Tag Archives: homemade

An Intimate, Backyard, Pandemic Wedding with a Street Party Reception

July 22, 2020 in Wedding. Written by Sophie Cooke Photos by Roni Rose Photography

Jackson and Erik gathered inspiration for their May 2020 wedding from two places – their international travels, and their favourite city, Chicago. Despite their original date falling slap bang in the middle of an international pandemic and most couples postponing, Jackson and Eric had a very important reason to keep to their plans. “The most important reason to keep our original date was to have our beloved and elderly doggo, Bessie, there,” explained the bride. “She walked me down the aisle and had a gold velvet collar that matched my gold and black dress perfectly!”

They originally had a $15,000 budget, but due to COVID-19 and having to change their original plans, they ended up just spending $8,000. Originally they’d planned to have their day on the shore of Lake Michigan, but as their venue was shut, they decided to host a socially distant ceremony in their backyard.

“Creating a garden fit for a wedding out of our very bleak backyard was a challenge,” explained Jackson, “but if there’s one good thing that came out of lockdown, it was my new obsession with gardening!” While lockdown had been lifted in Chicago, they used Zoom to share their ceremony virtually with 95 of their friends from out of state.

An Intimate, Backyard, Pandemic Wedding with a Street Party Reception

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Jackson and Erik gathered inspiration for their May 2020 wedding from two places - their international travels, and their favourite city, Chicago. Despite their original date falling slap bang in the middle of an international pandemic and most couples postponing, Jackson and Eric had a very important reason to keep to their plans. “The most important reason to keep our original date was to have our beloved and elderly doggo, Bessie, there,” explained the bride. “She walked me down the aisle and had a gold velvet collar that matched my gold and black dress perfectly!”

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July 22, 2020

Emotional English Garden Wedding (With a Special Visit to Grandma)

October 22, 2018 in British Brides, Wedding. Written by Ellie Kime Photos by Haywood Jones Photography

Elissa and Joey’s English garden wedding is a totally joyous, tear-jerker affair. And you know us, we’re not about the clickbait life – it was genuinely a deeply emotional collaborative effort using as many beautiful homemade elements as possible. With that in mind, here’s their theme, explained better than I ever could:

“When my Grandma became poorly we had to help her sort through her accounts and paperwork,” Elissa recalls. “It was a total filing catastrophe but in amongst the reams of paper and notes she had catalogued and treasured so much ‘stuff’ to do with us all – receipts from long forgotten occasions carefully annotated, preserved flowers, notes of our minor achievements to the extent she’d created a huge archive of all of our lives. It was a real reminder of just how important we all are to her, and her love of family and ability to see the significance in tiny things in when times are hard was our major inspiration.”

With her grandma’s health declining, Elissa and Joey had a registry office ceremony and a mini-reception in her care home the day before their garden wedding. “I made my bouquet from flowers from her garden and used some of her ornaments to decorate the registry office, whilst her carers did her hair and make up and helped her decorate a cake for me as she always wanted to bake my wedding cake,” she says. Told you it was a beautiful, raw, honest tearjerker, didn’t I?

Emotional English Garden Wedding (With a Special Visit to Grandma)

👰

Elissa and Joey's English garden wedding is a totally joyous, tear-jerker affair. And you know us, we're not about the clickbait life - it was genuinely a deeply emotional collaborative effort using as many beautiful homemade elements as possible. With that in mind, here's their theme, explained better than I ever could:

Continue reading...

October 22, 2018

Homemade Humanist Wedding in Scotland

August 17, 2015 in British Brides, Wedding. Written by Kat Photos by Camera Hannah

Sarah and Colin’s homemade wedding was full of personal touches and Scottish references. They were married at Comrie Croft in Perthshire, Scotland.

“We had loads of help from friends and family with making things including individual crochet favours for each guest made by my mum, the cake by one of my bridesmaids, the table numbers by another and all the wooden props by my dad and brother”, Sarah said. “All the other cakes and desserts were made by guests – we had a cake competition! I also made the ribbon curtain we had at the ceremony and me and my bridesmaids made our own flower crowns.”

“The best bit of the day was the woodland ceremony. Seeing Colin shed a tear and having all my favourite people around us made me feel really special! Our friend Matt runs a community choir so we got him to make the guests into a wedding choir – they sang The Proclaimer’s Let’s Get Married. They all sounded so beautiful and it was a truly special moment for us.”

