A Hip Rustic Wedding: Lex + Loren

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had a lovely weekend. We are starting the week off with Lex + Loren’s sweet wedding sent over from photographer Ben Christensen. Lex + Loren met at one of Loren’s shows in 2006. I love this story Lex shared with me, “We fell in love on the phone while we both traveled and grew up. I remember giving him a quote after that first week of knowing him, and never could i have imagined that it would be the definition of our relationship: “I do my thing and you do yours. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, then it is beautiful. If not, it can’t be helped.” -Frederick Perls. We found each other and it is nothing less than beautiful.

backyard wedding groom

outdoor wedding


Our courtship was long, but our engagement was that of 2 months because we wanted to be married on December 10, 2010 (4 years to the date that we met). I wasn’t a girl who had the dream wedding planned out as a child, it all just came together through our engagement journey. My mom told me from my first day of planning that if it is all meant to be then everything will just fall into place and it did just that. The day we got engaged, I was introduced to a blank slate of a backyard by his mom. I was inspired. I took a piece of paper and drew out exactly where the dance floor would be, all of the lighting, picnic blankets, photobooth, food booths. It was as if the house and yard were built just for our wedding. To my surprise, planning a wedding is actually kind of fun. I couldn’t have asked for a better fiance through all of this. Most guys are not involved much if at all…but instead, he was my wingman. All of the decisions, decorations, construction we did together

outdoor wedding ceremony

bride and groom with vintage car

hip groomsmen

wedding party


Loren + I chose to revolve the wedding around our passions, the first being music. We had our invitations designed to look like a concert tour poster, mix cds printed for our guest favors, and a real record player used as our cake stand. Music is what brought us together and love is what has kept us together. Our decorations were devised from all of our adventures we go on. We love exploring in nature, so we used twigs, logs, and antlers. We were shooting for a classy rustic vibe. We are both children at heart so we did not want a stuffy wedding, we wanted a party. Cotton candy, caramel apples, nachos and dance jams all night long. It was a fairyland of awesomeness that ended with Loren and I high-fiving each other as we drove away. Our parents called us 45 minutes after we had left our wedding and said that all our guests were still there dancing and enjoying our party… we couldn’t have been happier.

antlers at wedding

antlers as wedding decoration

record player cake table

tent at wedding reception

antlers for photo booth wedding

Our Favorite Memory From The Wedding

The most memorable part of the night was simply being a part of something so great. To see the sketch paper of the wedding planning come to life. Everything was perfection and it was neat to see everyone enjoying themselves. We really struggled with how we were going to depart from the wedding, because bubbles and rice and flower petals are not really our thing. We had the DJ set up psychedelic lights along a path exiting the backyard and we had everyone line up on two sides as we had a huge dance party exit. Everyone danced with us! It was neat to look around and see grandma and parents and friends all getting crazy to We Speak No Americano. We both know it is a ridiculous song, but like i said… we are anything but ordinary.

black and white wedding photography

Our Advice To Those Planning Now

The best advice anyone could have given us came from my mom, she said “no one is going to remember the decorations or the food they ate… the only thing they will remember is your happiness and the smiles on the two of your faces.” Loren and I would remind one another of that often when times would get stressful. It’s easy to get stressed, any bride to be knows that… but just try to make the experience as enjoyable as possible because in the scheme of things it’s a mere blink of an eye. And keep in mind that ANYTHING is possible. I fell in love with a size 14 wedding dress and it was altered down to less than an zero in two weeks!

Venue: backyard of a family friend
Photography: Ben Christensen
Wedding Dress: Chic Boutique (Eden Bridal Collection)
Hair: Hillary Darner
Shoes: Kimchi Blue
Bridesmaid Dresses: Urban Outfitters, H&M, Gap
Hairpieces: Anthropologie
Groom Suit: H&M
Floral Design: AJ’s
Invitations: Aaron Shoemaker
Cake: Celeste Gillespie
Music: Justin Nichols
Catering: Joyce & Hannah Brinton

And check out their adorable video they (Loren Brinton Films) made to announce their engagement – super cute you guys!

Explore: