This dreamy morning wedding from Michelle Kristine Photography includes super romantic DIY details and tons and tons of swoon-worthy Spanish moss (I do love Spanish moss, y’all!). Check out their first look locale. Be still my heart! Plus, it takes place in our editor Lauren’s hometown of Ocala, Florida! The stunning bride, Denise is here to offer her planning insight:
What (or who) helped you most in your planning process and/or on your wedding day?
Definitely my mother-in-law. We didn’t hire a planner, but I definitely considered her our wedding planner. My parents were living in Canada at the time and helped when they could, but Brian and his parents lived just 30 minutes away from me and his mom went with me to find a dress, went to all my fittings, cake testings, and every appointment involving the wedding. She pretty much shared the vision I had for our wedding, and when I had an idea about something, she would take it and make it happen, only 10x better than I imagined. She also did 95% of the research into decorations, flowers, details, gifts, I mean, she really went above and beyond. She handmade all our amazing bouquets and boutonnières, purchased most of what we used to decorate, and used her amazing creativity to design and do the table set-up, guestbook table decor, etc. Let’s just say she lost a lot of sleep in the months leading up to our wedding. We also utilized Etsy a lot (we joke that we had an Etsy wedding), thrift stores (to find the vases, doilies, etc. that we used), save-on-crafts.com, and other websites, and enlisted the help of family and friends with their talents (e.g. Brian’s aunt made our ring pillow and sewed the bean bags for the corn hole game, and my brother designed and made our amazing invitations).
What was the most important thing to you when deciding who to work with for your wedding?
Professionalism, value, and personal recommendations (okay, that was more like 3 most important… But they are in order :)
What was your inspiration for your wedding details and/or design?
We were going for the vintage look. I originally wanted to have a rustic barn or farm wedding, but when we got a really amazing deal at the country club where we had the reception, we quickly changed the theme to a more vintage/timeless theme with mercury glass vases everywhere, a dark and neutral color motif (midnight blue and gray), 40s/big band music playing throughout the reception, and little details like the feather pen to sign the guestbook, black and white pictures of family, vintage doilies and frames (from thrift stores) and vintage playing cards as table numbers, etc.
What was your favorite thing about your wedding?
The reception and everything about it. The awesome food, the family, the rambunctious kids, the corn hole, the music, the decorations, the location and the view we had, the dancing, and the fun!
What is your best piece of advice for other brides?
When planning, find a balance between fulfilling your dream wedding and making appropriate decisions that would honor the guests that are attending. … And invite kids! :)
Seriously, y’all, how amazing is this morning wedding? A first-look at first light? Major, major swoon. In my opinion, the morning ceremony is way underrated and I would definitely consider a day-time wedding if I had to plan it all again (with the same groom, of course!). Maybe a little DIY pancake bar along with bellini’s and mimosas? Sign me up! What do y’all think? Would you have a breakfast – or brunch – reception? I’d love to hear your ideas below! XOXO, Carlee
Vendors who made it all happen…
Carlee
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Adore! So beautiful!
xo
Pretty! Love the lace on her dress and those shoes!