Blue and White Country Wedding

The kick off to the 4th of July long weekend has begun!  I hope everyone has a good ol’ fashion BBQ to go to tonight or perhaps attend a wedding this weekend.  I was inspired by this wedding because it is light, summery, very country, with hints of blue and white – I thought it was worthy of being posted on the fourth of July. This blue and white country wedding  (sorry no red) was capture by Eureka Photography. I’m wondering where I can get a piece of that delicious looking blueberry wedding cake!

Overall theme for Ceremony and Reception

“Our theme was a mix of country, bohemian and DIY. It is hard to pinpoint an exact theme, since we had our wedding on my husband’s family ranch.  We embraced a lot of the natural elements as part of our theme.”

What types of flowers did you have?

“We used white freesia, white stock and some blue and white daisies mixed in here and there.”

Describe the Bride/Bridesmaids’ Attire

“For the bridesmaids, I wanted their attire to be individual yet uniform. I chose convertible dresses because I knew they would look great on any body type, as well as allow my girls to add their own personality. My sister, who was my Maid of Honor, had the same convertible dress but in a floral print instead of a solid. I had them do whatever they wanted with their hair. I wanted them to feel just as comfortable and beautiful as I did. I chose to have them wear plain nude heels because I knew everyone would own a pair.   I did give them all matching earrings, which I gave to them as gift. My goal for the girls was for them not to break the bank on their outfit. Each dress cost $60 and that was really all they had to spend.”

Best Wedding Planning Advice you Received?

“Choose your battles! If you begin to get upset or frustrated about something small, decide first if it is reasonable to worry about. Try not to sweat the small stuff. Also, ALWAYS remind yourself that there is still life after the wedding and that is what you’re doing it for.”

Wedding Guest Count

“Nearly 300 guests were invited. We received 170 RSVP  and around 140 came to the event.”

Was it difficult to narrow down your guest list?

“We didn’t have too much difficulty narrowing down our gust list. We set a maximum number and tried to stay well within that.”

Which pieces of music did you use during the ceremony?

“For the processional we used ‘From this Valley’ by The Civil Wars and I walked down to ‘Sweet Disposition’ by The Temper Trap. Our recessional was ‘I Was Made for You’ by She&Him.”

Wedding Favors

“We had two wedding favors: One was a small bags of Jordan almonds (the more traditional), and the second was a make-you-own s’more kit.”

Tips to share with brides planning their own wedding

“If you have a budget to work with, first make a list of the absolute most important must have things you want to see at your wedding and then work your way down from there. For us, we really wanted a great photographer, so we splurged a little bit on that. In the beginning, I really wanted to have a live band at the reception, but as I began planning, I realized I really didn’t need it. Instead, we created a playlist on Spotify and we had a huge playlist of songs and we were still able to take requests.”

What were some challenges you faced planning your wedding?

“I had two main challenges. First was trying to finish college while planning the wedding and second was pleasing all of the mothers. We have three moms in our case. My mother, my husband’s mother and my husband’s stepmother. We had to get creative in order to share the burden among all the moms. I guess we’re just super blessed to have some many willing and helping hands.”

Highlights from the Ceremony & Reception

“Ben & I wrote our own vows and they were so beautiful. That truly was the highlight of the ceremony. We also, completed the ‘repeat after me’ vows, to make it feel even more official.

“Everything about the reception was perfect. I’d say one of my favorite parts was when we played our competing colleges fight songs. I am a Texas Longhorn and he is a Texas Aggie. We are notorious rivals and it was great to see all our friends and family come together for their schools.”

What was your budget? Did you go over or stay under?

“Our budget was originally $11,000 but we were given an extra $4,000 a bit later in the game. We were able to cap off right at $14,940. So we saved $60!

We were able to save money in a number of ways:

• We used a spotify playlist and some nice speakers for our music. We had a friend do all the MC duties (announcing, changing songs, etc.). We payed him $60 and he did an awesome job! We saved a lot of money there.
• I saved money by using a new, local vendor for our cake. I was quoted nearly $1,500 for a cake from a popular bakery in town.  I instead went with an up and coming, less popular vendor, who made a beautiful cake along with cupcakes for under $1000.
• I made all my invitations instead of ordering them. I used Adobe illustrator to make a professional-looking invitation and used my regular printer to print them out.  I saved nearly $400 by making them myself.

• Where did you go on your honeymoon?

  “We went to St. Lucia. It is such an enchanting little island full of local charm. While we were there we did a lot of hiking and lounging.”