Intention means everything when designing an environment and an experience. This week marks my 4th wedding anniversary so I figure it’s about time I share all the juicy details and silly little sparks that made the day feel like magic.

The Intention

Our intention was for this evening to fill everyone with warm light and a drunk on love feeling.

For our wedding we wanted a relaxing, comfortable evening in the sticks full of laughter and love; where everyone belongs, where everyone feels like family. We wanted to prioritize our community, our people, and our Earth.

It takes a village to make a wedding happen and we were very specific in making sure our village was local. Every vendor, hand, and flower came local from Ohio. We chose to work with entrepreneurs and small businesses within our community to be extremely intentional about who and where we support. Supporting small business is supporting the community around you. Check out the vendors listed throughout as well as a comprehensive list at the bottom of this blog!

The Venue

The venue at French Hen Farm is just incredible. I grew up running around this stunning red barn with friends, spending summer days under the chandeliers and autumn nights by the bonfire out back. Their old willow tree makes the perfect backdrop to say I do and the barn has even more chandeliers than before. It felt like coming home: running around barefoot in the grass and listening to the frogs in the pond.

The entire venue is so dreamy, if you’re looking for a romantic outdoor venue, this is it!

The Vibes

To support the laid back experience, we wanted everyone involved and attending to feel comfortable. Everyone was encouraged to dress however they felt most beautiful. We didn’t care what you wore as long as you felt good and had fun! My brother even wore a kilt…no we’re not Celtic.

I believe choice allows comfort and we made sure that our guests had options in where they spent their time. We arranged multiple vignettes with cozy vintage sofas, Adirondacks under the shady trees, and of course AC’d indoor seating.

Dan and I met playing Jenga so it was only right to curate the playful vibes of the day with plenty of lawn games, like Jenga, connect four, croquet, and more. We wanted everyone to have fun like it was a festival of love. For the artsy guests, we had a custom paint by numbers of an engagement photo. For the quiet bunch, a newspaper with puzzles, crosswords, and information about our love, the vendors, and the intention of the wedding. We even included a shout out to other couples in attendance that were getting married that year!

The (first) Ceremony

To make this day feel more like a celebration of our love, we wrote our own ceremony and made our own vows. We nixed the wedding traditions that felt forced and did what we wanted.

Before the ceremony we had a whole table of organic confetti and shared the meaning of each so our guests could shower us with their own special blend of wishes. During the ceremony, our best friends were a part of our hand fasting.

After the ceremony, we celebrated with a nice chilled tequila shot, just like the day we met.

The Flowers

I wanted to feel like I was a kid again, running through fields and admiring all the wildflowers. I could not have pulled off that wildflower feeling without the genius behind Sweet Blossom Floral, Alex. She spent an entire day with me foraging native wildflowers and hand picking foliage to use. We foraged where we could and supplemented with her local, in season flower connections. They came out better than I ever dreamed of! I could not sing higher praises of Alex and her team!

The Special Guests

To bring everyone together and feel like family, we made sure to have little surprises for those closest to us.

For the bridal party, I thrifted a bunch of button ups and with the help of Salvage Apparel Co, they became getting ready shirts where everyone had a half of someone else’s shirt. It was fun to see which people had matching pieces and bring people together from different parts of my life.

For the dads, we bought nice decanters with their favorite liquor and put their faces on the bottles. The bartenders knew no one but the guy on the bottle could have it.

For the parents, their place settings had vintage plates from a collection of mine. All of this was thanks to them.

For our guests, we made sure everyone had a place setting and everyone had their name on a piece of terracotta. Those pieces are used in our plants so whenever we repot them, we can remember the special people who made our day so special!

Breaking Bread

We were wildly lucky to have an insane amount of food, at all times.

For cocktail hour, we had Koble Grill dream up two massive charcuterie tables, everything was fresh and unbelievably delicious. Supporting the business of an old friend and having our favorite tzatziki was icing on the cake!

For dinner, guests had the freedom to eat as they wanted. We gave tickets at every place setting which they could cash in at either Fetty’s Street Food or Ciao Italian Eatery!

For desserts, I went overboard. I actually made a spreadsheet to make sure we had a little of everything but most importantly, a dessert from each side of our family. My families favorite, potato candy. Dan’s family favorite, 7-layer bars.

Something Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue

We put a spin on the age old rhyme, “something olde, something new, something borrowed, something blue”; instead of everything being for the bride, it was for our immediate family.

For our something olde, I thrifted the shoe clips in my hair back in middle school, held onto them for a decade for no real reason. I thought they were beautiful and that was enough to have my adoration. They were the perfect compliment to my hair. Somehow, I think my younger self knew I’d need a little something extra and magically came to be.

For our something new; my husband’s engraved watch. A reminder of the time we’ve spent together and the years of love we have ahead of us.

For our something borrowed, my step father’s vintage car. A vintage car might be trendy now but this specific car is a core childhood memory for me. My step-dad picked up my mom for a date in this car. You can only imagine a girl’s excitement seeing her mom go on a date but in this car?! Come on.

Finally, our something blue. The fathers who made this possible were our blue man group, the present fathers wore blue suits and my late father walked me down the aisle hand in hand with a cutting wrapped around my bouquet from his FFA jacket.

The Dancing

We love dancing. It was only right to unify our families with dances, not only for the groom and his mother, but for everyone. Dan started dancing with his mom and half way through I grabbed his dad. We danced and then we switched, I danced with his mom and he shared a moment dancing with his dad. I started my dance with my mom and after a while Dan grabbed my step-dad and shared a laughter filled moment. It was unusual but it felt so right to share the moment with all of our parents who have done so much for us.

We also chose the best entertainment team possible, Perfect Balance Entertainment, genuinely, try to find someone you vibe with like my husband and Aaron. I bet you won’t! The music spanned generations, genres, and brought everyone together, we even had to extend the dance floor because it was so packed!

The Final Ceremony

My wildest wedding idea: the second ceremony, a drunken, second ceremony.

My G-Mizzle loves Elvis, LOVES, like obsessed love. As a special nod to her, our incredible friend and officiant donned his best Elvis fit and for the last fifteen minutes of the party, we gathered everyone and had ourselves a silly little ceremony full of laughs, jokes, and one absolutely incredible dance off.

We ended the night with everyone gathered together, unified and giggling over the silliness.