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I just love Ashley + Andrew’s heartfelt wedding. The gorgeous nature surroundings and the pops of bright colors made for such a beautiful day. Since Ashley is an artist, she wanted to create most of the details herself and did a gorgeous job with the invites, flowers and other decor elements. Thanks so much to Shannen Norman for the gorgeous photos and congrats to Ashley + Andrew!

Ashley and a few of her friends did all the flowers. Just love how each bridesmaid had a bouquet in a different color!

Tell us a bit about your music…
Processional: “Bowsprit” by Balmorhea
Recessional: “Indiana Jones Theme” by John Williams
First Dance: “Wink and a Smile” by Harry Connick Jr

For a more detailed music list, you can find additional tunes that they played on Ashley’s website

For us the central, foundational point of the day was our ceremony. I think for a lot of couples, the reception is the highlight and, seriously, who doesn’t love a good party? But that being wrapped in love, community, and spirituality that I mentioned above? Totally what the ceremony was all about. It was a place of deep introspection and hopeful contemplation.

Plenty of memories from this stand out: Andrew and I served communion to our entire host of wedding guests, to mark the importance of this new beginning. We gave thanks to each other’s parents, for raising and loving this person we were committing our lives to. And speaking our deeply heartfelt vows to one another was surreal, indescribable. But probably one of my favorite moments was after the recessional, when we had a few seconds to just hold each other and breathe and stand in awe of the moment of: “Wow, we did it. We are married.”

How cute is their cake topper!!? :)

My girlfriends, mom, and I ombre-dyed cloth napkins that we will use for years and years of meals, so that we can remember the first meal they began life at. Andrew and I wrote verbose and deeply meaningful vows to one another that would hold us tightly in their grip. I spent painstaking hours sorting and arranging music, to set and bolster the feel of the day. We went to some seriously valuable premarital counseling with an incredibly loving pastor and his wife, and hashed out our theology surrounding our wedding. Lather, rinse, repeat, on nearly every aspect. In truth, I threw myself, mind, body, and soul into this wedding, as I seldom have in any other time in life.

And after nine months of laboring (funny, but true), I gave away complete control of the wedding — to God, to the weather, to our coordinator, to all of our guests. Because honestly you can have Plan A’s and Plan B’s all lined up, and pray as much as you want, and even freak the eff out as much as you want, but there comes a point when a wedding is completely out of your hands. It was beautiful to let go, and let the day simply be what it was going to be: it allowed me to be calm and fully present for this momentous day. And in the midst of this releasing control, something completely unexpected happened: this wedding that I had worked SO hard on and poured so much love and sweat into…this wedding became a gift back to us.

vendors
photography: Shannen Norman Photography // venue: Pine Rose Cabins // day-of-coordinator: Mary Barnett // wedding dress: Modern Trousseau // hairpieces: Mignonne Handmade // shoes: Aerosoles + handmade clips // groom suit: Alfani // cinematography: our guests! we passed out half a dozen Flip video cameras, and asked them to film anything they found notable during the day. the result is an extensive and deeply personal set of wedding videos that we love to pieces // invitations+ paper goods: bride // catering: our friends and families busted out their best crackpot recipes, and we had an incredible soup and stew buffet, and an also amazing dessert spread. what more could you want than the best warming foods your family can offer, on a crisp mountain day? // cake: Sugar Sugar Cakery // music: Joel Cathey and Faith Hefty

Talk about a stylish couple! And how rad is Laurence’s suit above?! Definitely one of the best dressed grooms I’ve seen. And Gi’s Ralph Lauren gown with her flower crown – so perfectly boho chic! You probably won’t be surprised to learn they are both designers: Gi is in fashion, while Laurence is an Art Director. I just love how Gi describes her wedding as an “informal bohemian style summer wedding – young, easy, relaxed with a little bit of attitude!“ The whole day was held at the beautiful Bratton Farmhouse in Somerset valley (UK) and the ceremony was held in front of a giant flower heart in the garden. There were only six guests plus the couple and their adorable dog, Little Mary. Thanks so much to Rosie Parsons for the lovely photos and congrats to Gi + Laurence!

From Gi, The theme of the wedding was an informal Bohemian style and I just knew exactly which designer I’d wear for my big day. A Ralph Lauren dress and cute little white Repetto ballet flats and I’m good to go! I have always loved Ralph Lauren – the romantic mood he creates, so effortlessly beautiful. I fell in love with my dress at the very first glance when I saw it on their spring/summer 2011 runway show. It is just a very easy chic piece, an iconic style dress from Ralph Lauren, so much detail behind all that simplicity. It fit perfectly with the spirit of the wedding. I phoned the Ralph Lauren store on Bond Street and they specially ordered it for me straight after the catwalk. I tried it on and it fit like magic, no need to alter anywhere and I knew it’s a sign.

