Sometimes your wedding day doesn’t go exactly as planned – maybe because of the weather or some other small detail isn’t just as you pictured it, but the important thing is that you are marrying your love + best friend. That’s all that really matters, right? Many things didn’t go as planned for Tara + Nick due to weather and other circumstances, but when you look at their photos you would never have guessed that!
Their day looked so incredibly gorgeous! Tara + Nick are both photographers and pretty creative in general, so they knew they wanted to create something unique + beautiful to represent them and help their guests feel the magic of the day. They took a bunch of their favorite things – like the outdoors, antiques, books, brunch, old historical buildings + movies – and incorporated them into their day. Using Pinterest + wedding blogs helped them gather their inspiration, and then they made or borrowed most of the other things for their day! Big thanks to the talented Ryan Ray for sending over this gorgeous wedding to swoon over today!
We planned the wedding long distance, which was a challenge but we both felt like it strengthened our communication skills and prepared us even more for marriage. There were so many DIY projects that we really couldn’t have done without the help of our friends and family. It was truly an overwhelming and amazing feeling to see all of our loved ones brave the freezing cold, rain, and lack of sleep to make it all happen.
My truly talented mother and her friend Colleen did all of the floral arrangements, Nick’s dad built the benches for the ceremony, my mom’s boyfriend made the wooden signs, our bridal party came the day before and helped put it all together, and our fabulous coordinator Roberta was seriously super-human. When we walked into the reception for the first time, I completely lost it – it was more beautiful than I had thought possible. But aside from our vision of having a beautiful day, the best thing was to be together and to be with everyone we love. We couldn’t have been more blessed.
How adorable are the bridesmaid’s vintage books with flowers?! What a unique + gorgeous detail! Just love them. Tara carried a bouquet of eucalyptus leaves, garden roses, cotton blooms, and amaranth.
Isn’t Tara’s Elizabeth Dye “Oysters and Pearls” wedding dress gorgeous!? Love that she paired it with dark red booties.
How gorgeous is the barn setting with all the light streaming in?! Stunning ceremony spot.
Tara: My favorite memory was when Nick read his vows. Not only did he make my heart feel so full I thought it would burst, but he made EVERYONE cry. And laugh. My second favorite memory was when Nick and I were driving from the ceremony site to the reception – a double rainbow came out and it felt like it was just for us! I also loved when my mom walking me down the aisle. And lastly, not really on the wedding day, but my bridesmaids, mom and Nick pitched in and surprised me with my wedding dress! I was trying to make one out of an old vintage dress and it wasn't going as well as I'd hoped, so they gifted me with the one they knew I'd had my eye on but couldn't afford. They are the absolute best.
Nick: My favorite memory was when the music alerting everyone that Tara was about to enter started, a gust of wind blew through the entrance of the barn, rustling all the draped fabric hanging from the beams. I think everyone's heart skipped a beat. And when Tara first entered the barn. Not only did she look absolutely stunning, but it also hadn't seemed real until that moment.
If you are doing DIY projects, make sure you have plenty of time. It always takes longer than you think! Start collecting and creating as soon as you get engaged. And enlist help, because it makes the process so much more fun and memorable. And even if you are on a tight budget (which we were), prioritize the things that are most important to you and invest in those things. For us it was the venue and the photography. Which leads me to my last thing – pick vendors that suit not only your budget, but your tastes and personality. It makes a huge difference. We LOVED our vendors and were thrilled to have them spend the day with us :)
photography: Ryan Ray (see more photos from this wedding on his blog) // ceremony venue: Squirrel Creek Ranch in Grass Valley California // reception venue: Miners Foundry Cultural Center in Nevada City, California // cake: Amy Ngai // catering: Whole Foods // coordinator: Roberta Runyan // dj: Ryan Hernandez // dress: Elizabeth Dye of The English Department // shoes: ASOS // flowers: Bride’s mother and a friend of the family
Martha Stewart Weddings is also sharing this wedding and you can see their feature here
Love the flowergirls in cowboy boots! What a fashion statement!
