DIY Wedding and The Greatest Day of My Life

In honor of my 3rd wedding anniversary (that was on Tuesday), I thought it would be appropriate to do a post about my DIY wedding.  Before I get to the wedding, here are some of our engagement photos that you probably have seen in some of my projects around the house.

Ok, now for the wedding.

  
I wasn't blogging back then so I don't have any tutorials of things that we made.  I also don't have that many photos of all of the DIY's that we did.  

My husband and I (with the help of some of our loved ones) did everything ourselves.  I did hire a professional photographer because I was still a photographer back then and my pictures were of utmost importance to me.  We even tried to make our own cake, but failed miserably and had to get a small cake at the last minute from a local bakery.

We are very nontraditional people and like to live outside of the box.  So this wedding was a reflection of who we are.  I guarantee our wedding guests have never seen a wedding like ours.  Nor will they ever again. 

The ceremony took place on a platform that my husband made out of plywood and 2x4s and covered with vinyl checkerboard material. 

I luckily found a small banquet room that was completely white and gray.  It was perfect for our black and white theme.  We even asked all of our guests to wear black, white or gray only to add to the theme. We rented black table linens and my mom made white satin table runners for each table.  Each table had a clear vase with black rocks and black twigs and had a black and white photo of us from our engagement session.

The photos were used with the seating card tree for guests to find their seat.

We made this seating card tree from a branch from a tree in our yard.  We spray painted it black and made wallet size photos with each guest's name on the back.

We had a dessert table with all black and white cookies, cupcakes and candy.

Around the room, we hung various black and white fabric panels from the ceiling that draped down to the ground creating a wall covering.  We also made tissue paper pom poms that hung from the ceiling.

After the ceremony, we had a special surprise for our guests.  We called it the Wizard of Oz effect.  Because my husband and I were wearing red, we added red to the room when they came back in for the reception. 

We changed the centerpieces to a red vase with taller twigs with red roses on them.  We added red crystals and red candles to each table.

All the Black and White photos were changed to pictures with red selective coloring.

Our table was added to the platform where the ceremony took place.

Red cupcakes, cookies and candy were added to the dessert table as well.

We added red light bulbs to a few of the floor lamps that we had around the room.

Above the dance floor, were rows of clear string lights.  They were turned on when the dancing began.

My favorite things about the wedding were my dress and bouquet.  The dress is from a store called The Winner.  It is a prom dress.  It originally had red roses on it.  I replaced all the red roses with black rose pins that I found at 3 different Claire's.  My veil is made out of red rose hair clips from Claire's and black french netting.

My bouquet is a mix of fake red and black roses, vintage brooches that I found on Etsy, black feathers and black french netting.  (If you follow my blog, you know that my bouquet resides in my kitchen now).

My most prized possession (in the above photo) is my engagement ring and wedding ring.  It is a black diamond with garnets.  Why a black diamond?  It isn't because it is the color of my soul, it is because I am not like any one else (For the record, Sex and the City fans, I was married before this movie came out but I loved this line from the movie).

After the wedding, on a separate day, we had formal wedding pictures done.  Here are a few of my favorites:

All of these photos were taken by MMG Photography.  Michelle Galazia is a great photographer.  If you are looking for a photographer in the eastern Ohio or western Pennsylvania area, you should check here out.  For more info on MMG Photography, please check out her website.

   

I hope you enjoyed a little look into my personal life.  You can see that my husband and I aren't afraid to be different.  That goes for decorating our house as well.  If you follow my blog, then you probably already know that.  If you are new to my blog, stick around, you never know what crazy thing I will be doing next.  Like painting every room in my house black.  (Maybe not every room, but almost every room).

Don't forget, my Tuesday link party is still going on.  I would love it if you would link up.

I'm linking up to these link parties: Two Yellow Birds Decor, Suzys Sitcom, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Live Laugh Rowe, The 36th Avenue, Mom on Timeout, Katherine's Corner, The Crafty Blog Stalker, No minimalists Here, Seven Alive, Domesblissity, Somewhat Simple, A Glimpse Inside, Happy Hour Projects, Ladybird Lane, Fireflies and Jellybeans, 504 Main, Liz Marie Blog, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, See Vanessa Craft, Simple Home Life,