Intimate DIY Wedding by Onelove Photography

When I first opened this darling submission I almost did five cartwheels in.a.row across my living room carpet; and lemme tell ya, I have a really great cartwheeling technique. I blame it on the purple tones throughout this wedding, the sweetly made handmade touches and that adorable little pink hued cottage (which I need to live in like asap) all blended together to create the dreamiest DIY affair imaginable. The incredibly ah-mazing Sara from Onelove Photography sent this gem over to me and tells me that to ensure an intimate and warm celebration, Brooks the bride, selected a hidden, rustic Napa/Santa Rosa Bed and Breakfast as the venue and did most of the wedding day decor herself. Uhm Brooks, I don't think you could have done it any better than this. But that's enough out of me blogettes (like you're even reading this anymore), go frolic in the prettiness already. Happy a fabulous rest of your Wednesday everyone! 

{What were some important DIY elements?} Since our wedding was small and intimate we wanted to incorporate our family into our day. We both have family members that are no longer with us and we wanted them to be remembered as well. There are so many people that help you on your journey in life and allow you to get to a place of happiness and love. The 'family tree' was our way of honouring and celebrating those people, the ones still with us and those passed on. We got to go through lots of old and fun pictures, so did our parents and it was a fun project all around. Everyone seemed to love it at the wedding as well.

{Do you have any fun or interesting stories from your planning process?} Not so much any fun stories but I did start out with very high DIY expectations of myself, then quickly realized how much there was to all this wedding planning. So I spent a good deal of time cruising Etsy and found lots of fun touches to add (like the chalkboard candles, the paper hearts garlard, gifts, etc).

{What the most memorable moment from your big day?} I know I've said 'perfect' a few times already but honestly when Trevor and I talk about that day we are both still thrilled. It was a perfect day, I wouldn't redo anything. We talked about it and one of our favourite moments was during the ceremony reciting our vows. We wrote the ceremony together and tried to give it as much of ourselves as possible. So on our wedding day we were truly opening our hearts to each other and all of our family and friends. We also really had fun with the photo booth/guest book. The little props were so cute and everyone had a blast taking pictures and writing in our guest book! We did get a great tip from our fabulous photographer for the camera and album combo!

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Photographer: Onelove Photography / Venue: The Gables Inn / Hair: Salon Miel, Ledora Francis / Cake/Desserts: Ann Walker (personal strawberry shortcakes) / Caterer: Ann Walker / Dress Designer: Amy Kuschel / Floral Designer: Dragonfly Floral / Groomswear: J Crew and Converse / Lighting: JRB Event Services / Shoes: Dessy / Stationary: Wedding Paper Divas / Bridesmaids dresses: J Crew

{Wedding Paper Divas is an official sponsor of the Hey Gorgeous blog}

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DIY Vintage Framed Chalkboard Signs

Lemonade anyone? A few months backs, I ordered some vintage frames off of Etsy for a wedding project I had in mind. However, once the frames arrived I didn't quite see them working the way I had originally envisioned. Stumped on what to do with them, the fabulous Apb suggested turning them into chalkboard signs to use at our wedding. Genius, right? Why didn't I think of that?

So we asked my neighbor Matt, to cut us some wood inserts that would fit in each of the 5 different sized frames. Matt just finished high school and is an amazing wood worker heading off to study carpentry at college. He cut the inserts out of Masonite in about 10 minutes and did a perfect job rigt out of his workshop in his garage; he made it look so easy!

You want to make sure you have the following supplies as well; your inserts and frames of course, regular old chalk to write messages on your signs, scissors to trim the ribbon if you plan to add ribbon to your frames to hang them, glue to adhere the inserts to the backs on the frames, a screwdriver to remove any nails or hooks inserted in the back of the frames, and last but not least chalkboard paint. I used the spray kind from Michaels as opposed to paint you use a brush with and it worked well. I sprayed 2-3 layers of paint on each insert and still have a little under half a can left.

After spraying each wood insert with a few coats of paint, you want to let them dry for at least 24 hours before writing on the boards and gluing them into the frames. You can use the screwdriver to remove any little pieces from the back of the frame. Once you have waited to let the pieces dry, you will run some glue along the edges of the inside tray on the frame (where the glass usually sits). Plop in your insert, press down to get the glue to stick and voila! You have a new chalkboard sign :) If you want to use ribbon for hanging or decorative purposes you can glue that onto the frames while the inserts are drying. You know, kill two birds with one stone kind of thing...

I think we will use two of the frames at our bar; one to tell guests about our signature drink and the other to have a cute little message like Apb loves Rbs (or Rbs loves Apb, we will see :) I have ordered some vintage striped straws and think they will look smashing in a nice cup beside the signs. Plus they will spice up everyone's drinks, no?

I think another one will go on a cruiser table beside the door to the patio (where the ceremony is taking place), that will say "Cards and Guestbook" and here will be our birdcages, guestbook and a flower arrangement. Then one will most likely go on our dessert dresser and perhaps one by the flower petals set up but that's a whole other DIY project I have in store for you :) Have a fabulous rest of the weekend loves! xo

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