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

Continuing with our trend of outdoor rustic weddings this week, we have Sarah + Tommy’s sweet mountaintop wedding. Sarah + Tommy’s wedding was quite unique, they decided that they wouldn’t follow traditional wedding guidelines. They were married on top of a mountain and had their guests standing around them during the ceremony. Tommy is the lead singer/guitarist for Holy Water Buffalo, so music was extremely important to the couple and Tommy even surprised Sarah by singing a song he wrote for her during the ceremony – how romantic is that?! At the reception, there was no first dance, no formal toasts, no seating charts, they just enjoyed celebrating their love with their family + friends. Thanks so much to Sunny Brynn Jolley with Sunnydays Photography for sharing her lovely photos with us today!

Most memorable moment of your wedding day?
It’s difficult to pick the most memorable moment, but I’d have to say walking up the “aisle” (in my case a barely-there path of rocks and dirt), looking at Tommy, arm-in-arm with my dad. Each step closer seemed so intense…so magical, I felt my love for Tommy grow tenfold at that moment. I didn’t even notice anyone else around me. My emotions were uncontainable… I was trying to hold back tears and couldn’t stop smiling. Definitely a feeling I will never forget.

Since Tommy is a musician, music was a very large and important part of our wedding. During the ceremony Tommy surprised me by playing a song he had written for me specifically for the wedding. It was incredibly beautiful and moving. Having music consistently throughout every part of our wedding was something we were very conscious of while planning the wedding. Our friend Grant played the acoustic guitar as guests were arriving to the ceremony and when I walked down the aisle. He continued to play when Tommy and I first walked away as husband and wife. During dinner and mingling time we had an ipod playing a playlist Tommy created. Tommy is the lead singer/guitarist for Holy Water Buffalo and we thought it would be a great idea if his band played at our reception. They put on an amazing show and had all the guests dancing and moving – the music really brought everyone together, especially since the groom was front and center on stage. We had a few other musician friends perform as well.

Any advice for those planning now?
Have FUN with the planning (how often do you get to plan the best event of your life?!) It’s not worth getting stressed out or worked up about anything. The important thing is being married to the love of your life. Everything else is just the icing on the cake, it’s not the heart and soul. I made this a goal going into planning and I never once was stressed. Another bit of advice: DIY. It was very fun, not to mention less expensive, to make all the decorations by hand. My bridesmaids and the groomsmen helped me and I think that the labor of love added the perfect touch to the wedding.

vendors:
photography: Sunny Brynn Jolley with Sunnydays Photography // venue: Red Ledges in Heber City, Utah // floral design + hairpieces:  Joshua Knight with Five Penny Floral // wedding dress: Atelier Aimee hand beaded in Italy, found at Alta Moda Bridal in Salt Lake City; the shawl is from Turkey that I found on Etsy // shoes: vintage western boots // bridesmaid dresses: a mixture of Modcloth, eBay, TopShop and Copper Etiquette // hair + makeup: my friend Emily Conklin // groom suit: the embroidered western shirt is from Cavenders. The black jeans are from Levi’s. The Suitcoat is from Mr. Mac. To finish it off, he wore Ariat boots // catering: Red Ledges created a custom menu for us – it even included “Holy Water Buffalo Chili”// music: Holy Water Buffalo

When Kim + Kevin discussed the vision for their wedding, the primary element they aimed for was “fun”. Since they knew the day would fly by and it would be hard to chat with all 200 of their guests, they simply aimed to create an environment where everyone would have fun catching up with each other and it would be a truly unique day. And what could be more perfect, than an old Western Town? Long Branch Saloon & Farms in Half Moon Bay, CA was the perfect setting for their Old West wedding. Cowboy boots, burlap, baby breath, lots of games + a campfire made for a unique, one-of-a-kind wedding. :) Big thanks to Sloan Photographers for the super gorgeous photos!

Tell us a bit about your music
Processional: Ave Maria
Recessional: “Home” – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes
First Dance: “Stand by Me” – Ben E. King

Most memorable moment of your wedding day?
One of the most memorable moments of the day was the result of a last-minute option proposed by the owner of the site on the day of the wedding. He had recently obtained an old vehicle resembling the car from the Beverly Hillbillies and offered a unique opportunity for a grand entrance during the bridal party announcements. Given the Old West theme of the site and our goal of keeping things fun and light, we went for it. It ended up being a riot, everyone got a kick out of it, and it made for some fun pictures as well!

