Our vintage whimsical wedding [PART ONE]

We're Married! Finally. Our wedding was anything but traditional and we were so happy with the outcome. We enjoyed the company of family and friends, were tossed around and photographed a million times, ate a lot, and marveled at the atmosphere we created. Weddings are weird, especially if you're like us and don't enjoy being the center of attention. We could have easily decorated and slipped off into the shadows while everyone else enjoyed our creation. Is that weird? It's not that we are anti-social by any means, but we don't enjoy all eyes on us. So we giggled a lot of awkward giggles, made side eyes at each other, whispered little jokes that were only audible to our ears, and gave a lot of smiles.

We have been together for eight years, so married life is no different then engaged or dating life, but to me, that's the magic. Dj and I have always had a relationship where we were best friends who happened to be head over heels in love. We just kind of fell into the same rhythm from the beginning. Like he was always supposed to be apart of me, and me of him. It sounds totally sappy I know; like a fairy tale or something, like we're painting an illusion that no one can really figure out, but it's one hundred percent real. Scouts honor. Sure, we bicker and fight like anyone else, but we know that love prevails. We know when to throw in the white flag, we know when to send a sweet text, we know when to randomly say I love you, we just know. We never based our love off lust and our individual selves, but always off of friendship and each other as a whole. And here I am rambling, when all you want to see is pictures! Honestly, it's because I am passionate about this thing called love, and I see so many girls chasing after what they think is love, but it's not. Call me old fashioned (because rightfully so) but I can't help it. Maybe I'll have a whole rant on this subject another day. For now, the first part of wedding photo dump commence!

 

 

We either thrifted or DIY-ed everything in the wedding. I couldn't have imagined it any other way. I had a blast dreaming up this concept and marveled at it the whole day. Besides finally marrying DJ, this was definitely my most favorite part of the whole process. I'll post some more pictures of details in part two (and maybe even make a part three, or four) and also give some tips of how we did what we did! Stay tuned!

A bridal shower: fifties style.

 The wedding is almost here! I had to take a minute though and share my amazing bridal shower! I have the best MOH you could ask for, and she was the brains for this fifties themed shower. With the help of my bridesmaids and family, they pulled off one adorable little party!

 I had no idea of any details of the shower, just the day and time. It was so fun to be surprised with such a perfect little party and everyone who attended. We played fun games, ate a lot of food, and I opened all of my gifts, which I loved, and before I knew it - it was over. Hopefully for the wedding I'll be able to take it all in and play it in slow motion, but I'm sure it will be the same. 

Just shouting out an extra big thank you to everyone who helped out and attended. Extra big shout out to my bff and MOH. You are the best!

A wedding of our own.

Wedding stuff is not only taking over my brian lately, but also our home. I'm trying hard to keep it to the side and blend it with the everyday things in our home, but despite my best efforts.. piles are still starting to form. Which is fine; it's expected. We (read: mostly me) have spent a lot of time finding vintage curiosities to complete our special day- and I wouldn't trade a spotless house for any piece I've found. Vintage teacups, plates, cloches, books, board games, etc. are everywhere. As crazy as the clutter is making me, I'm excited and proud. Excited to decorate this wedding, and proud of all the amazing treasures I've found to accomplish that.

This wedding is going to be very much all about us, and selfish or not, that is what we fully intended. We want to bring back the meaning of a wedding. We want to really be able to share this day very intimately with the people who are truly special to us, we want to focus on being together with all of them on our big day, and we want this wedding to reflect our heart and soul, because that's what we put into not only this wedding, but into our relationship everyday. It's going to be a gathering, a reunion, a celebration of our love and the love we have for everyone special to us. In a time where a wedding has become more of a guest pleasing, beverage focused, boogie down affair; we're breaking the "traditional" rules. Mostly in which, we plan on not doing anything traditional. We will have music but not a dj, we will have a gourmet food truck instead of a "traditional" caterer, and in our invitations we had an FYI card to let everyone know to expect the unexpected. I know this is getting a little deep, but I just wanted to share that it is not only okay to make your wedding about you and stand up for what you want, but it's also okay to not follow any specific tradition and make your own. Because in the end everyone will love it, whether you make your own invitations or you spend five hundred dollars, whether you serve gourmet hot dogs or chicken / fish, whether you have a dance floor or background music playing from your favorite bands, whether you have a time for board games and inter-mingling or you have a first dance, and whether you wear glittery flats or three inch heels. It is your day, make sure that's what it reflects. We're doing our own thing and we couldn't be more ecstatic.

Project Wedding: DIY Invitations

Is it us or does it feel like the months are flying by? Our wedding is about three months away now and - it's crunch time. We are making almost everything, and our invitations were no exception. It was really fun to make these and I think it sets the tone for the overall handmade feel we plan to create. It was super simple and total cost was less then $100. If you are looking for an affordable way to send invites that show a lot of love and character, this is the way to go. Here is what I did, but the options are endless.

