Austin Handmade Wedding: Natalie + Bryce

Today’s wedding is from Austin, Texas and full of lots of personal and handmade details. Natalie + Bryce wanted a backyard wedding, but didn’t have the backyard for a wedding, so they found the next best thing – Casa Kenwood in Austin, Texas. They were the first wedding to be held there! They rented two vacation homes and their shared backyard and instantly began dreaming up ways to make it perfect for their day! Their family + friends also played a huge role in helping them throw the wedding of their dreams. :)

From Natalie, “I had a vision for our wedding and it came to life…even better than I had dreamt. I designed every detail and my mother and I worked hard to execute them. Thanks Mom! This was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. Seriously. I added many yarn elements throughout the space: I wrapped vases and glassware in teal, mustard, and burnt orange yarn. I braided thick sections of yarn to use as garland. Yarn is my new obsession!!! My mom and I collected vintage floral tablecloths to cut from and sew into the pendant banner flags that hang above the alter area. I gathered various vases at local thrift stores for $0.25 to $1.00 and spray painted them cream, teal and turquoise and planted wheatgrass in them about 10 days before the wedding.”

We knew from the beginning that we wanted VERY personalized wedding invites…something enjoyable that our friends and fam could hang on the wall or the fridge. Luckily for us, we know one of the most amazing artists – Maria Calderon. We asked her if she’d be up for painting a portrait of us and – she did! She included details that were so totally us as well as making it “so maria” at the same time. Maria actually gave it to us as a large painting that is now on the wall. It’s the coolest and most special piece of art we’ll ever own! Another friend Jim Button, created the graphics and wording for the back of the invite as well as our wedding website.

Each of the groomsmen wore a simple white button up and black jeans. My mom and I sewed old vintage ties we had around the house into skinny ties for the boys to wear and keep. I used fabric stiffener to make teal and white flags and attached them to small tree limbs for the guys to use as walking sticks. This was probably one of my favorite details! For my bridesmaids, I wanted them to be able express themselves. I gave them a teal/turquoise color swatch as a guideline but told them they can interpret the color how they’d like. Several of the girls ended up choosing their dresses from Modcloth.

I’m not a girl who enjoys cut flowers, I’ve always preferred potted plants. I just hate to disrupt the life of something so beautiful to create something so temporary. So, I ordered a variety of air plants to be used as the bouquets and boutonnieres. I cut fabric and ribbon scraps into the shape of leaves and painted them with a fabric stiffener, wrapped a tiny air plant with ribbon and leftover yarn, and attached a magnet to the back as bouttoniers. My bouquet was a large air plant. I made a cone shape with cardstock and wrapped it in a mustard yellow yarn for it to sit in. The air plant is not attached to the cone, so all of the girls and I can keep our plants to live for years to come. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE seeing my air plant in the dining room every day!

All the photos above from Paige Ann Newton and all the photos below from Liana Wears. Our friend Liana Wears was our official photographer. She is a dear friend and shoots in a style that we just adore. The wonderful Paige Ann Newton also took some shots and WOW did she blow us away! They both captured moments and details that will certainly live on.

What song did you walk down the aisle to? Our friend, John Ringhofer, who is Half Handed Cloud performed a cover of Magnetic Fields “It’s Only Time” during the processional. This song has been way special to Bryce and I for quite some time and it felt amazing to walk down the aisle to Bryce with my Dad, to this song. John’s rendition had our eyes watering before the song’s end.

During the ceremony we had a unity candle lighting…but it wasn’t your typical unity candle ceremony.  Everyone in attendance had a candle. The flame started with the pastor, then to the bridesmaids, then was passed to the groomsmen, next to everyone who came to watch, then Bryce and my mothers brought their flames to light ours and Bryce and I lit the pillar unity candle.  The flame was passed through everyone there, showing that their love and friendship has helped to shape ours and will always be dear to us.

Our “guestbook tree” was made of twigs and limbs that I’d gathered from my parents backyard and tediously wrapped in cream yarn. I cut out different leaf shapes on cream colored cardstock and asked guests to sign a leaf and leave a doodle, message or well wishes and use a teal spray-painted clothespin to attach to the tree. These have been SO MUCH FUN to look back on!

We also projected a short film of us, made by Alea Lovely, on a large projector screen that my dad has had in the garage for 20 years. Alea is seriously SO awesome…it was so easy to talk to her and ignore the camera. This video finally allowed us to show our love for each other to the world…because shouting it from the rooftops doesn’t always work. You can see their sweet love story here. :)

My dad and I built a “wall” out of scrap wood from an old wooden wishing well that was falling apart in my parents front lawn (plus a window and cabinet door from a friend’s old house) and used that as the backdrop for our dessert table. I covered a resin deer head with Amy Butler fabric that I cut in tiny pieces and placed to characterize the deer. I used a paintbrush, matte decopauge glue, patience and a glossy archival finish.

For dinner, I sent one of our favorite recipes…sweet potato black bean burritos to Kenny’s Coffee Co. They made those, as well as stuffed peppers, vegetable crudites, roasted veggies and aioli sauce, and chips and HOMEMADE chips and salsa! Kenny’s also served specialty coffees and any latte your could dream up!  yum!

Nearly all of the details are either recycled or very reusable. The strips of fabric behind us in the ceremony are now a backdrop headboard in our bedroom. The unity candle holders that I thrifted and painted now hold a place on our fireplace mantle. The fabric covered deer head is mounted on the wall in the living room! The birdcage that we used to hold cards and envelopes now hangs in our dining room. Wedding memories are strewn about the house to remind us of our most special day, every day–and we love it!

vendors

venue name: Casa Kenwood, Austin, TX // hairpiece: My yellow and cream hat was a one-of-a-kind, handmade by the talented Austie Eckley // bride's shoes: low-heel, yellow Seychelles // hair stylist: Erica Gray // makeup artist: Erica Gray // groom attire: vest from Express, shoes from Aldo and and a teal bowtie from Mr. Moss // wedding dress: I ordered a pretty basic dress from Serendipity Bridal in Austin, but once it came in, I had a few changes in mind. I bought four yards of ivory cotton eyelet lace from hobby lobby and ran it, along with my dress to Olga European Fashion custom tailoring so that Olga could sew layers of lace onto the bust and then I asked her to cut the dress short in the front (since it was an outdoor wedding...and to show off my shoes!) // wedding shawl: Katie Coble // rings: Simply Wood Rings // photography: Liana Wears and Paige Ann Newton // invitations: Maria Calderon // vegan cupcakes: Sugar Tooth Bakery // music: Jody Orsborn of When You Awake created THE BEST MIXTAPE EVAH for us to play as people were arrived and found their seats. After the ceremony, as everyone grabbed some grub, John played some great Velvet Underground and Beatles covers as well as some of his original Half Handed Cloud! As the night went on, DJ Dan's Club and Nartan (our besties The Record Machine a KC record label that we love and work with frequently) Motorboater performed a few originals as well! SOOO COOL!