Project Wedding Blog

Vicki emailed me the most striking images from her gorgeous tropical wedding in Bali, Indonesia…

… photos by The Photo Factory

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Love the ultra luxe feel of this pink and gold wedding from Hawes Photography

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Celia, a beloved PW member and prominent blogger in the wedding world, was kind enough to share her wedding with us! Her budget savvy DIY projects gave such a personal style and southern charm to her DIY wedding…

A few words from the Celia, the lovely bride…

Jeff and I met in Church in Texas (though we went to the same high school) and maintained a long distance relationship for 4 years throughout college, until finally we got married. We now reside in Baltimore, MD where I planned the wedding from afar. It was DIY and we were on a very strict budget (which we came in under- yay!). We got married in Sherman, Texas (smalltown, texas basically) and it was a hot hot day (over 100!).

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The talented CK Hwang from 39 East Photography sent me one of the most gorgeous weddings I have seen in a long time. The couple, Brinda and Brian, hosted a multi-day cultural wedding in the heart of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma…

The happy couple was kind enough to share some details from their big day…

What were the main challenges in planning your wedding?

Main challenge was planning from a distance.  I had to make 2 trips to Oklahoma by myself and then a final trip with Brian. Each trip we would have to meet with as many vendors as we could and make as many decisions as possible in a short amount of time.  The rest we just had to leave up to my mom and “aunties” (my mom’s friends) and trust they would pick something we’d like.  There was a small army of women who made our wedding happen.  They had weekly meetings and at the time of the wedding, each auntie was assigned a task to make sure things ran smoothly.

What were some touches you made to your wedding to personalize it?

Since the wedding was so large, Brian and I really wanted to include some personal touches that our friends would recognize as “us”.  We both love ice cream so we had ice cream cups at the mendhi (they were from Braums which is a local ice cream chain). We made our wedding favors which were CD’s.  We each picked a few songs that meant something to us as individuals, a few that we loved as a couple, and a couple of Indian songs to celebrate the wedding.  Also, anyone who knows me knows I love chocolate so there were hershey kisses on every table at the reception.  Finally, Brian’s groom’s cake (a surprise from me to him) was a recreation of his custom hot rod — a 1928 Model A Ford that he assembled from pieces.  Sitting next to the car were gum paste figures of our dogs, Lady and Sadie. The altar where we were married (called a palki) was carved by a very close friend of our family (one of my “uncles”).  He made it especially for our wedding.  It was also his car we drove off in after the wedding ceremony. The car is a 1931 Model A Ford and very similar to Brian’s hot rod.

Who were your favorite vendors from the wedding?

Favorite vendor was our cake makers — the wedding cake was made by a woman named Mishelle Handy who also made my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding cake (http://www.cakeplease.com).  As I mentioned above, I love chocolate but her yellow cake with vanilla custard is the best cake I have ever eaten hands down (and I’ve eaten a lot of cake).  All of my friends were shocked when they found out I wasn’t going to have a chocolate wedding cake but once they tasted her cake they realized why!  The groom’s cake was made by a woman named Janet Rosebeary and I just happened to find her website when I was looking for someone to make a sculptural cake (http://www.rosebearydesigns.com).  I sent her a bunch of pictures of Brian’s car and she recreated it beautifully. Our other favorite was photographer as we wanted one that had shot Indian weddings before (www.39eastphotography.com <http://www.39eastphotography.com> ).

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Today’s wedding inspiration comes from Natalie (also known in the PW community as Magnolia08). Natalie married her sweetheart Matt in a charming backyard wedding in the heart of Sonoma…

Some words from the glowing bride…

I have the tendency to obsess over details.  And I was concerned that if I was too ambitious, I would lose myself in small details and not see the day for what it was: A public confirmation of love and commitment between my husband and me.

So when I think back to our wedding day, I think about how comfortable all our guests seemed to be, how relaxed everyone was, how easy it was to laugh and talk to all of our loved ones.  I look back at our pictures and see all the smiling faces and I know that the very best decision we made was to pick a house that felt like home for our wedding.

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LeeAnne and Alex got married at the Highlands Inn of Carmel, California. Carmel is one of the most beautiful places for a wedding… with gorgeous waves and beaches, and extremely unique natural beauty…

Will Taylor at Bliss Wedding Studio captured the entire event on camera. Here are some details, straight from the horse’s mouth…

Though LeeAnne and Alex live thousands of miles apart (she in Portland,Oregon; he in Ann Arbor, Michigan) they decided to seal the deal with a beautiful outdoor wedding at Highlands Inn in Carmel, California. The Central Coast is notorious for fog and drizzle at that time of year, and even as we were driving along the coast the day before the wedding, we were afraid the clouds would never lift in time for their afternoon nuptials. But as luck would have it, the morning of their wedding was sunny, warm, gorgeous and as blue as can be - not a single cloud in the sky!

LeeAnne was reminiscent of a mermaid with her stunning white gown, which featured fluttery ‘petal’ details and a cocoa-colored satin sash. Her groom Alex, as well as her bridesmaids, all wore earthy browns in simple silhouettes. Since the backdrop for their wedding was already so spectacular (the ceremony took place on the Highlands Inn terrace, which overlooked the picturesque Carmel coastline) they kept the rest of the details understated and elegant, with the perfect balance of rustic and contemporary.

