May Your Days Be "Marry" & Bright :)

Wow! It has definitely been a while! 6 whole months since I've posted. Life got crazy busy in the months that followed, but the best part is....I'M MARRIED!!! Married life is great :) Each day is a new adventure and William and I are cherishing all the special moments.

I thought I'd do a post about the wedding since it's my most recent (big!) event. I could truly go on and on about all the details about our wedding, but I'll stick to the main things.

First things first. My ceremony was held at our church, South Aiken Church of God. We wanted a rustic venue to match our theme, so we chose The Big Red Barn. It's located off of Chime Bell Church Road. My photographer was Jennifer Druelle Photographics, florist was Dyson Designs, hair by Emily Holland, make-up by Jessica Melton, Ashley Ridgeway, and Kristal Fox. Our cake was made by Kyndra's cakes and Carolina bbq catered. We used All Star rentals and had a family friend as a DJ...thanks Jason! :)

Many, many parts of the wedding and reception were thrifted (my favorite!) or hand-made. My sister, my mom, my mother-in-law, and myself shopped at local (and not so local) thrift shops for months. At first, it was  difficult because I didn't exactly know what I was looking for...

Pinterest helped inspired many of our ideas. It sparked the idea to create each table at the reception differently, using antique knick-knacks. We used everything from Mason jars, to candle votives, old glass door knobs, wooden crates, even an old telephone (lucky find!).

There were several items we collected along the way that I was so proud of. I found the old telephone at a local thrift store for only $8. The search for an old type writer was long...and tedious! I didn't want to pay a lot for it. The most exciting thing about antiquing or thrift shopping is that, sometimes, you find items when you least expect it! William and I were out of town one weekend, and we found the type writer at a small, church sponsored consignment sale. The lady sold it to us for $15! We were both so excited! Some of the most special things to me were our altar doors and the burlap aisle runner. The doors were old church doors and were absolutely perfect. We added glass door knobs ourselves just for a special touch! They are beautiful doors. William and I plan to use them in our new home :)

My mother-in-law worked so very hard to create our aisle runner. She sewed it all, including the white ruffle down the sides. She and my father-in-law painted the large "R" at the end. It turned out perfect and I was so happy!

I feel like I'm already going on and on, so here are some interesting facts about our ceremony and reception...

Ceremony
For my something blue, I had blue stickers on the bottom of my shoes that said "I Do". My something borrowed was a pearl bracelet that belonged to a late friend of my mom's. She gave it to me to wear on my wedding day. My something old was a cameo that belonged to William's grandmother. I attached it to my wedding bouquet.

ALL the groomsmen and the groom's boutonnières were hand-made by my mother-in-law! They were incredible! We used real cotton in all the boutonnieres and throughout the wedding. The ring bearer didn't hold a pillow, but instead a old Bible that belonged to William's grandpa. It was extremely special to both of us.

The little hearts that lined the aisle were individually stamped out by myself and Brooke. We used an old devotional book because none us felt right cutting up a Bible! Many of the hearts still had scriptures on it, so it still had that special meaning behind it.

Reception
Each guest table centerpiece was different, but had the same vintage theme. We had a coffee bar that had a different variety of coffee and creamers. We even had personalized cups that said our names :) William built a "kissing booth" out of pallet wood and we used it as a photo booth. Ms. Dee made home-made jellies and jams as our favors...and man, did they go fast! They tasted delicious, I'm sure!

The wall that was behind our sweetheart table was actually built by my dad, Mr. Jay, and Troy. Thanks again, guys! I know that wasn't easy! Our getaway car was driven by a family friend...who also let us borrow it for pictures! It was perfect.

Our cake was strawberry and buttercream icing. We didn't want the traditionally yellow cake and we thought the strawberry went more with our theme. I especially loved our "love birds" cake topper that I bought offline.

There are soo many gorgeous pictures (too many to post!), so I've attached a link to an album! Hope you enjoyed hearing about our special day! :) Pictures!

Next time, I just might have to show you around our new home... :)


-Mrs. Ray