All the boutonnieres and flower crowns are made in individual colours to match everyone’s outfits – they made the day look so magical. The flower crown really make me feel as pretty as a fairy and all the girls loved them! Charlie from The Real Cut Flower Garden did all the florals as well as the giant flower heart from the ceremony. The big heart flower piece was carefully prepared and specially finished on site by Charlie. It was wild and very amazing!

There had to be some specific element that showed an extension of my personality. To light up the mood and to make everyone just that little bit happier, I hand-drew witty, personally illustrated placecards for each guest rather than old fashioned table name tabs. Other humorous illustrations with Laurence and me were just dotted around for quests to spot. Vintage fashion Barbies and mini cheeky rubber ducks ready did an awesome job to boost the energy on the food and drinks table!

We never wanted an all singing and all dancing wedding. We always thought a wedding should be fun rather than traditional, intimate rather than distant and cliche. Doesn’t have to be picture-perfect. It should be all about just having a chilled and beautiful day with our beloved friends and remembering this lovely moment. We didn’t even have a speech. It’s really was just going with the flow.

What a perfectly perfect day! Totally obsessed with all the girls flower crowns and the giant flower heart. Congrats again to Gi + Laurence for having the wedding of their dreams!

vendors:
photographer: Rosie Parsons Photography // venue: Bratton Farmhouse, Somerset // floral design: The Real Cut Flower Garden // bride’s dress: Ralph Lauren // bride’s shoes: Repetto // groom’s suit + shirt: Paul & Joe // groom’s bow tie: Peckham Rye

If you loved the beautiful DIY wedding this morning and Nata’s gorgeous paper flower bouquets, you are in luck as Nata is sharing how she crafted them with us! She was inspired by a template created by Morgan Levine on Martha Stewart (as was I in the flowers I created for this styled shoot). I just love that this basic idea has inspired different brides to create their own version of giant paper flowers – you might remember these equally awesome giant paper flowers from this wedding I shared last year. :) Thanks so much Nata for sharing how you created your giant pink paper rose + special thanks to Studio Castillero for the photos of the DIY + her wedding!

Materials (to make one giant rose):
• 1 Roll of floral tape
• 6 18-gauge floral stem wire (can find it here)
• 4 Doublette crepe paper folds for petals (can find it here)
• 1 Doublette crepe paper fold in green for leaves, calyx, stem
• 1 round pencil
• Craft Glue (we used this kind)
• Crepe paper templates (download from Martha Stewart)
• 3 copies of teardrop template
• 8 copies of the heart-shaped template
• 2 copies of the leaf template
• 1 copy of the calyx template

Step 1: Cut the petals

Cut 5-6 teardrop petals and 15-6 heart-shaped petals from the petal colored crepe paper.

VERY IMPORTANT: Crepe paper is directional so it matters which way you’re cutting the paper. Make sure the grain is vertical when you’re cutting the flower pieces.

Stack 2 pieces of crepe paper on top of each other then place 1 copy of template over the crepe paper and staple. I don’t recommend cutting more than 2 layers of crepe paper at a time since the edges won’t be cut as cleanly.

Repeat until all of your petals are cut

Step 2: Cut the leaves + calyx

Cut 3 leaves and 1 calyx from the green crepe paper.

Step 3: Make the rose stem

Take 3 pieces of stem wire and wrap in floral tape.

Step 4: Shape the petals

With both hands, pull from the center of the petal outward. This will create a cupping of the paper (which is what gives it the petal-like quality)

Turn petal over and use the round pencil to curl the top of the petal.

Step 5: Create the rose bud – the inner part of the rose

Take one teardrop shaped petal and wrap around the taped floral wire from Step 3. Use more floral tape to secure. Repeat working your way around the floral wire until all of the teardrop shaped petals are use.

Step 6: Make the rose bloom –the outer part of the rose

Take one heart-shaped petal and wrap around the rose bud, secure with floral tape. Repeat until all petals have been used.

Step 7: Make the leaf-stems

Take 3 loose pieces of floral wire and using craft glue, wrap each one with green crepe paper. Take one leaf and 1 crepe paper wrapped floral wire from step 10 and glue together. Repeat 2 more times.

Step 8: Add calyx to rose

Wrap the calyx around the base of the rose bloom and secure with floral tape.

Cover the floral tape area with more crepe paper.

Step 9: Add leaf-stems to rose

Using craft glue, secure each of the 3 leaf-stems to the rose stem. I found it helpful to use binder clips to hold the stems together while the glue was drying.

And there you go! It might take a little time, but a great (and pretty awesome) alternative to real flowers for your bouquet – plus you can keep these forever!

big thanks to Studio Castillero for the photos + to reader Nata for the DIY created for GWS