Any advice for those planning now?
Don’t let any of the stress of spreadsheets, budgets and logistics let you lose sight of the importance of the day and the true reasons you are gathering all of your closest friends and family to witness this milestone and celebrate with you. It may sound cliché, but take it from two people who recently went through the experience – it’s all worth it!

vendors:
photography: Sloan Photographers // venue: Long Branch Saloon & Farms, Half Moon Bay, CA // floral design: Michele with Flora by Fauna // wedding dress: San Patrick – Cambados // hairpieces: Pixel & Hank // shoes: Miss Sixty // bridesmaid dresses: Jcrew.com // hair + makeup: The Makeup Dolls // groom suit: Men’s Wearhouse // invitations+ paper goods: My Big Day Designs // catering: Emergency BBQ (San Carlos, CA) // cake: That Takes the Cake (San Francisco, CA) // music: DJ Maurice Atendido of Bring That Beat Back

Michele + Luke wanted their wedding to be fun, quirky, modern and chic all at the same time – absolutely love that! By getting married on a ranch, they knew they could have the best of both worlds: a peaceful and simple ceremony, followed by a funky, vibrant reception. Involving pops of color was important to them from the beginning. One of the first ideas Michele decided on was to use white styrofoam wig heads as the centerpieces with bright bursts of flowers exploding from the top of the heads. Using black + white as a base allowed the reception to feel simple and classic while helping the pops of color to do just that, pop. So super fun! Thanks to Paige Newton Photography for the lovely photos and congrats to Michele + Luke!

Each of the hairpieces were handmade by the bridesmaids. Michele’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law did all the florals.

From Michele, At the end of the day, we wanted our wedding to be a unique and personal expression of our love. One of the ways we were able to accomplish that, was to have a song that Luke orchestrated as our processional. That phenomenal piece of music represented the culmination of every emotion I was feeling that day, making it even that more special. Placed on either side of our handmade chuppah, were two banners that I made with lyrics from the Beatles song “I Will.” I knew that the design of ceremony shouldn’t try and compete with the beauty of the ranch, so adding the burlap banner with white letters made a soft, yet meaningful statement.

Tell us a bit about your music
Processional: Suisun by Luke Franks
Recessional: Cecilia by Simon and Garfunkel
First Dance: If I should Lose You Nat King Cole

Such a fun + festive reception tent! Just love all the pops of color and the chevron table runners. :) Michele’s step-dad + brother made all the food for the wedding and their cake was by their friend Nia. Such a creative + talented family!

Most memorable moment of your wedding day?
I’m sure Luke would agree that there was a tie for most memorable moment of our wedding day. During the reception, Luke, his sister Paige (who was one of my fabulous bridesmaids), and our friend Jaimee each performed a song. They were all backed up by some of our favorite guys, who happen to not only be Luke’s old band-mates, but incredible musicians. This “mini-concert” was one of the happiest moments of my life and the one thing I didn’t want to have a wedding without. Music plays a huge part in our lives (being that Luke is a singer-songwriter) and I couldn’t have been happier with how it went. This memorable moment is tied with one that came soon after.

For the after-reception dancing, Luke and I had planned to do a traditional Jewish chair dance. Although we had casually talked about it with our groomsman (who would do the lifting) we never actually practiced or told them when it would happen. During our dance party, I randomly decided that it was time for the chair dance. As the music started I signaled to some bridesmaids and groomsman that it was “time”. The spontaneity and burst of adrenaline we felt as it all came together in a matter of seconds was thrilling and joyous.

Any advice for those planning now?
If you’re doing a DIY wedding like I did, allow the people you love to help. It not only is an incredible bonding experience, but it makes your wedding day even more special. I am beyond blessed to know so many talented people. Involving my closest friends and family in the process was the greatest decision I made and I am so grateful for all they sacrificed!

Also, one of the greatest pieces of advice that I received for doing a DIY wedding like mine was to stop looking! At some point you have to stop looking at all the wedding blogs and focus on the details that you know you love. The more you look, the more you begin to second-guess your ideas and that is a scary feeling. I had a huge list of projects in the beginning, but over time I had to choose the ones that were the most meaningful and complemented the overall vision.

vendors:
photography: Paige Newton Photography // venue: Rush Ranch, Suisun, CA // wedding dress: reddoll designs designed by Tatyana Merenyuk // hair + makeup: Amanda Rivera // signage: Kate VandenBerghe // groom suit: Zara // cinematography: brother Nick Zitlin // invitations+ paper goods: Lyndsie Smith Design + Photography // music: Luke Franks, Jaimee Harris