I love weddings! I’ve been asked to help with numerous weddings throughout my adult life. I even designed my entire big day, making many of my own decorations for my outdoor flower garden inspired wedding.

Days before my wedding, I planted geraniums and herbs in terracotta pots and hanging baskets with the help of my family and friends for my centerpieces AND for the guests to take home. Why waste a bunch of flowers after a wedding if you can instead have guests take them home to enjoy for weeks (even months) after a wedding?!

I even had a cake business for a while (on the side, while I was teaching art full-time) in which I created beautiful and yummy desserts for numerous weddings and special events.

Being a part of someone’s special day in any creative way possible makes my heart sing!

Five years ago, I was given the challenge of all wedding challenges: Be the wedding consultant/designer, wedding coordinator, the cake maker/decorator, the florist, and the makeup/hair artist for a coworkers wedding. I stepped up to the challenge and created a day for her and her family that they will always remember in the best way possible.

My sweet, sweet coworker believed in my talents, even when I failed to believe in myself. I couldn’t believe she trusted in me so much to ask me to help her with her wedding, but she did and I am ever so grateful to her for the encouragement.

The following contains my process and all the things I had to do in order to flawlessly execute the wedding day. You have to be organized, have a plan, and have several people help. I was grateful to my hair stylist, my husband, friend (and the mother of the bride!) for helping me make it all work perfectly! I recommend having some help too if you plan to take on this big of a challenge.

How I started:

• She first told me the location of the event and the look she and the groom was going for (a farmhouse/country design due to having the wedding at their family farmhouse)

• I scoured the internet to come up with some ideas for her to look at that coordinated with her venue. She told me what she liked/didn’t like based on the various photos.

• After I had a baseline of where to start design-wise, I created sketches of each scenario while keeping in mind everything that she wanted (cake/cupcake display, table decor, ceremony decor, gift table, food/drink tables, bouquets, makeup, memorial table)

• She approved my sketches and pricing, then I started shopping

I purchased the following:

• a large roll of burlap to create table runners, jar covers (vases for the flowers), bouquet wraps and more

• natural rope for the mason jar “vases”

• burlap roses and dried flowers from Hobby Lobby (I combined these with floral wire and natural raffia to create forever lasting boutonnieres for the men)

• a large variety of fresh flowers such as baby’s breath, sunflowers, roses, various wildflowers (I picked them up 2 days before the wedding via Sam’s Club and Whole Foods, which I placed orders for them a month or two in advance). I picked the fresh ivy from my yard. I bought quite a lot of flowers, as I’d rather have too many than too few.

• bandanas in her wedding colors (including a blue one to wrap her bouquet in for her “something blue”) from Hobby Lobby

• burlap flag set for the gift table from Hobby Lobby

• wood crates for the cake table from Home Depot

• cake ingredients (I made a three layer lemon poundcake with strawberries and raspberries and almond buttercream as well as cupcakes)

• Instead of a guest book, I made a “Wish Tree” (I made it out of a burlap and rope covered terracotta pot, floral foam, mini clothes pins, and a branch from Hobby Lobby)

• a basket to hold the wish paper and pencils

• a chalkboard sign (to write directions on how the guests should fill the Wish Tree)

• clear glass mason jars and wire (for the table flower decor and to hang on the shepherd’s hooks around the wedding ceremony area)

• moss for the crates (for the cupcakes to sit on) from Hobby Lobby

Based on the wedding design, the bride and her family provided:

• lanterns filled with candles and artificial sunflowers

• shepherd’s hooks (for the jar bouquets I created)

• bales of hay (for ceremony seating)

• quilts for the tops of the hay bales

• an arbor (made by the family)

• tables, chairs, tablecloths, galvanized steel drink tub, food, drinks, tableware, (her mom worked for a catering company, so she was the perfect fit for providing all these things!)

• sand (the bride and groom combined sand from a beach trip they had together instead of a candle ceremony)

• cake stand (the bride had this made by a friend)

• natural wood rounds (for the centerpieces)

• floating candles

• square vases (for the centerpieces)

• photos for the memorial table (dedicated to including passed away loved ones)

Putting it all together:

• I created a checklist first and foremost so I wouldn’t forget something. I LOVE checklists and recommend everyone use them when planning events and for travel/vacations!

• A month or so before the wedding I created anything that could be made in advance (dried flower boutonnieres, burlap runners, wish tree, burlap ruffle for the arbor, etc)

• I baked the cake and cupcakes on the Thursday afternoon before the wedding (the wedding was on a Saturday). I wrapped them in plastic wrap and stored them in the fridge until Saturday morning. I iced and decorated them Saturday morning and stored them on cake rounds and in cake boxes to easily transport them to the wedding venue. I put the cake and cupcakes on the stands and in the wood crates a couple of hours before the ceremony. I finalized the decorations while they were on the stand and in the crates. I took an extra piping bag filled with icing to add it where necessary.

• I made the bouquets Friday night (the night before the wedding) and because I left the stem ends open, I was able to store them upright in some buckets filled with a little water to keep them fresh. I waited to wrap them with the raffia, burlap and bandanas until Saturday morning to prevent water damage to the decor

• I had my hair stylist meet us at my house early Saturday morning to do the bride and maid of honor’s hair. FYI: We did a trial of their hair and makeup a couple of weeks before the wedding to know exactly what they wanted. I did the makeup for one of them while he worked on the other’s hair, then we traded. I brought makeup and hair spray to the wedding venue for touch ups.

• I placed all the decorations in empty clear plastic totes (my favorite storage option) for easy transportation. I kept the bouquets in small buckets filled with a little water to keep them fresh during transportation.

• We arrived at the venue about 3 hours before the wedding and set to work decorating everything! I showed everyone my sketches, then I delegated. I worked on the cake and food area (which was set up under a porch in case of rain) while my husband, friend and the mother of the bride worked on the tables and ceremony area.

• Right before the ceremony, I did makeup and hair touch ups, finalized the bouquets and walked around to make sure everything was perfect. It was!

• It lightly rained right before the ceremony (it’s good luck for it to rain on your wedding day!) but we were prepared with some umbrellas (AND knowing we could take it all inside the house if needed). It stopped raining just as the bride walked down the aisle….now that was beautiful!

Scroll below to see all the photos of the BIG DAY!

Most photos below were taken by me, and some were taken by the amazingly talented Christine Sowers, the event photographer.

More of our DIY’s can be found on our YouTube channel, “Carolyn Braden”.

If you have any questions for us, visit our Contact Us page and send us a note! We love helping other DIYer’s out there!

Have you DIY’ed a wedding? Please leave us a comment at the end of this post to share it with us and others!

DIY At Home Wedding Ideas + Farmhouse Destination: ONE YEAR LATER

The bride and groom asked me to re-create a small version of their cake and cupcakes for their one-year anniversary.

This year, 5 years later, she asked me to send her the cake/cupcake recipe so she could recreate the cake herself as I’ve moved to another state. She said she wasn’t sure she could make it as good as I did so I gave her all of my tips and tricks….and also gave her back the confidence she gave me when I took on the challenge of her wedding years ago!

Anyone can do anything they put their mind to. Whether it be baking, painting, cooking, singing, gardening, drawing, organizing, etc….EVERYONE IS CREATIVE in some way. It’s easy to doubt your talents, but I’m here to say, you’ve got what it takes to do what you want to do. Planning your own DIY wedding? You can do it! Let me give you some of the confidence I’ve gained over the last few years…..you’ve got this!