Retro Meets Rustic with a Quirky DIY Wedding

Sarah and Stanton's DIY wedding is so blooming cool.

Photographed by the wonderful Thomas Shull Photography, this beautiful day was a retro meets rustic affair.

Held in the atmospheric hacienda garden setting of Boojum Tree, Arizona, decorated in whimsical handmade touches, Sarah was gorgeous in a strapless Etsy wedding dress, while her dapper groom in his Navy Dress Blues looked like a V-J Day hero ready to sweep her off her feet.

Fall in love with this sweet young couple, and their wonderful wedding…

Our Day in Three Words

DIY, Rustic, and Whimsical.

The Dresses

I wore a dress that I found on Etsy. I absolutely LOVE it. The lady who made it is extremely talented and kind.

I wanted my bridesmaids to find something within their own style, so I just gave them a few colors and set them loose!

I wanted my sisters to stand out a bit as the Maids of Honor, and surprisingly we found their dresses and had to convert them into the strapless dresses they are now.

The Flowers

I used sunflowers (my favorites), daisies (my second favorites, ha ha), and babies breath for all of the bouquets, centerpieces and even the flower crowns.

The Theme

The colors I chose were a few different hues of grey, dark navy blue, and a cream color.

I wanted it to be very happy and earthy, very convenient since the wedding was held in a garden.

The gardens were beautiful and rustic, so many different textures and colors, the decorations that we made looked very nice. The decorations and ornaments around the gardens added to the vintage feel.

Decor & Details

This wedding I feel could be a definition of a DIY wedding.

We draped layers of cheesecloth that we had dyed with coffee over the chairs for the reception and the ceremony. My mother, my mother’s friend Naoko, and my grandmother sewed hundreds of tiny little cheesecloth flowers that we attached to strings of jute and hung all over the place.

A favor that the guest got to take home was a tiny glass light bulb that was filled with M&Ms.

The Ceremony

We wanted a unique unity ceremony, so instead of sand or candles we “literally” tied a knot. A fisherman’s knot, and my pastor said some words about the two pieces of rope now becoming one.

I loved it!

For music, the song that the wedding party walked out to was “To Build a Home” by The Cinematic Orchestra. I walked in at the end of the song.

Walking out after the ceremony was the song “Come to Me” by the Goo Goo Dolls.

Entering the reception we walked in to a Cinema cover by Jason Evigan. Our first dance song was “Hey Pretty Girl” by Kip Moore.

The Photography

We chose TJ because my husband had known his from school I think!

It was tough to plan because Stanton was on the other side of the country, but I loved TJ’s style and it worked out perfect!

We chose last minute to find a videographer, and chose Zach because my sister knew him.

The Refreshments

We had a buffet style dinner! Italian food always goes fast! I have always thought Babbos was tasty, and it didn’t disappoint that day!

I wanted to save a bit of money so I took my baking skills (I went to a culinary school) and decided I would make my own cakes.

I loved the feel of the new style of “naked cakes” that don’t have any frosting on the outside, so I went with three cakes like that!

We didn’t take any cake leftovers home, so I think that they were a hit!

Advice for Other Couples

I used the website The Knot to help myself plan and stay organized. They really think of almost every detail! It’s crazy! I used a ton of websites for inspiration: Pinterest, StumbleUpon, and Tumblr were probably the ones I used the most.

If you haven’t noticed I’m a bit infatuated with Etsy right now, I love how you can find just about anything and it's handmade, and the people who create the products are excited for you and share in your excitement!

We made a ton of stuff for my wedding, from the decorations, down to the wedding cakes, so I think in that sense we did save a bit of money doing a lot of stuff on our own.

Advice about the day of, I wouldn’t stress. I look back to that day and its almost like a dream, I was so happy to be marrying my best friend and being in the company of so many people that cared about us.

I didn’t want to waste a moment worrying about if the centrepiece was in the exactly perfect spot or something like that, I just wanted to take everything in and enjoy every moment. I don’t know, maybe I’m weird!

I feel like I didn’t start feeling that it was really happening until I started walking down the aisle!

Funny fact, I actually cried more at my best friend’s wedding then I did at my own!

Just take every moment in and enjoy the day, no matter what happens, when love is involved, it will be beautiful.

Favourite Moment

I am still in love with my entire wedding! The gardens were beautiful, the decorations were wonderful, and it was nice to see everything come into place.

I feel like the garden had just the right look and the decorations just took it to the next level. It was almost a family reunion type thing for my mom and I. She has six sisters and a brother; it was so amazing to be surrounded by so much love that day.

Being surrounded by family and friends on that day made it special.