Woodsy Summer Wedding with Calligraphy Decor

woodsy-summer-wedding-by-charis-rowland-photography-59

Happy Friday folks! Today’s real wedding is sending us into the weekend in style – it’s a sweet one!

Kari & Andrew are an outdoors-loving couple who relished the idea of getting married on the beach. But being so far from the sea in St. Louis Missouri, they recreated the laid-back vibes with a beautiful celebration in the woods.

Their fun, romantic, and all-round gorgeous wedding was captured by Charis Rowland Photography, with the atmospheric Silver Oaks Chateau as their backdrop.

As a calligrapher herself, Kari has an eye for detail, and this was evident in every aspect of their decor, from the luxe florals and pretty centrepieces, to the cool signage (we love the gold on the perspex!) and the phenomenal cake.

Even their own wedding day style was on point, with Andrew rocking a sharp pale suit, and Kari with flowers in her hair and a beautiful Anna Campbell wedding dress. Oh, look out for her necklace too, it has the most lovely story behind it…

Our Love Story

Andrew and I met in college. We were friends for awhile before we started dating and that friendship is what makes our relationship so fun.

For the last seven years together we spent time living in three different cities. Our love for nature, running, hiking and canoeing was inspiration for how we wanted our wedding to be. Something about being surrounded by trees in the woods makes us completely present with each other.

On a surprise weekend trip to a winery in the French historic town of St. Genevieve, MO, Andrew took me for a walk through a vineyard and got down on one knee. He’s such a romantic; I blush just thinking about it.

Three words to describe our wedding? Deep, romantic, and natural.

For our wedding we were inspired by the August summer and wanted an atmosphere that felt relaxed and happy.

We wanted to complement the design of our venue and pulled style ideas from Mediterranean and Australian beaches.

The Planning

Silver Oaks accommodates events that can be held indoors and outdoors, which is important in the ever-changing weather of Missouri. It is set on lots of land filled with woods that we hiked around to take photos in and where we held our ceremony.

Our cocktail hour and first dance were held on the patio and dinner and dancing were in the beautiful grand hall. The architecture is so incredible and the bridal suite where we got ready is stunning. The patio was a great place for guests to socialize when taking a break from dancing.

As a calligrapher I wanted to create unique handwritten elements throughout the venue. I created lots of signage including a seating chart and brush-lettered place cards and table numbers. Andrew and I hand picked each rock that I wrote on for table numbers. We put the place cards in the forks and it was fun to watch everyone take selfies with their name in a fork.

Guests were invited to write us a note in our guestbook when they entered.

My grandma who has passed used to write me letters. I had her handwriting made into custom necklaces that I and my mom and bridesmaids wore.

Andrew and I have always written each other love letters and during our ceremony we invited our parents to place letters they had written to us into the box. We plan to use the box as a place where we store our notes to each other.

The Details

Our favorite moment was the ceremony. Time seemed to stop. We were among all of our family and friends but in that moment of exchanging vows we felt fully present with each other among the trees and listening to the symphony of bugs. We’ll always remember that moment.

A ukulele was strumming songs before and after the ceremony. Guests say they felt like they were in Hawaii; it was so relaxing and happy! Our first dance was to “I Got You” by Jack Johnson.

Our florist Kira took such great time and care to understand my vision. She used deep red peonies with shades of plum and wine mixed florals and blush pops of Juliet garden roses and lavender.

We love how personal our photographers Charis and Kyle are. They took time to understand the vision we had and made sure it aligned with their style as well. Our focus was to get some awesome outdoor shots and they’re all about adventure, hiking to find the best spot and just having fun.

My advice for other couples? I found so much inspiration from Instagram by searching hashtags. It’s the easiest way to see the most recent inspiration.

Having a planner took so much off of our plate the day of the wedding. We were able to focus on enjoying our day with our guests and Allissa and her team made sure the day was executed how we envisioned it.