Free-Spirited & Fun, Rustic Fall Wedding

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Today’s gorgeous bride Nicole is a lady after my own heart.

Not only can we all learn from her stress-busting, decisive approach to wedding planning, but she’s also introduced me to a wedding dress designer I hadn’t known before, Tatyana Merenyuk (who I’m now obsessed with – expect a blog post soon!).

Alongside her dapper groom Eric, Nicole was beaming from start to finish on her wedding day (you know we just love a couple who can’t stop smiling), and when you scroll through the beautiful pictures from their day by Becka Pillmore Photography, I think you’ll find their free-spirited nature entirely infectious.

The couple held their rustic fall wedding at The Inn at Millrace Pond in New Jersey, with the foliage turning in time for their intimate outdoor ceremony and fun marquee reception.

Whether you take style tips, floral and decor inspiration, catering ideas, or even just attitude goals from this smile-inducing couple, we have a feeling you’re going to love their day.

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Our Love Story

Eric and I started dating in high school when he kissed me good bye before 4th period, who knew we would end up where we are today!

Eleven years later he proposed. We were at our favorite spot in Liberty State Park by the water and I was laying out in my bathing suit (sweating of course) and he came back from his bike ride and knelt over me and said, I love you and I said I love you too…he said “I’ve loved you for a long time (oh sh*t what’s happening) and I want you to love me forever, will you marry me?”

We then celebrated with Anchor Steam Beers he packed ahead of time and grilled burgers!

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Our Wedding

I wanted it to feel like us. We both love being outdoors and with our family and friends, so for us having the evening flow and fun for everyone was super important.

We wanted an intimate, romantic and earthy feel overall.

The color palette was very natural with beautiful neutral toned flowers using lavender, wheat, anemones, spray roses and hydrangeas. My bridesmaids wore a light dusty pink and I never thought I would have picked pink for my girls!

We had looked at a hand full of venues prior to The Inn at Millrace Pond and as soon as we walked onto this property we knew and called our parents right away, it was perfect.

It was intimate and rustic (this used to be an old grist mill in the 1800s) with the guest rooms, cocktail house and tent all in one space, which made for an awesome after party!

We absolutely fell in love with Becka’s photography and once we met her we knew she would be a great match! Her husband is her second shooter and he couldn’t have been nicer!

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The Ceremony

One of my favorite moments was seeing Eric at the alter while walking with my Dad, finding my place across from him and then one of my bridesmaids stepping on my veil and it falling off. That really lightened the mood and calmed me down, I was so nervous!

We had a special reading, a poem called ‘Love’ by Roy Croft.

Bridal party processional: ‘God Only Knows’ by The Beach Boys.

Bride procession: ‘A Good Man’ by Holly Williams.

Recessional: ‘Spirit in the Sky’ by Norman Greenbaum.

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The Decor & Details

My favorite detail was probably my flowers. My bouquet, bridesmaids, boutonnieres and centerpieces all coordinated, so there was a general theme throughout using lavender, wheat, anemones, spray roses, dusty miller, fox tails and hydrangeas.

Some centerpieces were in wooden boxes and some were in mini bottles.

Our favors were old school matchbooks with our initals and matched the florals. The venue didn’t need much decorating since it was already fall and had beautiful foliage starting.

We had a sit down dinner and for dessert we had our strawberry shortcake wedding cake and hot apple cider and cider donuts. Another amazing moment was my maid of honor’s speech, it was hilarious! And the music my DJ was playing – everyone danced all night.

Advice for Other Couples

I think my one big piece of advice is to be decisive. You’ll save yourself so much time and stress and I was all about being stress free, since I am typically a worrier.

I honestly found all my vendors, music, flowers, DJ, dress ALL online via blogs and word of mouth. I loved looking at the Green Wedding Shoes and Wedding Wire.

We honeymooned in Greece and it was truly an amazing experience. We visited Santorini (we stayed at the Hotel San Antonio and Mystique Hotel), Crete (we stayed at Blue Lagoon) and Athens (Palace Hotel).