Secret Garden

June 10, 2011 in
Real Weddings
Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods

Photo by Delirious Photography

Dawn Correspondence
Dawn Correspondence

Amanda is a fanatic for all things handmade and loves creating her own treasures and paper goods. She is inspired by bold colors, being outdoors, and her hilarious husband, Michael. When she is not developing new designs for her shop, you can find Amanda attempting to try new recipes, people watching with Michael, or playing on the floor with her dogs, Kip, Bella, and Phoebe.

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As we began planning our wedding, Michael and I knew we wanted the day to showcase our love for one another and those celebrating with us. With a love of pretty vintage finds and being outdoors, our quaint wedding theme naturally sprang to life. Our vintage garden dream became a reality when we found Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens to host both our ceremony and reception.

Our dream wedding started with our chic, simple wedding invitations I created and tied by hand. To give the invitations personality, I created a tiny tag to attach to each invitation that read, “Come celebrate with us!” We wanted to keep the invitations simple in design, but unique in packaging, so the tag, twine, and our postage that I designed to match the invitations added something special.

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Once the perfect venue was booked, I immediately found the perfect ivory dress with a small bloom on the side to encompass the garden theme. My sweet little dress hung on a teal hand-sculpted hanger from Suspended Moments until it was time for the “I do’s.” At the reception, I accessorized with a teal clutch from Eclu and kicked off my heels for some peacock flats from Paris XOX.

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One of the first purchases we made when organizing our theme was our cake topper from Seapinks that I fell in love with. Jenny and I worked together to create something that was unique to us, and this is really how the rest of our décor began falling into place. [pullquote]Since the lovebirds cake topper was the inspiration for the entire garden wedding, it was only fitting that we found the perfect piece of burly bark from Roxy Heart Vintage as the cake stand.[/pullquote]

Each centerpiece was also created with a smaller tree slice and a variety of vintage teal and clear mason jars, gathered from our families, filled with hydrangeas and tealight candles that created a nostalgic, romantic feel. We even carried the mason jar theme into the wash rooms with soap dispensers from Midwest Finds.

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Our ceremony took place in the middle of the garden under a blooming archway. The bridesmaids and I carried bouquets of hydrangeas that my family put together just hours before the wedding, tied with burlap ribbon from Caramelos. [pullquote]My bridal bouquet also included a thin strip of cream lace ribbon tied with an antique locket that held a photo in memory of my dear grandmother.[/pullquote]

I really wanted my 8-year-old niece to play a role in the day and had her junior bridesmaid dress made by Dapper Dudes to coordinate with the older bridesmaids’ dresses. My younger niece was our flower girl and carried a sweet rustic burlap cone from Nutfield Weaver and my nephew, the ring bearer, carried a burlap pillow from Victorian Station. We used a teal vintage suitcase from Robin of The Fancy Lamb to store the programs I made for our guests. Robin searched for weeks for the perfect suitcase, and I was absolutely thrilled with her find!

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[pullquote]From the day we got engaged, Michael and I knew we wanted to write our own vows. We felt this would be much more personal, and would be fun for our guests to hear since we both have a quirky sense of humor.[/pullquote] We handwrote our vows in adorable petite vow books from Bragging Bags that coordinated perfectly with our vintage garden theme. My grandmother’s antique suitcase was used to collect well wishes from our guests. The suitcase was adorned with vintage lace and a perfectly weathered sign from Love is Sweet that read, “Honeymoon in Madrid” in Spanish! Our gorgeous hand-bound guest book came from Natalie As Is and was another perfect addition to our décor.

We really wanted our guests to mingle during the reception, so we did not assign tables or seats. We are both grateful we chose to do this, because many new friendships bloomed from the evening. Guests wandered through the garden, enjoyed dinner and cocktails, and danced the evening away. We thanked our guests for attending our special day with jam from Hope’s Pantry that my mom, aunt, and cousins painstakingly tied rustic twine to, attaching tags I created that read “Spread the Love!” At the end of the evening, Michael toasted to our guests, thanking them for sharing our special day with us. We used my parents’ champagne glasses tied with cute “Mr.” and “Mrs.” wooden wine charms from Love Naturally, and cut our sweet little cake with serving pieces from Weaves Beads.

The convergence of vintage and handmade finds created a truly magical garden for our big day. We were ecstatic to see all the pieces work perfectly together in our creation. Our families and friends were a huge help in making our dream wedding come to life, and we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day.

Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods
Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods

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