Green Wedding Shoes Wedding Blog | Wedding Trends for Stylish + Creative Brides

When Lindsay + Mitch started planning their wedding, they knew one thing – they wanted it to be the most fun anyone had ever had in their lives. No problem, right? So they came together and thought of all the things they love and that are meaningful in their lives and created “A Most Spectacular Wedding,” which was their theme! Just love!! A bit more about their day from Lindsay…

We both grew up in Olympia, Washington, and have a very close group of friends who we’ve known for pretty much ever, and we wanted to incorporate that history into the day. Our venue, Schilter Family Farm, was a place where both of us had gone as children to get Halloween pumpkins and Christmas trees. We used a vendor from the Olympia farmer’s market for all of our flowers. My very dear and uber talented friend Chris of Chris Ritter Design Works designed all of our papergoods, and my stellar bridesmaids spent many MANY hours handcrafting decorations with me. Our friend Justin emceed our reception and created a wedding playlist for us, and Mitch’s brother built the curtain that was the backdrop for our ceremony. Mitch’s aunt oversaw putting the event together on the day-of. It was truly a labor of love that involved so many people who are dear to us, and that made our wedding all the more special.

Thanks so much to the always awesome Jagger Photography for the beautiful photos!

Not your typical first look, Lindsay instead crawled/stalked towards him to attack! How fun are they!! :)

Lindsay had all the girls dresses made with fabric they picked out – just love them!

Music Selections
Processional: Big Rock Candy Mountains by Harry McClintock, The Dress Looks Nice on You by Sufjan Stevens
Recessional: You Never Can Tell by Chuck Berry
First Dance: Harvest Moon by Neil Young

Most memorable moment of your wedding day?

OK, I know I’m only supposed to pick ONE, but there are three and I can’t narrow it down any further.

1. The ceremony. Both Mitch and I thought we were going to HATE it because we hate being in front of people, but it was a seriously transformative experience. I couldn’t believe how much I was bursting with love for my husband–in fact, right after he said his vows I just leaned right in and kissed him because I couldn’t wait!

2. We took a hayride around the farm with all of our friends as the sun was setting. Our friend Nathan brought his banjo and the whole ride we were singing and laughing. It was magical.

3. Towards the end of the night we got everyone together to sing John Denver’s Country Roads. Random, I know, but it’s kind of the theme song of our friend group. The whole barn was singing along and it was like being in a pulsating vortex of love and friendship. Awesome!!!

We are also fairly eclectic and fun-loving people, so we wanted to have some touches at the reception that reflected our kooky personalities. Long ago we decided our spirit animals were a dinosaur and a flamingo, and so those were the toppers on our wedding pie. We also totally love animals, and the awesome staff at Schilter Farm set up a little petting zoo for us with pygmy goats, Shetland ponies and chickens and took our guests on hay rides. Our caterer, Veraci Pizza, brought in a freestanding wood fire pizza oven so you could watch them making and firing the pizzas right there. We also had a photo booth with these plastic animal masks we’re obsessed with.

Any advice for those planning now?

Communicate with everyone involved in your wedding as you plan – otherwise you can be in for a lot of stress and heartache as you move forward in the planning stages.

Also: INVEST IN YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER! At first we were thinking of using a friend to save on photography costs, and I’m SO GLAD we didn’t! We had the BEST experience with Heather and Grayson at Jagger Photography, and they captured our wedding – from the tiny details to the bubbling emotions – to a T. All of their talent, experience shooting weddings and professionalism was worth its weight in gold. We seriously couldn’t be happier with our pictures, because every time we look at them, it’s like reliving the day over and over again. And when you spend a year of your life planning a six hour event, trust me, you’re going to want some stellar photos that show all the blood, sweat and tears that went into it.

I couldn’t agree more about the photographer comment you guys! So true + yours are pretty amazing – I feel like I was there! :) Congrats to you both!

vendors:
photography: Jagger Photography (you can see more photos from their wedding here) // venue: Schilter Family Farm, Nisqually, WA // floral design: Simple Life Farm, Olympia, WA // wedding dress: David’s Bridal, Urban Outfitters // shoes: Vera Wang // bridesmaid dresses: Miss Brache // groom suit: J. Crew (pants and shirt), thrifted (vest and tie) // invitations+ paper goods: Chris Ritter Design Works // catering: Veraci Pizza // cake: Shoofly Pie Company, Cupcake Royale, peaches and blueberries from Schilter Family Farm

Lauren + JR wanted an intimate celebration with their closest family + friends. They really wanted to be able to celebrate with those that helped them become the people they are today. One of their best friends officiated the ceremony and another friend sang at their reception. They are also both avid readers and had lots of sweet details from children’s books like “Where The Wild Things Are” (the gold paper crowns + animal figurines) and “The Giving Tree” (they were married under a beautiful oak tree). They also incorporated their favorite novels by using them as table names, and seat assignments/guest gifts were a combined element of individual succulents in gold pots. I love that they described their theme as “Wild Things At a Garden Party.” Thanks to Kate Harrison for the lovely photos.

