I recently featured a lovely DIY lemonade stand in the Wedding Edibles section of the blog from Jen of JK Photography. Well, the wedding that served this lemonade to it's guests is filled with so many amazing details that I'm excited to say that Jen of JK Photography has given me the privilege to feature this absolutely beautiful wedding that took place on the 4th of July. The wedding of Christina and Tim is the perfect mix of patriotism and modern-country. First up . . . the stunning details that greeted guests as they entered the wedding at the 100 year old farm house. Just about all of the details in this wedding were DIY projects, and both Christina and Tim helped plan this wedding. Jen says "It was truly one of the most unique weddings I have ever photographed!" 
Stay tuned, there's so much more to come from this beautiful outdoor wedding of Christina and Tim from Jen of JK Photography.
Today I'm sharing images with you from one ultra talented bride whose charming DIY Wedding was completely handmade {please see previous post for all the details on the handmade items}. The entire wedding came in at just under $3,000 and was attended by 150 guests. It was a gorgeous wedding filled with a beautiful eclectic mix of handmade items that's just brimming with color.
above: ceremony programs, birdseed pouches, kids table, and cakes from Publix
above: guest book library cards and vintage bottle centerpieces
Congratulation Ashley and Brandon. And, thank you so much Ashley for sharing your special day with us today. And, now here's a little bit more about the bride... Ashley is an interior designer that's branching out into weddings now, as well. So, if you are a bride looking to add the handmade touch to your wedding, please reach out to Ashley as she'd love to help. Details on Ashley's wedding design services and to see more images and details from her wedding and planning process, please visit her blog, Olive You Deerly.
Church and reception: both were at Blakemore Church of the Nazarene in Nashville
Photographer: April Sirit of Evoke Photography
Hair and makeup: Amy Lynn Larwig of Nashville
No other vendors were used
Today's charming DIY wedding was sent to me by the bride herself and I'm in love! From the details to the colors this wedding is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Plus it's eco-friendly and a little bit hippie. The wedding is completely handmade and ended up coming in at a cost of $3,000. AMAZING! As Ashley writes... "I made everything from the invitations to the bouquets to floral arrangements to programs to centerpieces to wreaths on the doors to the favors to ring bearer pillow (or nest, in this case) to my hairpiece and my dress embellishments." Ashley also writes... "We had 5 themes or focuses, if you will: nature, eclectic vintage finds, eco-friendly and handmade endeavors, our love for music, and color!" More talk in a bit, let's first see some photos . . .
Dress originally: $3000 | price at time of purchase: $100
Ashley added a polka-dotted organza overlay and sash to raise the waistline and the bird embroidery was done by her and her mom.
Hairpiece was made by Ashley to incorporate her aqua shoes, colors from her bouquet and the birds on her sash.
Flowers purchased at Michael's during a half-price sale on all their silk flowers (personally, I though these were real flowers)
Guess what? I've got even more to show you later this morning from this lovely wedding. And... Ashley is now planning weddings - but, more details on that later . . . I have to show you the rest of her wedding first. Please do come back
Church and reception: both were at Blakemore Church of the Nazarene in Nashville
Photographer: April Sirit of Evoke Photography
Hair and makeup: Amy Lynn Larwig of Nashville
No other vendors were used
Today I've been sharing with you the beautifully crafted wedding of a high school friend of mine that married this past October. Karlene is back to finish sharing with us her amazing DIY ideas and budget saving tips . . .
above photo courtesy of Mark Nielsen from Anthem Studios
Part DIY/Part Florist: Floral Displays
from Karlene: "I bought the vases for the flowers at Walmart! I put a small votive holder inside the vase to prop up the limes, my florist did the flowers though. She did an amazing job!"
above photos courtesy of Mark Nielsen from Anthem Studios
Some extra special touches from Karlene:
"My mom made me a satin bag to hold the cards for the gift table, she also made me a Red Sox garter belt... I also had a giant mason jar and had guests write notes on fuchsia and purple cards and put them in the mason jar, and we have it in our kitchen. I definitely got my craftiness from my mom."
Karlene has some final thoughts on her wedding that I want to leave you with:
"I gathered all my ideas from other brides and just from brainstorming about different things to do. It was fun and everyone is still talking about how much fun they had and all the details that we covered. We had a small wedding of about 40 people total, so it was easier to do so much for them. I would do it all over again!"
above photo courtesy of Mark Nielsen from Anthem Studios
Karlene . . . I loved all the special touches you added to your wedding to make it your own. You looked beautiful and I can't thank you enough for letting me share your amazing DIY wedding with my readers today. Wishing you and Brian all the best and a lifetime of happiness together.
Today I'm sharing with you the lovely DIY wedding of a high school friend of mine that married on October 18, 2008. We continue now with more DIY ideas and budget saving tips from Karlene . . .
above photo courtesy of Mark Nielsen from Anthem Studios
DIY Wedding Idea and Budget Tip: Aisle Pomanders
from Karlene: "Our florist would have charged an arm and a leg for flower pomanders I wanted down the aisle, so I found another bride that used them and I bought them from her, then sold them after the wedding to a woman on craigslist, that lived in California! We had 6 total, 3 on either side of the aisle hanging from shepherd hooks. The pomanders were silk flowers, and I added the ribbon and corsage pins to look like pearls between the flowers."
DIY Wedding Idea and Budget Tip: Fans for Guests
from Karlene: "I bought straw fans from another bride and wrapped the handles with matching ribbon for our guests, then sold them after the wedding for a profit!"
above photos courtesy of Mark Nielsen from Anthem Studios
DIY Wedding Idea: Place Card Display
from Karlene: "I filled 2 metal trays with sand and a few shells and put the place cards in the sand."
DIY Wedding Idea and Budget Tip: Photos from Guests
from Karlene: "I also made business cards to put on the tables that said "Get some good photos tonight? Please share them with us" and attached our shutterfly account so we could see everyone's pictures... it's a high-tech version of leaving those expensive to develop disposable cameras."
above photos courtesy of Karlene
DIY Wedding Idea: Table Numbers
from Karlene: "Another idea I had too was to make the table numbers out of wedding photos from our parents and grandparents. We had 6 tables total, so it worked out perfect! Some of my cousins had never seen our grandparents wedding photo. I just put them in acrylic frames on the tables. Our guests loved them, and walked around to see them all."
And, coming up around lunchtime, I will have the final round of DIY wedding ideas and budget tips from Karlene, stay tuned . . . up next, the winner in our latest giveaway is announced (11 am EST).