I am beyond excited to share this gorgeous coral and aqua wedding from Jennifer Baumann Photography with you all today! I just know it is going to put a huge smile on your face! From the florals and decor, to the cake and all the details in between, I love everything about this wedding! Plus, the bride has some fantastic advice to share with you all!

What (or who) helped you most in your planning process and/or on your wedding day?

My sister definitely helped me the most, aka, saved me from having multiple nervous breakdowns. I didn’t want to deal with the boring stuff like timelines, budgets, to-do lists, etc; I just wanted to have fun with the design elements, but because my sister has a background in event planning, she completely grabbed the reigns and put together a ridiculous, color-coded project plan for us to maintain. She was also a great sounding board for ideas and never got tired of talking about the wedding. BTW, she lives in CO, while I live in NJ, so there were multiple wedding conference calls/day!

What was your inspiration for your wedding details and/or design?

We initially wanted to just do a backyard BBQ, but the problem was that my fiance and I lived in an apartment and therefore lacked the “backyard” necessary for a backyard BBQ.  So the next best thing was to incorporate those elements in the wedding: a pretty setting, simple (but delicious) food and a casual atmosphere.  The hardest part was finding the right venue, but once we stumbled upon the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove, PA, we knew it was perfect. Luckily, our caterer was flexible and allowed us to design our own menu, so we were able to execute the perfect sophisticated BBQ menu.  On the invitations we told people to “Leave the ties and stilettos at home and dress for a casual summer wedding.” We definitely got a lot of phone calls with people questioning “how casual were we talking?” or “did we really mean that or did we still want suits?”…but we assured them that sun dressed, shorts, etc. were all OK. However, I heard some people still wore suits but then changed clothes once they saw how everyone was dressed! As far as the design of the wedding, I was going for a “farmhouse chic” theme. I also wanted to highlight coral and aquamarine blue throughout the décor; without throwing it in everyone’s face.  So to do that, I incorporated kraft brown to make it a little more natural.  Also, I am also obsessed with typography (in my spare time I download fun fonts, just for kicks!), so I loved putting together the save the dates, invitations, programs, menus, cocktail signs, etc.

What was the most important thing to you when deciding who to work with for your wedding?

Well, they obviously have to have the credentials, portfolio, etc., but after that, I thought it was important for everyone to understand our personalities and the environment that we wanted to create.  I think that applied to pretty much all of our vendors: Matt, the DJ, knew that we wanted EVERYONE to dance…young and old, and that we weren’t into formalities; our florist, Buttercup, completely got the “farmhouse chic” theme and nailed it; our minister was actually Eric’s uncle, whom went online and got certified – he even helped us right our vows!  For our photographer, Jen, I knew right from our first meeting that she was it; not only did she have the portfolio and understand our vision, but she was awesome and someone that I wouldn’t mind hanging out with
for 9 hours straight!

What was your favorite thing about your wedding?

Even though we had about 120 people at the wedding, it still felt very intimate. I think it was because it was such a casual atmosphere and that we were able to add so many personal touches.

What is your best piece of advice for other brides?

Don’t get caught up in traditions and rules.  Your wedding should represent you as a couple and if you don’t want to have a receiving line, bridal shower or garter/bouquet toss, then don’t.  I also think that it’s important to mention that there are so many great outlets for ideas and inspiration (i.e. the Pinterest epidemic), that it’s easy to get overwhelmed and feel obligated to go crazy with the details and DIYing everything; I know I definitely had to be reeled in at times.  This is where that time-line and to-do list is critical; determine what you really want to do and figure out if you have the time to do it and if its even cost effective.

Gorgeous! I love it! And how about her advice for brides?! SO spot on! Your wedding should tell the story of you, break tradition if you want to, do something totally out of the box, but make it about the two of you!

So what are you doing or not doing on your big day that is totally representative of you?

I can’t wait to hear!
Cheers!
Samm

Vendors who made it all happen…