The Wedding and More…

DIY wedding inspiration and ideas for a rustic barn wedding.

Hello! Do you remember me, Diane of In My Own Style?

It has been awhile since I last posted. :-)

Since June 9th I have been in “wedding mode” that included pre and post wedding events. I decided to go off the grid and enjoy the time off from the blog and all things internet. I have never done that before and figured after 9 years of blogging, going on a little break would be OK.

It turns out it was a good thing, as the events and our travels the past two weeks have given me lots of inspiration.

Most bloggers share family photos on Facebook, but since Facebook only shows about a dozen of my followers my posts, I decided to share them in a post right here on my blog. Get ready for photo overload.

It is the perfect way for me to get back into blogging mode.

My oldest daughter got married on June 16th. It was a wedding that I helped organize from afar down to reserving hotel blocks and buses to and from the venue. Ordering flowers, making decor, and more. I will share a few of the DIY’s I did with you over the next few weeks. I relied heavily on Pinterest for ideas that I could make at home and transport 6 hours away.

A week before the wedding, we had 6 of her friends and my son-in-laws parents came down to the lake house for a little pre-wedding fun.

The weather was perfect and there was lots of action on the water…

…and right off the dock all week.

Races…

…obstacle courses and more. It was action packed.

On Thursday before the wedding we packed up 4 cars with tons of wedding stuff and drove to the wedding destination. We ran around all day Friday getting last minute stuff and then headed to the rehearsal dinner on Friday night.  I was pretty exhausted at this point, but still had to set up for the wedding.

On Saturday morning, the day of the wedding, we headed to the venue to get everything setup before the first bus load of guests arrived. It was the perfect setting for my daughter who loves horses and has been riding since she was in second grade.

It was a beautiful place. Since the sun was shining, we had the ceremony outside. If it rained, the ceremony would have been…

…held inside the stable area…

… here. The chairs outside are placed in here with a middle aisle. Since it was outside, guests had the freedom to explore all over the farm and stables.

The reception area is where I had to put my past experience as a retail visual merchandiser and DIY skills to use. We had to set everything up. We paid for the use of the farm for the day that included the table and chairs, everything else had to be brought in or rented. Caterers, bar tenders, tablecloths… everything even down to 35 big bags of ice for the bars.

We kept the decorations simple using colorful bandanas for napkins that we bought on Amazon to add color to the space.

Baby’s Breath in Mason jars as the centerpieces.

Out by the entrance and bar area, I set up a table for…

…seating cards, photos and favors.

This part of the venue is where the guests first came and the cocktail hour started. I set up a Popcorn Bar so the guests could munch while they drank and waited for all the guests coming on two charter buses to arrive.

After about 45 minutes everyone went outside for the ceremony with drinks in hand.  It was a very casual and fun affair and told everyone to dress comfy. Shorts were fine and many wore them.

I wore a sleeveless Gingham Pleated-Neck Shift Dress.   My daughter’s dress was my younger sister’s wedding dress. It was perfect and helped keep wedding expenses on budget.

My twin sister wore the same dress as me. One fun part of being an identical twin. We got everyone confused as to who was who. :-) I am on the left.

One of my favorite photos. Kelly’s two loves… horses and Roger. :-)

The farm had many great places for photo ops.

Walkways, paths, and an outdoor fireplace and patio where we got to watch the sunset.

We set up games out on the lawn. I wasn’t sure anyone would play, but…

…they did until it got too dark to see.

I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago that I was making a tiered stand for the wedding donuts. I made it so it can be taken apart. It was the only way to transport it.

They were delish and enjoyed by all.

There was only one bridesmaid, my younger daughter, Mandy and the best man was a friend of my son-in-law.

Planning a wedding took a lot of time and effort, but in the end…was worth every minute. The day was everything they wanted… a party that was wedding themed, nothing fancy or traditional. As one of my friends said, she did it just like you… in her own style.  :-)

Wedding Video:

Thanks to Beth M. for making this video.

On Monday, Ed and I headed to Pennsylvania for a few days and to attend another wedding of one of our younger daughter’s friends. The festivities for this wedding started on Thursday night in center city Philadelphia.

We checked into a hotel in Philadelphia for two nights and during the day we did sightseeing.

I had toured the Liberty Bell as a kid, Ed however mentioned that he had never seen the Liberty Bell, even after living in the Philadelphia area for 22 years. So we headed there so he could check it off his bucket list of places to go.

On Saturday after the second wedding in a week, we left Philadelphia and headed to the shore for two days. Friends of ours have a home in Stone Harbor, NJ and they invited us to spend the weekend there with them. It was nice to sit on the beach with a book and just relax after going non-stop for the past two weeks.

On Monday we drove back to South Carolina. Yesterday, I breathed… Today I feel like life is back to normal once again.