Weddingbee Blog

Emily and Anthony celebrated their nuptials with a a DIY backyard rock ‘n’ roll wedding!

~~~

The details:

1. Bride’s Name: Emily
2. Groom’s Name: Anthony
3. Venue(s): Our backyard in Maine
4. Wedding Date: June 19, 2010
5. Bridal Gown Designer: Exclusive by Allure (With alterations and personalization by Betty Dee Fashions in Berlin, NH)
6. Florist: Dutch Bloemen Winkel
7. Photographer: Concept Spring Studio
8. Cake: Family friend
9. Food: The Cornish Inn
10. Bridesmaid Dresses: Each picked their own
11. Honeymoon: Secrets Capri Riviera Cancun

The Story:

Anthony and I met through mutual friends when I was attending college. Two of our friends, Conor and Tara, had been dating and I was dragged to a party by Tara telling me that Conor had a friend coming from New York who was “perfect” for me. I was just out of a relationship and rather cynical on the love front, but always the romantic, decided to give it a shot. Well she couldn’t have been more right! We hung out that weekend and I gave him my number, not thinking he would even call. Then a few days later I got a text from him and we fell quickly in love.

After a couple of amazing years together and a cross country move or two, we found ourselves in Anthony’s New York hometown with a two year old son, Jaxson. In November, 2009, we traveled to Maine to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Late one night, after an adorable speech about our relationship and what it means to him, Anthony pulled me out of bed and got down on one knee and pulled out a little blue box. I started kissing him before he even asked!

When it came down to actually planning our big day, I kept saying, “I just want it to be a big party where two people happen to get married.” We both were insistent that it was not a cookie-cutter, ‘when do they cut the cake so we can go home?’ wedding. It was a quick ceremony, there were not a lot of flowers, but there was lots of beer and good food! My parents were footing the bill and were so amazing throughout the whole process, and no matter how weird some of our ideas must have been to them, they never once said no or argued, they just supported us and trusted our vision. We chose to have the wedding in our backyard of our house that we were in the process of buying (talk about crossing fingers that the deal goes through!) Our day was a little traditional, a little rock and roll and a lot of fun!

We got married on June 19, 2010 in our backyard in Fryeburg, Maine. We enjoyed the company of 85 friends and family.

The day started a little frazzled, but I quickly started to get into the mindset that I could no longer change or control anything, and while I got my hair done I was finally able to relax and get excited. Although this was mostly because my maid of honor stole my Blackberry and wouldn’t give it back!

First look:

After getting ready with all of my bridesmaids and enjoying some peach Bellinis and Easy Mac (classy, I know) we headed over to the town fairgrounds to do our first look.

We pulled up to the grandstands and I saw Anthony waiting on the stairs for me. At that moment, all of my nerves vanished. I was marrying this handsome amazing man today! I got out of the car and made my way up the stairs to him.

After we shot some pictures of just the two of us, we took some pictures with our bridal party, when all of a sudden this awesome old truck drove past us. I started yelling “somebody stop him, I NEED that truck in my pictures!” So our photographer’s assistant ran and tracked him down. The owner drove up onto the grass, got out, and told us to do whatever we wanted. So after abusing that privilege for awhile, we were finally done and ready to go get married!

Ceremony:

When we got back to the house, everyone was already there waiting. I met up with my Dad in my kitchen and was ready to walk out.

First, the parents and grandparents walked down to “Sweet Child of Mine” by Guns and Roses. Then our gorgeous bridal party made their way down to “Hey Soul Sister” by Train.

Then, my Dad and I walked down to “This Year’s Love” by David Gray.

Our ceremony was short and sweet, including a declaration of support that I wrote (with some help from Mrs. Star’s post!).

Cocktail Hour/Reception:

After our ceremony, we took some family pictures and our guests enjoyed some food, drinks, and our photobooth!

We were introduced and had our first dance to “I Wanna Grow Old with You” by Adam Sandler.

Then we sat down to eat! We had decided to use bamboo plates and silverware since I thought paper was too informal and china was too formal.

We had potato wedges, a burger bar and cheesy nachos for dinner.

And we had some personalized beer mugs with our new last name for guests to enjoy their choice of Shipyard Summer Ale, Tuckerman’s Headwall Alt, PBR, Merlot or Chardonnay.

During dinner, we walked around to each table to thank them for coming and to “cheers” all of our guests. This was great because this way we knew we thanked each person for coming.

After dinner, we cut our cake. Ahh, the cake. This was the big mess up of the day. We had had a family friend that was supposed to do our cake and about three weeks before the wedding she told us she couldn’t do it. So we made the same mistake twice and hired another friend of a friend. When I saw the cake the morning of I was pretty upset, as it looked very messy and was melting! But at that point I didn’t care, I just instructed the caterers to bring the cake out, we would cut it, and then take it away to be served. Crisis averted. I’m telling you when that day finally comes; all the details really don’t matter anymore.

After the cake, we all danced and drank the night away!

Our wedding truly was the best day of our lives. I remember several times just looking around at all of these amazing people who came there for us and feeling so loved. I wanted to bottle that feeling and take it out when I was sad!

Details:

We had out of town bags at the hotel that included:

• Toms of Maine toothpaste and mouthwash
• Homemade chocolate chip cookies (thanks mom!)
• A map of the area
• Granola bars and pretzels
• Bottles of water
• Advil for the day after
• Candle

We had a bathroom “lounge” that had a basket of goodies too. Since it was at our house, we had to get white porta-potties so I tried to make them as nice as possible! We had a white pop up tent in front of them with two couches, an outdoor rug and a coffee table.

We also had a basket of different colored flip flops so guests could keep on dancing!

Our guestbook was well known (in the wedding blog world, that is) thumbprint tree. Our maid of honor drew the tree for us and the guests stamped and signed their prints. It is now hanging in our living room!

We also hung a painting that my Maid of Honor painted for us as our wedding gift. It said LOVE, spelled out in various weapons!

I LOVED my bouquet. I used to go to my grandmother’s house and she would let me have or borrow stuff that I liked. I borrowed a necklace from her and she passed away shortly after, so that necklace is very special to me. I had our florist wrap it around the stems and also add a locket that was my grandmother’s, my grandfather had given it to her before he went away to war. He has also passed away so I wanted to include them both in the day since they weren’t able to be there.

We had “backstage passes” that we put on lanyards that had the guests’ names and table numbers on the backs.

The groomsmen wore ties I got from Etsy Seller ToyBreaker that had a revolver on them.

Is there anything you would have done differently?

I would have hired a videographer. As much as everyone tells you and you don’t believe it, it truly flies by and it is a big blur. I remember pieces of the day but I so wish that I could see more of it, especially our ceremony and our first dance! I do get sad that I can’t relive those moments.

Do you have any advice for future brides?

Don’t let the details cloud your mind. At the end of the day, you and your husband will be married, and it won’t matter if all of the DIY details were finished, or whether the food is hot, or the cake is pretty, or the programs are wrong, it all doesn’t matter! What matters is that you are married and had a day filled with joy and love.

All photos by Concept Spring Studio

~~~

If you’d like to submit your real wedding to Weddingbee, please go here for more information!