I designed four pages to our invites which include: the invitation, an FYI page, a response card, and a page that gives all the info. of our wedding page from Appy Couple (more on that later!). I just played around with different doodles that became the layout for each page. I made a master set of all four squares, got them copied, and did a quick watercolor wash over them (yes. e v e r y  single one of them. I adore the added detail and the finished product. It was definitely worth it). We absolutely loved the prints we ordered from origrami a while back, and we thought they would be a perfect fit for the front page of our invites (also the reason for the size of the pages I created). I wanted to add something to the instagram photo because it just seemed a little boring, so I used the A Beautiful Mess App to write one of our favorite song lyrics from the amazing Me and Mr.Cassidy (seriously check them out) on the front of them, uploaded it to origrami, and wah-la - polaroid like photos to top them off! We wrapped them in a doily and sent them off in our hand made magazine paper envelopes. We included an envelope in every invite to send the response card back in, and a gold heart to seal them up. We also added a little note, incase anyone got confused on what exactly the other envelope inside was for ;)

It was so fun to make these and something really special I hope everyone really appreciates. We are putting a lot of love and hard work into this wedding, and we couldn't be happier with how it's turning out.

Bridal party proposal: a love story.

Okay, so the headline might be a tad bit of an exaggeration, but basically.  I have four bridesmaids, a flower girl, and a maid of honor, all of which I love dearly and definitely could not do without, and this was a little way to make my own proposal for our special day. I'm always eager to make a box/jar/etc. 'o fun for someone; so clearly, I couldn't resist for such an important occasion. I wanted to do something simple that incorporated some bits of the wedding. This is what I came up with:

I cut up tissue paper in our three colors for the confetti and added in gold sequins for the pops of gold we are going to use. I'm in love with water color so a splash on the hearts - a must. I alternated our wedding color palette between the main fabric on the mini embroidery hoops and the embroidery floss I used to hand stitch their first initials. We're going to make all of our own flowers out of paper (more on that later), so they each got their own mini flower. I jotted a little note on the bottom of each heart, after I "popped the question" and that was that. A simple way to show them how much they mean to me and how excited I am to have them right beside me on my special day [and along the crazy road leading up to it, ha!] Glitter ribbon tied into a little bow finished it off and they we're hand delivered to my special ladies. If I can be quite honest, I am really excited for more opportunities to give little gifts like this, because nothing makes my heart fuller then giving little pieces of it away to the people that I love.

There is so much more wedding I'll be sharing, so keep up! January is coming quick!

Wedding inspiration: real life pinterest

Sometimes seeing images for inspiration on the computer just isn't enough, so why not create your own (pin)spiration board on an empty wall! Since the wedding is coming quicker then I can process, I needed a little inspirational pick me up to keep me in check. It was really fun creating this, and it adds a quirky focal point in the craft room - which I'm totally digging. I added little notes on each magazine page and drew circles, arrows, and hearts emphasizing my favorite things! I really had a blast with this and think this will just serve as an inspiration board even after the wedding has passed. Try it out!

[ The magazine pages are from some of my favorite magazines: Anthology, Mollie Makes, Flea Market Style, Real Simple, Country Living, Better Homes and Gardens ]

Project wedding: Paper to Petal

 Right now we are in full swing wedding mode. We have less than four months to go and all of our everything is DIY, like no joke. So there will definitely be more wedding posts going on over here! We plan on making all of our own flowers out of paper and fabric, so when I heard of Paper to Petal I knew I had to get it. I ran out to my nearest barnes and noble and stared wide eyed at the beauty of this book, like cross-legged on the floor and all. Not only are the flowers amazing, but the photography is so. good. There is seventy five different flowers and the book shows you all of them, and then gives you the steps on how to make them further into the book. In between there is a section for skills and supplies, and at the end there are templates. Basically, you need this now. Even if you are not getting married, this book is just a gift to your eyes and any creative's soul.

 

Also, this is not a sponsored post, I just literally fell in love with this book and wanted to share it's beauty, but if I ever do a sponsored post, It will only be something I love and support and want to share with all of you amazing people xo.

so, WE'RE ENGAGED!

Finally! I know, we're only 22.... BUT we have been dating for seven years. (hence the finally). I was given the honor of receiving Dj's Great Grandma's ring. I can't even explain how much I. LOVE. IT. It is not what I pictured myself having (at first I wanted something more band like) but it is so perfect for me it's not even funny. Vintage & different. The actual engagement was perfect as well, surprised in St. Augustine. And as for plans, well they are all coming and I can't wait to share!!

Here's a tiny photo shoot from the day of:

until next time,

 Jessica.

P.S. I am so behind- we got engaged August 5! whoops!