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The Offbeat Bride: Kimber, Graphic designer/Photographer/Illustrator
Her offbeat partner: Kaylee, Doggy daycare worker
Date and location of wedding: Grandparent's backyard in Melrose, FL (on Lake Santa Fe) — April 11, 2015
Our offbeat wedding at a glance:
I joked around for a while that our theme was “things we like.” It was difficult for us to decide on just one direction. Eventually, I realized that the common link between my interests was color. A rainbow of pom-poms, embroidery hoops, flamingos, and ribbon all played a part in our overall vision. I have always been artsy, and after helping design and decorate a few friends' weddings in the last year, I was super excited to get to work on my own finally.
Tell us about your boho wedding ceremony:
Our ceremony space was surrounded by giant oak trees covered in Spanish moss and right next to the lake's edge. Although the environment itself was breathtaking, we spent two months making around 400 yarn pom-poms attached to skewers to line the aisle. I wanted to infuse color in as many ways as I could.
The addition of three rugs that we found on clearance also helped to brighten the space. I liked the idea that we would be able to bring the rugs back into our home and keep that little piece of our ceremony forever.
One of the last details I worked on before the wedding was our program. I am absolutely in love with the idea of infographic programs, and I also included drawings of the bridal party on the backside.
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Our bridal party wore an array of colors from light blue to bright pink and carried handmade bouquets made from embroidery hoops and vintage doilies instead of flowers. Kaylee loves to fish, so I added color to fishing lure boutonnieres by adding fun feathers and yarn.
The ceremony itself was very short and sweet. We wrote our vows ourselves with help from this post.
Tell us about your boho wedding reception:
I learned that DIY weddings can make for great bonding experiences during the planning time period. We spent countless hours working together to create as much of our decor as we could. We made a massive rainbow backdrop out of crepe paper to hang behind our table.
We hung embroidery hoops of brightly colored lace fabrics from satin ribbon along one side of the porch and in a neighboring tree. Our centerpieces consisted of colored vases we had collected and dried flowers purchased from two shops on etsy. I made all of the napkins from a stash pile of fabric. Each place setting had a different pattern/color.
One of the most fun things we did was search thrift stores constantly until we found enough mismatched china plates. I had no idea how hard that was going to be until we had a dry spell for a few months. If you plan to do this for your wedding, start early!My favorite part of our dessert bar was the cute macarons.
We kept debating on whether or not to get a dance floor. I knew our guest list was pretty small (40 people), and I wasn't sure if it would be worth it. How was I supposed to know how many people would dance? We took a chance, and I am so glad that we did! People filled the dance floor all night. The party went on long after we thought it would be done.
What was your most important lesson learned?
I think the most important lesson I learned is that it really does take a village. I may have spent over a year making the decor and planning, but I could never have done the set up without the help of our family and friends. We did not really have “guests” at our wedding, because there was not one person in attendance who didn't help in one way or another. Everyone worked together to create our vision, and I will be eternally grateful for that. Seeing all of the wonderful people in our lives come together to make our special day happen was something I will never be able to fully describe.
Vendors
- Photography: Alex & Cammy Photography
- Invitations, Program, Signs, etc: made by the bride, Short & Sweetheart
- Ceremony Dress: JL Vintage
- Reception Dress: Soulrust
- Flowers: The Blaithin Blair Shop and The Everlasting Posy
- Macarons: Aster's French Macarons
- Cakes: Delicious Bakery
- Officiant: Karen Roumillat
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Oh, gosh, I love those programs! I wish I had that kind of design talent.
Yay for awesome Florida weddings! I love the invitations, programs, and all the signs!
Wow, this wedding is truly amazing! I’m in love with each pitures!! You did a wonderful job there ^^
A very colorful and beautiful wedding!
You guys make me sick on cute you are! Like other posters have said, the program is really out there. Never seen a program like that before and the photo’s were great.
Your grandparents have a beautiful piece of property (jealous much).
Those embroidery hoops everwhere are so cool! They look like colorful dreamcatchers for fairy godmothers.
looks so FUN (in addition to just being awesomely pretty!)! but one thing that stuck out to me because i’m currently struggling with it: how did you do so much DIY when you had to travel from home to a different state for the wedding?? i’m assuming maybe you drove so you could transport more of the DIY elements you made?
we’re getting married 1,700 miles from where we currently live and i’ve been feeling a little defeated lately about certain projects i don’t feel like i can take on because the cost or logistics of getting them from here to there after they’re done is prohibitive, so would love any insider info on how you made it work with all those beautiful DIYs you did.