Homemade Humanist Wedding in Scotland

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Sarah and Colin's home made wedding was full of personal touches and Scottish references. They were married at Comrie Croft in Perthshire, Scotland.

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August 17, 2015

Creative and Casual Wedding in Norway

August 11, 2015 in Wedding. Written by Kat Photos by Eirik Halvorsen

Tore and Mari didn’t have a huge wedding budget, in fact they had less than £5000 to spend. However they knew they wanted fantastic photographs, so in order to fit him into their budget, they hired Eirik Halvorsen for just a few hours to cover the ceremony and some quick portraits afterwards.

The wedding took place in Sola, in the very south west of Norway. “We were really determined to make it a casual and relaxed summer wedding”, said the bride. “We both also have a thing for vintage, in particular art deco, so we wanted to bring that in too.”

The bride made her own dress and the bridesmaids wore outfits from H&M. “Almost everything in the wedding was more or less homemade”, she continued, “the dress, the food, the décor… The wedding was held in a little house/ camp-site area by the beach, which gave it a very laid back atmosphere as well.”

“There was no favourite moment in the day, it was ALL our favourite!! It was perfect from start to finish. However the ceremony at church was magical, we had live performances including I Got You Babe and This Guy’s in Love With You. Our photo shoot afterwards was also really cool. We went straight from the ceremony and it was very nice to Just be in love an fool around taking pictures.”

Creative and Casual Wedding in Norway

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Tore and Mari didn't have a huge wedding budget, in fact they had less than £5000 to spend. However they knew they wanted fantastic photographs, so in order to fit him into their budget, they hired Eirik Halvorsen for just a few hours to cover the ceremony and some quick portraits afterwards.

Continue reading...

August 11, 2015

Rainy Ness Creek Wedding with a Homemade Dress

May 19, 2015 in Wedding. Written by Kat Photos by Conscious Studios

Just one thing went through my mind when I first laid eyes on Melissa and Joel’s wedding – THAT DRESS! I had to find out all about it…

“I am a clothing designer so naturally I was very excited to design and hand make my own dress”, Melissa told me. “I also made the bridesmaid and flowergirl dresses, the ring bearer’s outfit and the vests, ties and bow ties for the guys. I even made the outfits worn by our mothers and things for lots of the guests! I had lots of help from my mom, sisters and friends thankfully!”

“My dress was three pieces and it converted to four completely different looks! The first look was a sweetheart strapless dress with a pin up style collar and button detail with a very full skirt. The skirt was made from many fabrics in different prints and textures, but all white and black. The full skirt was removable to reveal a white pencil dress with a black ruffled mermaid skirt. The mermaid skirt could also come off to transform the dress to a short pencil dress with ostrich feather trim. But that’s not all! The pencil dress is fully reversible to a plain black side (which I did end up wearing for about five hours the next day. I have worn the dress a couple times since, I plan to make the mermaid skirt into a circle skirted pin up dress and am probably going to make the big skirt into a comforter for our bed!”

Rainy Ness Creek Wedding with a Homemade Dress

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Just one thing went through my mind when I first laid eyes on Melissa and Joel's wedding - THAT DRESS! I had to find out all about it...

Continue reading...

May 19, 2015

Casual Homespun Wedding of TV Presenter Layla Anna-Lee

February 6, 2015 in British Brides, Wedding. Written by Kat Photos by Tom Leishman

When TV presenter Layla Anna-Lee married Richard, they both knew they wanted to do something different. They wanted their wedding to feel like them, to be easygoing and fuss-free. They had their ceremony at Artington House and their reception was afternoon tea at home with just their closest friends and family.

“We’re not big party people, we like quiet quality time with friends so we had a small ceremony then high tea at our home”, explained Layla. “It was all a little last minute despite having six months between getting engaged and getting married. I had to fly to Brazil for six weeks for work and then when I returned we were just really chilled out about it all. We only really started planning three months before the date.”

“We knew the date we wanted, and we were super excited to get married but all we were interested in was the actual getting married bit. When we spoke about wanting to marry each other we were attracted to the beautiful promise and a future together, we never uttered the words ‘I want to have a meeting with a florist and check out venues with you!’ These things were just not on our minds at all. We both wanted something warm, modest and homely. We saw many lovely venues online, but we kept wanting to just have it at home. We only bought our house together very recently and we got engaged here – it feels so special.”

