It’s a bit surreal to be writing the wedding recap post because I can still hardly believe it is over! How strange to plan such a huge event for a whole year and then to be done, just like that. Luckily we have all the amazing memories and stunning photographs (thanks Karley Bracey)! We had the best time ever and we are so happy we decided to jump in and make it official. I’m so excited to share a bit more about the wedding in this post because we included a lot of handmade touches that I can't wait to show you!
If you want to listen to me talk about all of this and more, you can do that over on the Love to Sew Podcast! We have an episode out all about the big day and the dress.
We already did a post about the handmade save the date and invitations that you can see here. This was really the beginning of the handmade wedding concept and we continued from there! We made (with a lot of help from friends) about 50 yards of bunting for the tents, giant paper mache mushrooms and hanging jellyfish, paper bunting signs, and table decorations. I also sewed my dress, Sam’s shirt, our dinner aprons, and our outfit change looks for the dance party! We also grew all the flowers and cooked all the food. Phew - it was A LOT but it was so worth it. Let’s take a look!
The Decor and the Vibe
We had an outdoor wedding at our friend's place. They have two acres with a big flat field where we could put the tent. We were worried about rain right up to the hour of the wedding, so we ended up getting additional tents to make sure there was cover for the buffet and guest book, etc. There were so many tents that people said it felt like a fair or a farmers market, which I love. The fabric bunting around every tent really added to this effect. Thankfully it didn't end up raining in the end! It stopped about 30 minutes before the ceremony and resumed around midnight. Perfect timing!
Another key decoration we had at the wedding was lots of flowers in the garden, including GIANT sunflowers which were so much fun. We planted loads of dahlias and zinnias for the bouquets and there were plenty still in the garden on the big day. Perfect for our wedding photos! In addition to growing the flowers, we also cut and arranged all of the bouquets and they were so gorgeous. I had thrifted about 80 coloured glass vases. I loved how colourful and fun the arrangements were! Huge thanks to my friends and family for helping make the flowers happen.
I did a blog post already about painting an old barn on the property and we are so glad we did! It was a great backdrop for photos and it was in the background of a lot of shots from the dinner and speeches. It really is a highlight of their yard now!
My dad custom made a gorgeous wooden arbour for us to stand at for our ceremony. He is a very talented woodworker and we love it so much. It is now in our yard at home. I decorated the arbour with L-shaped flower arrangements. I glued some cardboard boxes into an L-shape and then I glued dried and plastic flowers to it. The nice thing is that I got to keep these because they are not fresh flowers! I was really proud of this DIY. I used the dried straw flowers to make flower crowns for the flower kids, too!
We also made our own wedding favours! Sam made his signature hot sauce and 3D printed really cute mushroom magnets in different colours. I block printed a seal print for each family to take home. We are glad we took the time to make these favours and our guests seemed to be really excited about them!
We had a fun guest “book” where people could write on cards and clip them up onto a fence panel that also had some fun old photos of us. I used wonder clips for this! I liked this approach because now I can put the messages throughout the scrapbook next to the photos of the guests.
One really fun thing we had at the wedding was a tattoo station! Temporary tattoos, of course. Who doesn't love a fun and silly tattoo? People were really into this station and I loved seeing everyone with their tattoos throughout the evening. The kids loved it the most, of course!
In the big tent, we had our dance floor in the middle with our giant jellyfish hanging above it. These were a really fun craft project we made with friends. They are upside down plastic bowls covered in tissue paper and cellophane. We then glued ribbons and organza inside to hang down. We also added frills around the outside of the bowls. So fun!
In addition to the jellyfish we had a big “Helen & Sam” sign that hung in the tent, too. This was also a craft project with friends where I drew out the big bubble letters on dollar store poster board and we each painted one so they were all different. It turned out so cute!
I did similar poster board signs for the “Taco Bar” and “Desserts” signs. Sam made the food for the taco bar all in advance and then our friends re-heated and served it on the day of. We had 90 guests so it was no small feat! He was cooking for weeks leading up to the wedding. We did a dessert potluck with our local friends and there were so many amazing dessert options! Highly recommend his approach to wedding dessert. It’s fun, there’s so much variety, and people were excited about bringing something!
We made some really fun paper mache mushrooms for decorations as well. This was another group craft! We made three giant ones and several little mini ones for the table decor. The mini ones were spice jars that we filled with co-ordinating bead colours. I loved this project, too! It was so much fun!
Last but not least, we had a placecard for each guest that was a custom JAWS playing card. I printed out their names in the jaws font and glued the names over top of the ‘jaws’ text on the card. It was a fun touch because we both love the movie and Sam is obsessed with sharks. I paired this with a little ‘taco menu’ card for each guest to peruse the buffet offerings before they went up to eat!
The Wedding Sewing
I got to do a lot of sewing for the wedding! I made my own dress, of course. We have blog posts detailing the wearable muslins, the making of the skirt, and the making of the bodice. Now I finally get to show you how it all came together! I am beyond happy with how the dress turned out. It was comfortable, it was gorgeous, and I loved wearing it! Oh - and it has pockets!!!
There are a few details that I am really proud of with this dress. The placement of the lace on the bodice is so pretty. I agonized over how to place it and I think it turned out perfectly! I am so proud of myself for sewing that so well.
I love the fullness in the skirt and the way the tulle looks over the white cotton underneath. I also adore the hem. I simply trimmed along the edge of the fabric, following the scalloped edge on the tulle. I then hemmed the underlining and lining shorter so that the scalloped edge stands out and I love this effect! It looks amazing when I twirl.
The last thing I really love about the dress is the colour. This apricot tulle over the white cotton is SO pretty. I have never loved white on me so I was skeptical about a white dress, but this creamy off-white is so lovely and warm and gorgeous.
In addition to my dress I also made Sam a Cameron Button Up in a block print fabric. I love how it turned out and he loves it too. It was nice and lightweight and it looked so cute with my dress. We went with a more casual look overall, both of us wore sandals and he did not have a jacket. It was nice to not feel too formal and hot. We really wanted to feel breezy and comfortable.
Right before dinner, we did a little speech and then we put on our custom Sam Aprons! I made these for the wedding and I am so glad I did. It was great to feel protected during dinner and we looked so cute in them. I love the pink and red striped fabric so much! I even did a little H and S on the back of the aprons so we could tell them apart when we use them at home.
I wasn't the only one who sewed something for the wedding! There were so many me-made garments at this wedding, it was so much fun! See if you can spot our Falconer Pants, Gilbert Top, Tofino Top, Ashton Dress, Lawrence Dress, Cassidy Dress, and Lockhart Dress!
My mom made an Ashton Dress hack for her outfit and Sam's mom wore the Cassidy Dress that I made for Caroline's wedding. It was so social to have them both in handmade garments!
Finally, we did an outfit change once the dance party really got going. We got to shed our heavier dress and pants in favour of these fun matching floral outfits! I made myself a mini Reynolds Dress and Sam a Tofino and Ukee Set. You can read more about these looks here. I loved being able to change into something light and fun and Sam did, too. We were both having a blast on the dance floor!
Overall, the wedding was INCREDIBLE! There really aren't even words to express our gratitude to our friends and family for helping us pull it off. It was such a labour of love and it showed. I loved every second of it and I’ll cherish the memories from this day forever! I hope you enjoyed checking out all of the handmade touches. Thanks for following along with us and for all the love and support!