This post might be relevant:
http://offbeatwed.com/destination-wedding-decorations
Hi! This was a huge concern for us as well! I cannot begin to tell you how difficult it was to figure out how to transport our crepe paper backdrop. As you figured out, we decided the best bet would be to drive everything down there. We rented a van and folded the seats down in order to fit everything. We only had to go 530 (give or take) miles, so although I did not enjoy the drive, at least it was a possibility! I briefly considered shipping stuff down, but because some of our items were extreme heavy, we decided against it. I wish I could be of more help! 🙁 Destination weddings are tricky for this reason!
We just got married about 200 miles from home, in his parents’ hometown. We’d made a couple of trips in the preceding months to deal with details, so we brought whatever we could then, and loaded up our two cars and drove separately to our destination the week of the wedding. Again, not ideal, but definitely doable. We had to scrap the idea of May-pole-like decorations (I was thinking of having poles with garlands strung around the reception hall and bought Christmas tree stands on clearance), but luckily I didn’t miss them at all. We had the flowers done in town and delivered that day, but otherwise everything fit into a few vehicles. We borrowed his parents’ minivan for lugging things around town.
You’re traveling a LOT further than that, but presumably you might make one trip out beforehand to deal with logistics– pack whatever you can and leave it with relatives in the area, if you’ve got some. You could also potentially rent a small locker someplace if you need to. Alternatively, if you have relatives in the area, you can have items you don’t need to work on yourself (or finished items) ship to them and let them keep a stash for you. If you’re going to another country, don’t ship things through customs– you never know what will get stucki.
soooooo pretty!!!!
I think this may be one of the prettiest weddings I’ve seen. Well done ladies!
Seriously, I just want to decorate my house in all of your wedding decor.
That is exactly what we came home and did! But really…. You should see my house… It is already exploding with color.
It’s funny how spending all that time honing your aesthetic for the wedding seems to dictate your taste for other things. Every time I see a dress or shirt or garden that matches my wedding vision I’m immediately attracted to it and have to stop myself from acquiring 6 remarkably similar outfits.
Best wedding in forever, so beautiful and gorgeous brides to boot!!
This is awesome! I love all the colour and the tasseled embroidery hoops are so pretty! You look great together 😀
Beautiful! I agree with everyone the program is amazing.
I had a couple questions. I see a sign by the desserts with 3 names, all the same date just different years. Are these people in your life? Seems significant, I had hoped to read about it.
Also, I see a sign (I’m drawn to signs) by gifts that say “find your name” Did you do personalized favors? And what were they?
We got married on my grandparents and great grandparents wedding anniversary. I booked my date completely based on photographers availability … I was blown away when I found out it was such a great date!
Also! Forgot to say that we purchased tea towels for our favors … It had an info graphic type image of the state that each guest was from 🙂
just wow to both of these things.
KIMBER I LOVE YOUR HAIR SO MUCH!
Also what a beautiful setting. Those trees are spectacular.
Yours is definitely my favorite wedding I’ve seen. This has been such an inspiration. We’re in the final stretch and I’d hit a wall with planning. Thank you for this post. It’s lit a fire and now I want color explosions everywhere. After seeing your pom pom aisle liners, my weekend was spent crafting pom poms.
I love how you added color to every single element! Did you create the chair ribbons too? I love them!
Was your reception potluck? That’s what we’re doing, BBQ style. I’m vegetarian, and husband-elect doesn’t eat much meat, so we are providing veggie burgers and using perfectpotluck.com for everything else. If you *did* do potluck, wondering if you have any words of wisdom. Your centerpieces are also awesome. And all the decor in general. Nice job!
What a beautiful wedding! You ladies did an amazing job with the decor, and have provided so much inspiration for my own wedding that’s coming up in May 2019.
How did you color the glasses for the cocktails – on the inside or outside? We need about 150 colored bottles/vases for centerpieces and have started collecting at flea markets an thrift shops, but the colors are limited and some are so expensive. I’ve tried to color my own but have yet to find a method where the paint doesn’t break down after adding liquid. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks!