, secret-garden type place, but I hadn't actually been there since I was 5 or 6. I happened to go see a play on the lawn there with my friend, Elizabeth, a few days after Douglas proposed. When I saw the place again, I knew it had to be there. So very luckily, they had a free Sunday at the end of July. It was perfect.

After that, I started really planning. I ordered white hydrangeas and cream roses to be delivered a few days before the wedding, so we could make our own arrangements and bouquets. I began to design the program (above) and added names as we figured them out. I stumbled across perfect invitations on etsy from Ello There, ordered them, loved them. I decided to get a local pasta restaurant to cater (best wedding food I've ever had). And I ordered a small, simple wedding cake, matching petit fours, and a Dairy Queen ice cream cake (Douglas's groom cake of choice!) The little details were easy and fun to figure out after that. 

When it came to my dress, I knew two things. It wasn't going to be long, and it wasn't going to be straight-up white. I'm too short and too white for that deal. I went to Atlanta for a day with my mom and found the perfect dress from Zara. I knew immediately. I loved the light pink peachy color, the silhouette and length, and most of all the soft texture of the dress. The flowers on the dress went so well with everything I had already planned! After that we got the dresses for my maid of honor and bridesmaid. I loved picking out what people had to wear! 

We had a fairly small wedding and wanted to keep the wedding party small, too. I chose my best friend and close friend who I was living with at the time, both of whom I know from middle school. Douglas chose his best friend since forever and a close college friend.

Funny thing: the ceremony was going to be outside, down the hill from the house. About thirty minutes before the ceremony was going to start, a delightful summer shower moved in. As it came time to start, the shower moved on. Unfortunately, it was so humid outside afterwards and the hill down to the site spelled out certain, slippery death for the older wedding guests. We decided to have the ceremony in the foyer of the bed and breakfast. There wasn't enough room to set up chairs, but it was more intimate and comfortable than it would have been before. I love that it happened that way. 

I made the cake topper with glitter cardstock, glue, and a bamboo skewer! Perfectly simple.

I love our Mr. and Mrs. forks. We use them all the time!

Douglas and I danced to "Sea of Love" covered by Cat Power. My father daughter dance song was "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," and Douglas and his mom danced to "Moon River." So sweet!

Even though we were spending the night at the bed and breakfast that night, we still wanted to make an exit (mostly because I wanted bubbles!). So we walked through the bubbles, got in our car, drove around, and came back! 

And that was our wedding! Planning it and creating everything is one of the things I'm most proud of. Especially getting it all done in time! I couldn't be happier with how it turned out and how the day went. I hope you enjoy looking and reading about the experience!

All photos by Marie Sturges.