Posts Tagged ‘casual’
A Fun Destination Wedding in California
From the bride, Alexandra: The thing we wanted most was a fun, outdoor wedding with our closest friends and family. That’s why we opted to do a wedding weekend (Friday through Sunday) and why we chose a venue where people could also stay the night. We rented out the entire venue for three days and filled all 50 rooms and cabins with our wedding guests. 
THE STYLE
We have a love for both the outdoors and international travel, so we wanted that to come across in our theme. Our theme was a mix of outdoorsy/rustic, boho, romantic, and travel. We knew right away that we wanted an outdoor, mountain wedding and chose a wonderful venue where the ceremony, reception, and entire wedding weekend could be carried out under the trees and stars.
THE FLOWERS
I knew I wanted a lot of flowers and greenery to match the outdoor venue. I chose mostly peonies and other flowers that were more boho, and avoided the traditional roses. My bouquet and floral halo were a mix of pink, coral, and cream flowers.
PERSONAL TOUCH
My mother, brother, and I were born in Japan. According to Japanese tradition, anyone who folds 1000 origami cranes will be granted a wish by the Gods. For the wedding, she folded 1000 origami cranes to wish Joel and me a happy marriage. We displayed the cranes at the ceremony and reception.
THE CEREMONY
The ceremony took place in a rectangular clearing in the middle of the woods. The trees lined the space and were the perfect backdrop. The arch at the front of the ceremony was made of wood and adorned with large floral bouquets. We also strung some of the origami cranes from the archway. We lined the ceremony walkway with flower petals to give a romantic feel to the space. My brother officiated the wedding and told our love story. We both wrote our own vows. Because we aren’t very religious, our vows were the longest part of the ceremony and were the most meaningful for us.
THE RECEPTION
Our reception was outdoors in a clearing right near the ceremony. Each table had lace doilies handmade by my great-grandmother and flowers matching the ones in the archways and bouquets. We also had a lot of green foliage on the tables. The tables themselves were dark wood.
THE TABLE NAMES & FAVORS
Joel and I have traveled to 18 countries together so far. For the names of the tables at the reception, we chose the names of some of our favorite international cities, like Paris where Joel and I got engaged. To find their table assignments, guests had to go to a table where we laid out golden compasses with the names of each guest on them. Once they found their compass, they had to open the compass to see what city they were “traveling” to. The compasses were also functional compasses and doubled as party favors.
RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Photographer: Clane Gessel Photography // Event & Floral Design: Quality Event Design // Caterer: Great Thyme Catering // Invitations: The Stylish Scribe // Venue: Chalet View Lodge // Video: Ben Ridpath Films
A Rustic Destination Wedding in Tennessee
There are three things Michael and Carrie love more than anything in the world: nature and its animals, craft beer, and each other. So, it only made sense that their wedding should reflect these priorities in earnest, a goal which they achieved seamlessly on a warm summer day in the Tennessee mountains.
THE WEDDING TEAM
Photography: Eden Bliss Weddings // Venue: The Barn at Chestnut Springs // Coordination: Custom Love // Florals: Melissa Timm Designs // Cake: Catie Cakes // DJ: Smokey Mountain Sounds // Catering: Dead End BBQ // Bartending: The Pour Guys
See more Tennessee Weddings
A Casual Destination Wedding in Moab
From the photographer, Chelsea Dawn Weddings: Family and guests drove and flew in from all parts of the country to hang out for several days at the Whispering Oaks Ranch to trap shoot, four-wheel, and have a good ol’ time celebrating together. The day of the wedding, nearly the entire city lost power, and Elizabeth and her bridesmaids had to high tail it to the other side of Moab to have access to both water and electricity for getting ready. The rest of the evening was filled with love, laughs, and booty-shaking.
Mountain Climbers Tie the Knot in Silverthorne, Colorado
Rachel & Brent | Silverthorne Pavilion
From the bride: We decided that anything we did had to be a reflection of “our” taste, not just one or the other. So we had a sit-down together to discuss and came out of it looking for a venue in the mountains (we are both huge outdoor enthusiasts), that had an outdoor ceremony site, and that felt intimate and down-to-earth. We ended up loving the Silverthorne Pavilion. It had the added perk of being a really cool vacation destination, and since most of our guests were from out of town, we thought that would show them a good time.
THE STYLE
We are both really into climbing (that’s how we met), biking, hiking, and camping, so we went for a mix of rustic and contemporary. All of the details were inspired by nature.
THE WEATHER
The actual day was rainy, literally right up until 10 minutes before the ceremony! Then it just stopped and the sun came out for the rest of the day.
THE CEREMONY
One of my favorite elements was in the ceremony, we had our families add stones to create a cairn (a sort of guidepost made out of stones that climbers, hikers, and bikers use) to symbolize their guidance in our lives.
THE SEATING CHART
The biggest handmade DIY project was our escort cards. The tables were named after Colorado 14’ers, and the seating card was a topographical map of the mountain you were sitting at, overlaid with your name and tagged with a carabiner since we met climbing. Brent and his dad put together this awesome hanging display.
THE FAVORS
We made the wildflower seed envelopes for the favors.
THE GUESTBOOK
The guestbook was river stones that guests could write on and throw in a bell jar.
ADVICE
My biggest advice is work with your budget. I made the mistake of starting to spend without portioning out money, and so the things that came first in planning are the ones that saw the most money. That meant that it got hard to work on things that came later, like the bar! My other advice is don’t get too involved in pinning, at a certain point you need to go out and see what’s actually available for your wedding and budget, and that’s way more fun than pinning!
THE WEDDING TEAM
Venue: The Silverthorne Pavilion. Very customizable and intimate.
Photographer: Kendall Pavan Photography | Wedding Dress: Something New Boutique | Caterer: Footers Catering | Cake Pops: T & Cakes