Casual Homespun Wedding of TV Presenter Layla Anna-Lee

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February 6, 2015

Homespun Backyard Wedding: Alison & Lucas

October 29, 2014 in Wedding. Written by Kat Photos by Tiffany Walde

Alison and Lucas were married at the groom’s parent’s house in Kelowna, British Columbia. They decorated the space themselves just using items from their own home as well as things already in Lucas’ parent’s house. They also had some items that friends lent them too.

“Lucas and I love each other and wanted to throw a good party for all of the people who support us in our life together”, the bide began. “If our wedding was at all different, it’s because of the individuals involved. Everything was included for a reason. Our theme was black and gold with antique and eclectic touches. We were married in the backyard and decorated with things we already owned.”

The bride’s dress was handmade for her by her bridesmaid, Michelle Lefevre, and he had bare feet for most of the day. Her gorgeous headpiece was made from paper leaves painted gold. To match, she also carried a paper bouquet.

Homespun Backyard Wedding: Alison & Lucas

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Alison and Lucas were married at the groom's parent's house in Kelowna, British Columbia. They decorated the space themselves just using items from their own home as well as things already in Lucas' parent's house. They also had some items that friends lent them too.

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October 29, 2014

Relaxed Back Garden Wedding in Surrey: Rachel & Ally

October 2, 2014 in British Brides, Wedding. Written by Kat Photos by Rutko Photographers

Rachel and Ally won their wedding photography though a contest hosted on this very wedding blog, so when Rachel excitedly emailed me with the resulting gorgeous photos, I couldn’t wait to post them! The wedding was held in Ally’s parent’s back garden in Surrey.

“When we first got engaged and I started to look at possible venues I got so downhearted that I abandoned the search for 18 months”, began the bride. “Every couple wants a wedding that represents them, and we were no different, but I felt everywhere I looked we either couldn’t afford or wouldn’t let us choose the things that were important to us. They all seemed to insist that you use their recommended suppliers. We are both laid back and wanted something that wouldn’t be stressful to organise.”

“Rather than start at what we wanted, we started at what we didn’t want and built from there. We didn’t want formality or to subscribe to tradition. I didn’t want a wedding dress and Ally didn’t want a morning suit. We wanted it to feel very natural and relaxed so cut out many of the usual parts that make up a wedding. I didn’t want to be a princess; the only thing I wanted to be on our wedding day was Mrs Jowett.”

Relaxed Back Garden Wedding in Surrey: Rachel & Ally

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Rachel and Ally won their wedding photography though a contest hosted on this very wedding blog, so when Rachel excitedly emailed me with the resulting gorgeous photos, I couldn't wait to post them! The wedding was held in Ally's parent's back garden in Surrey.

Continue reading...

October 2, 2014

Homemade Farm Wedding: Nree & Adrian

July 17, 2013 in Wedding. Written by Kat Photos by Tantari Photography

Nree and Adrian were married on a Friday afternoon in February. Their farm venue set the tone and theme for the day, which they accessorised with homemade yellow details. “Our wedding was summery, relaxed, vintage and handmade”, wrote the bride. “Our main objective was to keep the cost down! So styling and hand making everything was a top priority (also something that I LOVED doing). We wanted to be super relaxed and for our guest feeling relaxed on our special day, so having the wedding at Gum Gully was perfect. The sun was shining, the birds were signing and all we could smell was that sweet country air.”

“In terms of styling we wanted a handmade and vintage feel so we used things like fabric bunting, lace table clothes, jam jars for drinking glasses and old pickle bottles for vases. We enjoyed using materials such as hessian and twine to decorate almost everything in sight! We also got to play with animals all morning on the farm, feeding little baby goats, deer, chickens and cows. How much more relaxing does it get!?”

Homemade Farm Wedding: Nree & Adrian

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Nree and Adrian were married on a Friday afternoon in February. Their farm venue set the tone and theme for the day, which they accessorised with homemade yellow details. "Our wedding was summery, relaxed, vintage and handmade", wrote the bride. "Our main objective was to keep the cost down! So styling and hand making everything was a top priority (also something that I LOVED doing). We wanted to be super relaxed and for our guest feeling relaxed on our special day, so having the wedding at Gum Gully was perfect. The sun was shining, the birds were signing and all we could smell was that sweet country air."

Continue reading...

July 17, 2013

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