Real Wedding: Ashley + Devin’s Fun Farm Wedding

I just love this wedding! I can’t get enough of the amazing photos from The Last Forty Percent. Ewan does an amazing job of capturing the fun moments, quirky poses and passionate embraces – such perfect storytelling for your wedding. Ashley + Devin are absolutely head over heels in love for each other and the entire day was about their love, their families and having fun. The wedding was intimate and on a private family residence. The family farm had sentimental meaning to them, so that’s why they chose the location. They wanted the day to reflect them and they hand picked most of the items (like the white door that they found randomly one day while out on a date). They had tire spoke readers for guest seating arrangements, hay bales for benches during the ceremony, wine cork table numbers, a chalk board ceremony itinerary, claw foot tub to hold drinks and lots of other personal touches. Congrats to Ashley + Devin!

white ballet shoes wedding shoes

black and white wedding photos

bride and groom

fun wedding portraits

wedding photography by the last forty percent

The day was the perfect mix of country, modern, vintage, retro and quirky. Ashley + Devin did a first look and then took a bunch of their photos at the Retro Suites to add to the feel of the day they were hoping for. Devin designs custom furniture, so they incorporated this into the photos too.

unique wedding photos

bride and groom tired on table

fun wedding bridal party

bridesmaids in green dresses in bathtub

Most memorable moment of your wedding day?

Ashley: “There are so many moments from our wedding day that make me grin from ear to ear but if I had to narrow it down to one it would be our wedding vows. We had planned every little piece of our wedding so we new what to expect that day but we decided to write our own vows and that was the one thing I was so eager to hear. Standing in front of all of our family and friends listening to what Devin wrote to me, words just can’t describe that feeling, and to be able to stand there and tell Devin why I love him and what I promise him in a way I never had before in our 10 years together was just it.

Devin: “My most memorable moment of the day was standing there at the end of the aisle and seeing everyone their to support us there is no better feeling than being surrounded by your friends and family on the most important day of your life. There were other times in the night when I would just think to myself how lucky I am whether it was dancing with friends, watching my nephews fill their faces with cotton candy or seeing family sitting outside on bails of straw enjoying the music and the star filled sky it was awesome.”

farm wedding ceremony

wedding details outdoor

bike namecards

wedding couple

typewriter

bocce ball wedding games

Our inspiration for the day was to truly capture us as a couple. A wedding isn’t just about the Bride or the Groom it is about the couple and we wanted people to leave our wedding saying “that was so Ashley and Devin”. As soon as Devin and I became engaged we knew that there were going to be certain things that were a must for the day and we vowed we would do whatever we had to do to make sure we had them. It was very important for us to have a wedding unlike anyone else’s we ignored the classic wedding rulebook and did exactly what we wanted to do. If you want cotton candy you should have cotton candy. We tried to carry our outdoor rustic theme from our invitations right through to our barn dance party, this really helped to set the atmosphere for the day.

We wanted to support small local vendors wherever we could. Our caterers even went as far as getting the corn on the cob for or meal from the local vendor my family has been using our entire lives. It was also really important that we had a unique venue something never seen before.

I never considered myself to be the creative type so I assumed we would not have a lot of DIY in our wedding but when you have a vivid idea of what you want it just seems to happen. Our entire wedding ended up being DIY.Devin and I didn’t want our guests to have to find somewhere to go in between the ceremony and the reception so we decided that we would setup a bunch of lawn games and have our cocktail hour outside so everyone could enjoy the setting and each other.

Any advice for those planning now?

Dream big, if you can dream it you can have it. While you are planning your wedding you are going to get to a point where it just seems like so much is going on and it is taking over your life just keep plugging away because it will all be worth it.

Don’t forget that it is your day, have a blast, all of your guests will enjoy themselves that much more when they see you both having the best time. We danced until 4:30 in the morning; it was the best day/night/day of our lives.

Reach out to family and friends for help, the planning process and final execution is a lot of work but you will learn people love to help with wedding so I suggest taking any help you can. You may be surprised at how talented your friends and family are. We enlisted our good friend who is a teacher to do all of our chalkboards and they turned out better than we ever could have imagined.

Pictures were very important to us so when we saw Ewan’s work we had to have him. We booked Ewan before we even had a venue. Not only did he give us the most amazing wedding photos he was a great addition to our wedding day. It was like we were being photographed by one of our closest friends. We had an absolute blast with Ewan and can’t wait to work with him and Brianna in the future.

Vendors
Photographer : Ewan Phelan of The Last Forty Percent Photography – see more from the wedding here
Venue: Renovated Barn on a Private Property in Chatham Kent
Hotel : Retro Suites Chatham
Wedding Dress: Barbra Allin from Becker’s Bridal & Formal in Toronto
Hair and Makeup: Tropical Paradise Spa & Boutique
Shoes: Aldo
Bridesmaid Dress: Jim Hjelm
Groom Suit: Tom Bolini
Cinematography: Hand Spun Films
Event Design: DIY
Floral Design: Sarah’s Farm Market & DIY
Invitations/Paper Goods: Plume Paperie
Cake: Cakes By Renee
Music: Bride and good friend who has now been named DJ C-cup
Catering: Casa Bella

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