Our little cabin wedding.
Blairsville, GA. July 21st, 2012.
We wanted something small, unique, and memorable. So naturally we decided to have a wedding in the middle of no where and plan it all in two months.
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| Wedding Venue: Great Grand Fathers Cabin "Hawks Nest" and some of his leftover belongings. |
We planned to have the wedding at my family's cabin in Georgia, because of its scenic view and family history. My brother John was our main photographer for the ceremony, and other brother Rob was the officiant.
(pic soon)
The only thing that I was certain about having at my wedding was succulents.
I had become obsessed with collecting them over the school year. I had collected so many for the wedding that we literally had to lug them behind us in a trailer on our way there. This was a poor choice on my behalf, for the succulents met a tragic end on the way there.
The only thing that I was certain about having at my wedding was succulents.
I had become obsessed with collecting them over the school year. I had collected so many for the wedding that we literally had to lug them behind us in a trailer on our way there. This was a poor choice on my behalf, for the succulents met a tragic end on the way there.
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| Succulents salvaged from the grave. |
Being an art teacher, I had learned to plan ahead for disasters. I had packed a few artificial flowers just incase such a travesty should happen. With a ton of help from my maid of honor Katie, we somehow pulled the wedding together sans most succulents.
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| Groomsmen Boutonnieres and Mother's Corsages |
We stayed up all night in a panic making the bouquets from artificial floral scraps. I can't thank Katie enough for the help, and for keeping me calm through it all!
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| Bridesmaids Bouquets |
My 11 yr old niece Cosette must have sensed we would need extra flowers.
She made these darling paper bouquets for me!
Seriously, coolest kid ever.
She made these darling paper bouquets for me!
Seriously, coolest kid ever.
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| Above: Cosette's paper flowers. Below: Maid of Honor bouquet. |
My mother and the bridesmaids all helped to clean salvageable succulents and fill centerpieces. Needless to say they did a lovely job!
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| Revived succulents |
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Centerpieces: Hand spray-painted vases from target. Artificial Cherry Blossoms from Pier 1. Live succulents, Artificial Dusty miller leaves and Dried Billy Balls. |
The groomsmen helped out by putting together the favors. (I never knew men could tie such perfect little bows). We placed the marshmallow roasting skewers in a beautiful vase given to us from Jesse's mother.
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| S'more Favors. |
We found this super cute lemonade dispenser at the grocery store for 15$!
Jesse cut and designed this sign from wood and I (very sleepily) hand painted it the night before we left!
We used Jesse's grandmothers old lace curtains for table cloths, and I made place cards from yellow card stock. We also spray painted a pair of Jesse's grandparents vintage italian frames and photoshopped in our profiles.
Our guestbook hung from twine and garland ribbons made from old scraps of fabric leftover from art school.
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| Hanging Guestbook Installation |
Jesse had this neat idea to make a book out of the cards, so I gathered up scraps and binded them with ribbon. The end result is lovely!
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| Completed Guestbook |
We had a lot of fun shopping for gifts for our bridal party. We gave the groomsmen hats and suspenders to wear in the wedding. The bridesmaids were given super fun oversized tea cups with hidden animals inside of them.
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| Gifts given at rehersal. |
My dress was designed by Project Runway Winner Leanne Marshall. It was perfect since I wanted something tea length and lacy, but didn't have the time to hunt one down in a thrift store, and I found some matching lace pumps on clearance at Macys!
My dress came in two pieces: a lace overlay and a pretty cotton underdress, so during the reception I slipped off the lace and put on these adorable yellow flats.
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| Original Yellow Shoes |
My bouquet was the only professionally made floral arrangement.
We had it made at Nanz and Kraft, but the artist in me didn't love it. With some minor tweaks and changes it ended up quite beautiful.
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| Bridal Bouquet |
For the bridal party, I wanted something laid back and nontraditional. I let the bridesmaids choose their own yellow dresses. My only guidelines were that they were knee length and nonexpensive! They all looked great! The boys were the most fun to dress. They were asked to wear folded up white shirts and any shade of gray pants (gray ties optional).We supplied them with all different shades of gray hats and suspenders. (Photography: John Simmons)
I fell inlove with this nontraditional animal head cake topper off of etsy, and instead of a wedding cake we had delicious lemon raspberry cupcakes that were to die for (all home made by Jesse's mother).
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| Nom Nom Nom |
After some last minute shopping at walmart, I found some yellow fabric on clearance. I decided to use it as a hankerchief for Basil (my dog). I had soooo much extra I had to make something out of it, so I ended up making this fun triangle garland!
My niece surprised us with another gift. She made a beautiful drawing of us. Had I known she was so talented, I would have hired her to do the wedding!
After gorging ourselves on dinner and cupcakes, Jesse and I had our first dance to "Such Great Heights" by Iron and Wine. We aren't particularly big dancers, nor did we realize how long the song was going to be. So sneaking out of the room seemed like the best choice at the time... fortunately we fooled our families into thinking this strategic escape was cute.
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| Dancing and rootbeer- fun night had by all. Particularily love my little neice gettin' down on the right. |
When the sun began to set we roasted marshmallows on the fire, gazed at stars, and watched the boys play with fireworks. All the while Jesse's light installation hung in the background, making the most romantic atmosphere.
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| Light installation hanging in the trees. |
It was quite a memorable evening, and we can't thank everyone enough for their help!
Fin!
Special thanks to my Mother and Katie for their hard work. Photo's used in this blog are courtesy of: John Simmons, Jesse Gibbs, and Myself.
