“Meghan and Eric’s Wedding had the sweetest touches of a DIY Wedding. Their centerpieces of tea cups and twine wrapped bottles held hand made paper flowers which accented their tables draped with lace and doilies. Turquoise accents and the sweetest fresh flowers made this wedding so sweet.” –Blush Wood Studios

What is your favorite wedding day memory?

When you hear that the whole event flies by, it’s the absolute truth. I spent so much time stressing about event timelines and unaccounted minutes and the whole night was a beautiful, fun, memorable, but also done in a snap. With that in mind, honestly one of my favorite moments was after the ceremony when we went to get our bride and groom photo’s done! We took a couple golf carts with our photographers Courtney and Michael to the middle of the golf course, just us. We did it the traditional way and didn’t have a sneak peek, so it was the first time we’d seen one another that day outside of the ceremony itself. And we were both just sort of like, “Wow … I love you to death, and you’re my spouse.”

Conversely, there’s some fun photo’s during that part of the day where I’m laughing with Eric. I had just finished telling him all I’d eaten all day was some toast and a mimosa. To which his response was to tell me that he had a Hardee’s big bag on his way to the venue. Men. In terms of effect, I was so prepared to cry during my vows – we wrote our own, and I practiced them to myself a few times leading up to. I cried during every practice – but not during the ceremony {good job, brain}. What I wasn’t expecting was nearly crying during our first dance. All of our friends and family were looking on and the sun was setting and we were doing our awkward spin around and I just kept thinking – worth it, all of it, every single moment of stress – the minuscule and the major. The other moment was during my sister’s Matron of Honor speech, it was beautiful and sweet and she started tearing up. And of course I didn’t interrupt her but I’m just sitting there like – “Don’t cry Mo, if you go down I’m going down and then we’re in for it. I’m not a cute crier.”

What did you DIY for your wedding?

Thanks to some creative thinking and a family full of crafty individuals, quiet a bit of our wedding was a DIY affair! My mom is a retired florist so she helped me pick our flowers that would hold up for the long haul of the day. She made all the bouquets and boutonnieres herself and even wrapped the twine around the vintage bottles and arranged the paper flowers that were used in our centerpieces in our reception! My sister and my mother both helped to decorate our archway and the lanterns we used to line the aisle were found at Five Below and spruced up with flowers and greenery, courtesy of my mom.

The pieces of silver and the porcelain that were scattered on our tables and throughout our reception were all found at thrift stores over the course of our engagement. The various vintage bottles were actually all found and cleaned by my sister and her family. The book pages on the wood slices were from a thrifted dictionary. Even our cake / cupcake display was made by my sister using hand painted pedestals and thrifted plates. The bells that we gave out to ring at the end of our ceremony were predominantly collected from thrift stores across the area throughout the course of our engagement.

All of our signage was hand painted by my sister {who was my matron of honor}. The frames for each and every sign were found at thrift stores and painted to match our colors! The big sign that greeted guests as they arrived and had our important dates was actually originally a mirror and frame that my sister saved from the side of the road! She even bought a bulk order of plastic animals and spray painted them and cut them to hold our seating cards!

Did you have something old, new borrowed and blue?

I did! My something old and my something borrowed were one in the same {that still counts, in my book!}, it was my grandmother’s handkerchief borrowed from my sister. We tucked it into the center of my bouquet so I could take have her walking down the aisle with me. My something new was my dress and my something blue was the embroidery on my own handkerchief!

Any advice for brides currently in the planning process?

I feel like I heard it a dozen times throughout the whole planning process, but it’s true – don’t stress the little things. Keep in mind all that matters is you and your husband are getting married! At the time it might feel like some sort of huge deal when something doesn’t go like you imagined or gets forgotten – but bumps happen and at the end of the day all that matters is you’re getting married! Piggybacking off of that, it’s super easy to get overwhelmed by a dozen wedding Pintrest boards and find yourself in the middle of roughly fifty million DIY projects! Prioritize what matters most to you and work your way from there – assemble your a-team to help you make the most out of the experience as early as possible! Also, and I can not stress this enough, do NOT procrastinate on locking down your vendors once you’ve set a location and date! So, so, so much of our wedding was as smooth as it was thanks to the kind, wonderful professionals we were able to have with us along the way! -Meghan, the Bride

Event Credits

Photography: Blush Wood Studios // Venue + Catering: Cypress Point Country Club // Day of Coordinator + DJ: Sound Waves DJ Entertainment // Invitations: Minted // Cake: Twisted Sisters Sugar Shack // Officiant: Ivory Morgan – Burton // Transportation: Horseless Carriage Limousines // Rentals: Waterford Event Rentals // Photobooth Rental: Closed Curtain Photo Booth // Engagement Ring: Reeds Jewelers // Bride's Attire: Studio I Do! // Bride's Shoes: Keds // Bridesmaid's Jewelry: Charming Charlie // Hair: Elle Madison Salon // Make-up: Dhalia Edwards Makeup // Groom + Groomsmen's Attire: Men's Warehouse // Groom + Groomsmen's Socks: Amazon // Cake Topper: Half Pint Fauna // Wedding Vow Notebooks: Thorn and Briar // Table Numbers: Love Lettered by Bekki