Moonrise Kingdom meets Woodland Creatures for a Summer Camp Wedding in Texas

Bride Jamie loves a good theme. And we mean LOVES. Jamie and Paul were a standard COVID couple and had a micro wedding a year to the day before their “big” wedding. The micro wedding was tiki themed as they are big tiki cocktail drinkers. After that theme was done, she then started thinking about the big family & friends’ wedding. It was the bride’s best friend who mentioned the idea of a woodland creature theme…and Jamie knew that was the one.

So Jamie and Paul came to their vendor team with Moonrise Kingdom (a Wes Anderson film) as inspiration, along with a love for small woodland creatures like birds, squirrels, and mice. From that, the design tea at Celebrate Dallas + The Floral Eclectic dreamt up a colorful transcendent setting that almost felt like summer camp for adults!

With pennant flags draped along the outdoor table structure, and small creatures hidden throughout the decor like easter eggs, a whimsical and immersive experience was created for the couple and their guests. Their custom invitation suite and the groom’s bespoke jacket lining showcased the couple’s love of literature. Jamie’s bridal look had a chic edginess that was accented by her bright red lip, red hair, and dotted dress with flutter cap sleeves that accentuated her tattoos (bet you can’t spot the squirrel tattoo).

Sara Boyd documented the entire day through photos and taking place in an old historic home brought to life with heavily pigmented colors, it almost felt like you were on a movie set for the next Wes Anderson hit!! Let’s take a closer look…

You are Cordially Invited

Hello! Is this a pair of green wedding shoes we see? 😉 We already know the bride is going to look ravishing in these vintage Saint Savoy heels!

Jamie wasn’t super excited to try on wedding dresses, but ended up falling in love with this Alena Leena gown! We asked her to share a little bit about her dress search:

“I am a 4’10 chubby/curvy woman with big boobs and I was not super excited about trying on dresses. I worried about how I would look since a lot of weddings and models are tall and thin and not what one sees advertised and bandied about on Instagram as the “bride” of choice, intentionally or not. I didn’t worry enough to try watching what I eat or working out, but still… Ha. When I went shopping, I went with a couple of very supportive friends. I tried on quite a few styles and the one I ended up loving was one I just happened to see when I walked in the store the first time after having pre-selected what I thought I might like to try on.

I went to a handful of stores in Dallas and let me tell you, “size inclusive” stores are not all created equal. If you don’t carry a size I can try on without busting a seam, that doesn’t really help me. I about had a heart attack when I was shoved into a wedding dress size 8 as a size 14 girl and the dress could not have looked worse than that one did.

I had a completely different experience at A&Bé Bridal Shop where I ended up purchasing my dress. I loved their aesthetics and brand before and even more after.”

And we are loving Paul’s green wedding suit from Alton Lane!

The groom’s bespoke jacket lining showcased the couple’s love of literature!

WOW! This cascading staircase with the most gorgeous florals by The Floral Eclectic stole the show! If you think this is dreamy, just wait until you see the rest of their day…

You know we are big fans of the first look, and the big smiles on their faces tell you exactly why we will forever love these moments!

“I adore squirrels and even have a tattoo of Squirrel Nutkin from Beatrix Potter, which I read as a kid. A number of things came to mind while Pinterest-ing – woodland creatures, woodsy, cute, summer camp, and Moonrise Kingdom styled photos I had seen years before. Wes Anderson’s work always warms my heart and Moonrise Kingdom is my favorite by him so it really just developed from there. Paul and I first watched the movie together years ago and I kept coming back to it as inspiration. 

I would love to say Paul was as into every aspect of the wedding planning as I was, but let’s be real, a lot of things he wasn’t as excited about as I was. Same goes for me in some wedding areas. I couldn’t have cared less if we had a taco truck, as long as we had beautiful flowers and the aesthetics. I wanted a pretty, colorful, and unique wedding. My wedding planner, Caitlin, my florist Taylor, and my wedding photographer, Sara, all helped pull inspiration and a cohesive theme together while also helping reign myself in where needed.”

It goes without saying that dresses with pockets are superior. They offer a great place to hide your phone, lipgloss, or perhaps a drink from Sonic in this bride’s case!!

The Whimsical Ceremony

Sealed with a kiss…these two are together for the long haul!!

A Moonrise Kingdom Fantasyland

This reception space is an absolute fairytale and exactly what the couple envisioned in regard to their theme!

The bride shares that their vendors made all the difference. They took her random thoughts and words and pulled together everything better than she could have ever imagined! She notes that giving the vendor team free reign on a lot of things really lets them shine as the artists they are! 

“As for making our wedding reflect us as a couple, I tried hard to make the wedding reflect the two of us. Too hard at times since I obsessed about a lot of things I shouldn’t have (but also a lot of things I’m glad I did.) I’m not the bride to tell you don’t stress over the details because ultimately, a lot of these details made for beautiful memories with my loved ones. It’s also very easy to get overwhelmed with the customization available for weddings nowadays.

It’s also hard to make a wedding reflect the two of you when your groom’s comments range from “I don’t like yellow” to “is that a wedding thing?” Poor boy weighed in on a lot of things he didn’t care about and was super patient with an abundance of behind the scenes work. Like that What Kind of Bird Are You seating chart. We made that together the week or so before the wedding, but I LOVE it.”

This floral cake by Crumb and Kettle is so beautiful and coincides with the couple’s event design so seamlessly!

This couple had too many friends to have a limited wedding party and instead got their guests involved as much as possible. They asked guests to dress bright, colorfully, and happy and they came through! It created even more beautiful pictures with everyone wearing what makes them beautiful.

“The pictures with our entire friend family were very fun and lovely. Sara, our photographer, is so talented and translated our wedding into photos that are everything I wanted. I wanted colorful, pretty, and a lot of candids and she delivered. Also maybe my face is too candid because all of the cake-cutting pictures are full of my dismay at the thought of cutting something so pretty. Ha.”

“I had my dream wedding. I celebrated with my hubby and friend, Paul, and we have amazing memories and photos from the day with our loved ones. Our photographer, Sara, cemented those memories for years to come and I cannot stress enough how important a great photographer is to your day. Find someone with values you share and talent to highlight what is important to you as a couple.”

The best way to end any wedding… is to dance the night away! A huge congrats to Jamie and Paul, we are so obsessed with the wedding you dreamt up, and are honored you chose to share it with us! Here’s to many years of love, laughter, and more dancing of course!