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Stephanie (also known in the Project Wedding community as mushroom), shared some images from her wedding that I absolutely adore…

Photographer: Todd Rafalovich
Hair/Make-Up: Sherrie Long
Dress: Amy Kuschel
Bridesmaid Dress: J. Crew
Tuxes: Men’s Warehouse
Florist: Nicole Ha
Cake: American Cupcake
Officiant: Heartfelt Weddings
DJ: John Jow

Stephanie was kind enough to share the juicy details of her big day…

Calvin and I were set up by mutual friends; they figured we were both single so why not experiment and see if it works out.  From Calvin’s perspective, he wanted to get back in the dating game so he saw me as a chance to “practice”, after being on a 3-year hiatus.  For me, it was a chance to meet someone new and put myself out there.  My friends and I went to a club one night, and of course, Calvin and his friends were also there.  We exchanged names and a few dances, and that was it.  We had no idea what each other “really” looked like (the club was too dark); we had no idea if conversation was good (the club was too loud), and we had no idea if we would ever talk again (he didn’t ask me for my number).  Our matchmaker friends, of course, pushed him to contact me, and we started emailing, and eventually meeting again in person over coffee.  Luckily, for our friends, their matchmaking skills worked, and we dated for 5 years before saying “I do.”  Practice… I don’t think so! J

I love the combination of baby blue and brown, so we used that color theme throughout the wedding.  We are both Chinese, and since we did not have the traditional tea ceremony, we also threw in some modern Asian elements into our theme.  We are big foodies, so our tables were designated by the names of some of our favorite restaurants (or ones that had special meaning to us).  It was also important for us to recognize our family, so during cocktail hour, we displayed photographs of our relatives’ weddings.  The one element that made our wedding truly special was our personal vows.  We chose to write our own vows, and this gave us the opportunity to express how much we meant to each other in front of our family and friends.  I’m not a very emotional person in public, so this was the one time that I was letting my guard down; to feel the moment and to share with everyone what Calvin meant to me.  I truly felt that at that moment, it was just me and him and that no one else was around. I knew the wind was rushing around me; bur ironically, I did not feel the chill.  It was truly surreal; almost as if time was standing still.

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I was digging through my email inbox for some much-needed inspiration and lo and behold, I found a hidden gem from last spring! The beautiful bride Jen sent some absolutely stunning images of her weddings in Jasper, Alberta, Canada. Thank you so much Jennifer for sharing your wedding with us, and congratulations to both you and Sean on beginning your life together as husband and wife!

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Some more beautiful images of Christina and Tim’s beautiful rustic wedding, taken by the ultra-talented Jen Badalamenti of JK Photography…

Some more sweet words from Christina, the bride who designed this absolutely awe-inspiring wedding…

The day started with the groom and groomsmen shooting clays at the groom’s great Aunt’s house. He then drove her 1939 Cadillac to his family farm where we had our “first look” photos taken. It was a great decision. The day flowed so well because of this. The guests were taken to the ceremony site (a tree with our initials carved in it in the middle of a grassfield) via vintage Farmall Tractors with wagons. I painted arrow signs with different words for “wedding” and put them on the path to the ceremony. Guests were given fan programs and signed a photo guest book. The wedding party walked down a path to the side with the ringbearer and 5 flowergirls came down the aisle. The ringbearer carried a ring dish that matched the groom’s cufflinks. Three of the flowergirls handed bundles of baby’s breath to guests while the other 2 dropped petals. I arrived via a horse and carriage. The clydesdale is Tim’s Mom’s and is beautiful. During the ceremony we chose to do a Celtic knot tying ceremony in lieu of a unity candle. Our families and guests really enjoyed this. We also presented our Mother’s with flower arrangements during the sign of peace. Lemonade was served in mini jar-mugs after the ceremony from a lemonade stand made by my Stepdad. We also made notes to be hung from the guests’ rearview mirror thanking them for coming.

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Christina, the lovely bride, emailed me the photos from her absolutely awe-inspiring red, white, and blue wedding. The wedding was held on July 4th at the groom’s family farm in Sturgis, Michigan. The images were masterly captured by JK Photography…

Here are a few words from the lovely bride herself…

We have been together for 8 1/2 years (since our sophomore year in high school) and our dream wedding came true. We did a lot of DIY projects including the invitations, programs, menus, table assignment cards, signs, card box (stump), table numbers, coloring books for the kids, and a lemonade stand.

The reception was absolutely beautiful. Riverside receptions has a river running on two sides of it and 2 breathtaking waterfalls in the landscaping. The guests mingled while they waited for the wedding party to arrive. Our cakes were modeled after our attire! The table numbers were important years in US History, we explained what happened in each year on table tents. Our card box was actually a card stump that Tim hollowed out and we hung our new initials on the front. We also took dance lessons and performed a waltz for our first dance, it was definitely worth the time and effort. The favors, Strawberry - Rhubarb Jam, were made by Tim’s Great Aunt Helen.

I really hope our wedding can help or inspire other brides!

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