What song did you walk down the aisle to? Our wedding party danced down the aisle to “Animal Arithmetic” by Jonsi (the lead singer of Sigur Ros), a tremendously joyful and ebullient song. Next, Jason walked down the aisle with his parents, and then Lauren did the same — the procession music for both of us was the song “Take Care” by Beach House. The entire wedding party danced away from the ceremony and towards cocktail hour to “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes.

Most memorable moment of your wedding day? Our truly brilliant photographer, Kate Harrison, pulled us aside part way through the reception and led us to the top of a rolling hillside of grapevines. She wanted to take some pictures of us as the sun was setting over the valley. But more than that, she also wanted to create and help us preserve a particularly special private moment. The day had gone by fast and was only going by faster.

Up on the ridge, with our arms wrapped around each other as husband and wife, we looked down on the awesome site of our families and friends dancing the night away together… Never before have we ever felt so warm, so content, so fortunate, so happy. The joy of the event — of being able to celebrate and toast with the most important people in our lives, and being able to do so in such a beautiful setting — was overwhelming. We soon rejoined the party and had a lot of fun on the dance floor… And at the dessert bar… And with the photo booth. But the most memorable moment of our wedding day was probably when Kate had us step away from all the revelry and take in from a slight distance the entire scene we worked so long to help create.

We were mindful about making our wedding an opportunity to celebrate love, family, and friendship. We consider ourselves to be the products of the people we hold most close to our hearts, and we spent a lot of time thinking about how we could intimately involve those who have helped to make us the people we are.

One of the first decisions we made was to have one of our best friends serve as the officiant, and we invited some of our most cherished friends to recite poems and readings during the ceremony. Another dear friend of ours performed an amazingly beautiful rendition of Feist’s “Past in Present” on his ukulele for our first dance. In terms of themes, we knew we wanted to have a dance party in a barn!

Any advice for those planning now?
Enjoy it! Planning our wedding gave us an excuse to do something creative together every weekend, initiated many interesting and important conversations about how we want to reflect and communicate our values, and allowed us to collaborate with some brilliant, dedicated, wonderful people. (A number of vendors became our close friends over our year of planning.) Also, take advantage of the opportunity to go to tastings! There’s lots of scrumptious food out there!

vendors:
photography: Kate Harrison // caterer: Grapevine Catering // event planner: Sitting In A Tree // favors and gifts: The Blue Orchid // reception venue: Healdsburg Country Gardens // video: Sharkpig // dj: Austin Hendrix Productions // wedding dress: “Hello Gorgeous” dress by Ivy & Aster // specialty foods: Kozlowski Farms

I just love this beautiful backyard wedding – and a backyard with a gorgeous barn? Just perfect – and how lucky are they!? :) Emily + Brandon were married at Emily’s family home in central California. They are both laid back people and just wanted a simple, no fuss, country wedding. With lots of help from family + friends, they were able to pull of their dream wedding. Big congrats to Emily + Brandon! Thanks also to Ken Kienow for the lovely photos and be sure to check out their super sweet video by Cana Video Production.

Love the groomsmen in their plaid shirts!

All of the credit for how the day looked has to go to our vendors and our families. I showed Laurel, from Adornments, a few pictures I had torn out of magazines that showed the color schemes I was interested in and the flowers I liked. Laurel and Eileen from Adornments took care of everything from there. They knew the things that we liked and the no fuss, rustic theme we wanted and they made it look so incredibly beautiful. So much credit also has to go to my parents who slaved away for 11 months, planting and watering and weed whacking and all sorts of things to make the backyard and barn look the way they did. They are amazing. We had tons of help that day from friends and family, from the coffee to the cake to the food, and we are so grateful. What really made the day was being surrounded by the love and support of our family and friends who had worked so hard with us to get us to that moment.

And I just love their wedding film by Cana Video Production!

Any advice for those planning now?
Remember what the end goal is. It’s easy to get caught up in the planning and all the fine details, but the day is really about marrying the person that you love with all your heart. Everything else is secondary. So, amidst all the planning, make time for each other, go on dates, and enjoy being engaged. Also, quite a few former brides told me to really soak everything in the day of the wedding, and I’m so glad I took their advice. Really be present at your wedding. Listen to the words you are saying to each other in your vows, take in all the little details, and enjoy your family and friends (there is rarely a time you will ever have them all in one place again). Even if something goes wrong the day of your wedding, life is too short (and the day is too short) to worry about that. Your wedding is one of the sweetest moments in your life, so enjoy it to the fullest.

vendors:
photography: Ken Kienow // venue: Bride’s parents house and family barn // event design: Adornments Flowers + the bride’s parents // day of coordinator: Brittany Pasion (ceremony) and Bryanna Baker (reception) // floral design: Adornments Flowers // wedding dress: Watters (alterations by The Fitting Image) // veil: The Fitting Image // shoes: bride: Bandolino and groom: Cole Haan // bridesmaid dresses: J Crew // hair + makeup: Kim and Co // groom suit: J Crew // cinematography: Cana Video Production // invitations: Typologie and Co. // catering: Upper Crust SLO and Dave Perozzi (family friend) // cake: Staci Lanier, family and friends // officiant: Tim Chaddick // music: AMS and friends Ryan Delmore and Zebedee Zaitz