Ryan, you stunner! This wedding is beautiful. I love the rich, dramatic colors. It has such a unique vibe. Well done, my friend. Well done.
Holy gorgeous. I am in love with every single piece of this beautiful day. Thank you for sharing and for making me believe in handmade weddings all over again. :)
whoa my goodness. absolutely LOVING the details. and of course, gorgeous photography from ryan too!
Interesting and nice color tone.
I love your headpiece–was that handmade or did you buy it from a vendor?
Thanks! My maid of honor Jaycee (the lovely tall blonde) and I created it together. I had so much fun creating it that I’d be happy to make you one with my left over supplies :) Or if you are a DIY person I can tell you what I used.
I am a DIY-ish person and have made one floral wreath before with some success–I’d love advice on how you created it, thanks!
Yay DIY! I started with a thicker reddish floral twine (with wiring) and wrapped it to the shape of my head. Then we added another twine with off-white beads. Then we glued all the dried floral material on. We used witch’s broom, baby’s breath, wheat, and eucalyptus leaves. The dried material is really fragile and at first things will break off until you get a sense of how to best handle them…and being selective of the strongest materials. Fake flowers would have been easier but I wanted it to be as natural as possible. We checked between adding things to see if it had the right fullness or look to it. Jaycee did most of the fine detail work…she was amazing! Hope that helps! Have fun!!
This is gorgeous! Tara, when you say “long-distance”, do you mean the two of you were living far apart, or your venue was far from you? Either way, what an accomplishment.
We were living far apart…Nick was in Portland while I was still in CA. I was only a few hours away from the venue :) I did most of the research, planning, and DIYs but we made all the important decisions together and he helped take over when things got stressful for me. He was a trooper through many 3 hour phone conversations about wedding details!!
So pretty! But then everything on GWS is pretty!
thank you so much for the wonderful feature Jen!!
this wedding is SO gorg! The lush florals, book bouquets, unique details…it is like a rustic fairyland forest wedding! so happy I saw this today :)
I liked the theme of wedding. everything seems to be well planned. Specially Tara and Nick looked wonderful.
Love that reception venue and all the beautiful details. Gorgeous images.
Amazing! The barn and natural elements used are beautiful.
Seriously?! I’m dying over this wedding! So beautiful! You can really see the love that was put into this.
Gorgeous wedding! Love the DIY spirit and how beautifully everything came out =)
This is so beautiful, I am really love in with all the earth tones and the natural feel. The bridal party looks AMAZING, so out of the box and refreshing! Everything really works, congratulations on planning such an incredible success long distance!
oh my god. all the details are just amazing!!!!
Love the details of this wedding. :) Her headpiece is awesome!
nice.. it’s so pretty. :)
Irene Wibowo
Tara, everything is gorgeous and so well done! I’m especially in love with your save-the-date postcard. I currently live in Spain but my wedding will be in my hometown in California, so I’d love to do something similar. Would you mind giving me some tips? Also, would it be possible to see a larger/close-up photo of the card so I can soak up more of the details? Thanks so much.
Stunning photographs here, really captured the day so well.
I love everything about this unique wedding! Adore the groom’s fantastic tweed vest/suit jacket. Would love to know where he purchased it…? Thank you!
what a stunning setting for a wedding, love the pictures on the rowing boat!
This is gorgeous!
I fell in love with this wedding! :D I featured it on My blog in this weeks Wedding Wednesdays ^_^!!!
http://sweetswithfreaks.blogspot.com/2013/10/wedding-wednesdays-homemade-fall-barn.html
this looks amazing! congrats you guys!
This is exactly how I want my wedding to be! Odd question, but could you give me a starting point where I could look for an outfit similar to the groom’s? I’m absolutely in love with his look!
This is by far one of the most beautiful and creative displays of rustic, barn, DIY and vintage inspiration. Congratulations to a fine collaboration.
Beautiful…thank you for taking us there!
It looks so beautiful !
You said you had a strict budget, my question is what was it? This wedding is gorgeous. I would think it would be 20 thousand or so.