Our Wedding – October 12th, 2019
I can’t believe it, but we are nearing our 1st anniversary. 1. Whole. Year. Our first year as married folks! And it seems like just yesterday we were saying our vows in front of so many of our family and friends. I wanted to celebrate the start of our blog, and our first anniversary, by sharing some of my favorite details of that day. After all, it was the first wedding that ever happened on our farm!
The sun was shining bright and beautiful that Saturday, not a cloud in the sky. Unfortunately, the wind was wild and cutting to the bone. SERIOUSLY, coldest day of the month that year. I was shivering during my vows in my dress, and as soon as it was done I threw on a vintage fur coat. Once the fire was lit in the fire pit, and drinks were flowing, outdoor heaters blazing, it turned out to be the perfect farm wedding party. Our perfect farm wedding.
Growing up, my family would always go to our annual church hayride & picnic around harvest time. Some years we hosted it on our family farm. It was my favorite time of year – leaves turning, crispness in the air, clear night skies, bonfires, s’mores, friends, laughter. If my dad wasn’t driving the tractor pulling us cozy passengers under blankets on hay bales, he would be hiding in the spookiest part of the woods, ready to jump out at us with a chainsaw and mask. I wanted my wedding to feel like those parties. Our actual wedding day was too cold for a hayride (dad had the tractor & trailer at the ready though!), but I’m hoping another bride & groom who gets married out here will let me make my wedding hayride dreams come true for them!
Jessica Newton Photography did an amazing job being a trooper and dealt with all of my day of anxieties like the true seasoned pro she is! The wind made for some amazing wedding day photos, though! Like this favorite shot that really shows off my Silver Moon Vintage 1930s deco satin gown & custom floral lace trimmed veil. I loved the process of buying a vintage wedding gown – I got to be involved in every step of customizing the dress to my vision. And I love the drama of that train – just because it’s a farm wedding doesn’t mean you can’t be glam. Only thing I loved more than the train, was the way it looked when it was bustled!
And the florals. I had plans to do all of my own arrangements, and in the weeks before the wedding decided that was going to drive me to an early grave. I was way more stressed than I thought! Note to brides: don’t DIY yourself to death or take on too much. I’m a professional florist and I couldn’t do it myself. I grew most of the flowers myself, and brought them to my work family at Webster’s Florist to take on the design work. Jamie, David, Joe, Jerry & the whole crew took my visions and brought them to life. Moody, romantic, wild, natural, unique. I even made them put two taxidermy butterflies in my bouquet for my something blue, with my silk velvet ribbon streamers. The aisle pieces with foraged grasses and birch logs and dried green hydragenas from David & Jerry’s lake house were maybe my favorite part. And to save on table décor, we alternated bell jars of ferns with antique compotes of flowers.
Jeb Lambert was my DJ and he KILLED it. He was out there spinning records and playing dance floor hits into the night. I loved this shot Jessica got of our rings on his stacks of vinyl records. It was a full harvest moon that night, and I made so many memories I’ll never forget dancing and laughing under the stars.
Dani Kaplan & Adrianne Hanley were our catering chefs. Dani used our Caja China roasting box to roast a whole hog all day for some roasted pork she served with killer custom sauces. Adrianne made a beautiful charcuterie board of meats, cheeses, breads and surprises. She also made farm-fresh sides like roasted sweet potatoes with maple and butter, garlic kale, macaroni and cheese, and more. Our good friend Nikki Palicka made our cake – Black Forest, pistachio, a traditional white cake with berries. Also, why is no one talking about how awkward it is to feed your spouse cake in front of a hundred people?
All in all, the whole day was brought together by so many of our talented friends & family (right down to our fabulous custom save the dates & invitations by my friend, artist Xoe Fiss). Get good people involved, let them do their thing, and you can’t go wrong! I wish we could go back to that day and relive it all (I would definitely make sure to get some of that charcuterie board before it was gone LOL). I hope in the future we can have a yearly farm hayride anniversary celebration out here so we can bring more memories just like it. Just maybe warmer, and less wind next time!
