Lime Green Wedding Theme with Lots of Chalkboards

Today’s lime green wedding at Benton Grove Bed & Banquets will cool you down on a hot summer Monday. Bright pops of lime green color, chalkboard signs with the bride’s personal handwritten calligraphy, and an elegant white and peach-colored wedding cake!

Overall Ceremony & Reception Theme

Bride’s Comments: Our florists called our aesthetic “rustic and wild” which I think was very fitting!  More importantly, we wanted our guests to experience a feeling rather than a theme. We wanted it to be intimate and a reflection of our personal style, so we incorporated things like handmade “yay” pennant flags and signage, having one of our best friends play guitar for the ceremony, and even using table names that represented places we love instead of table numbers.  Taking the time to plan out all of the little tedious details paid off.  Our guests are still talking about these things and are still complimenting us on how special they felt to be a part of that day.

How many guests were invited?

We sent invitations out to about 175 and had around 145 guests RSVP.

Bride/bridesmaids’ Attire

My gown was an Enzoani Fairyland strapless mermaid with a tulle bottom and lace accents.  The bridesmaids wore lime green (chartreuse) Bari Jay floor-length gowns with rosette accented straps and sweetheart necklines.

Challenges you faced planning your wedding?

The worst detail of the wedding planning process was, believe it or not, getting the suits for the guys!  We had a terrible experience at a chain store, and they made it seem as if I was never going to find a taupe, casual suit for men of various sizes.  We finally found what we were looking for around 3 weeks before the wedding-just in time!

What was your wedding budget?

We came in right on budget at just over $20,000, which included every last detail from the save the dates to the thank you cards. I did a lot of research and comparisons of venues and vendors before settling on one.  I also chose to do a lot of DIY details like printing our own programs and reusing past DIY decorations from my bridal shower to save money.

Best wedding planning advice you received?

Do what you want! It’s your day.  You are becoming one and that’s what matters most.  Also take a piece of cake with you for a late night snack after the wedding! (Trust me, you will thank me later!)

Which pieces of music did you use during the ceremony?

For the ceremony, we started off by having Jared the best man play various songs on acoustic guitar ranging from “I won’t give up” by Jason Mraz to “Marry me” by Train while guests were being seated.  For the seating of the families, the preparation of communion done by the mothers, and the processional of the men, Jared played “Heavenly day” by Patty Griffin, which also served as a sneak peak for our first dance. 

The bridesmaids and myself (the bride) walked down to “A thousand years” by Christina Perri.  After the kiss, we took communion together as our first act as husband and wife.  During this time, Jared played one of my favorite hymns “Nothing but the blood.”  The recessional was “Wildflowers” by Tom Petty.

Any tips or tricks to share with brides planning their own wedding?

Utilize local businesses that will value your personal opinion and satisfaction.  Do take time to add the extra personal details.  Although it can be fun to do DIYs and a great way to save money,  realize you can’t do everything on your own.  Etsy is a great resource and they will probably have it, if you can’t make it!  For the reception menu ask your friends what they would enjoy eating and drinking to help plan your menu.  A smaller bridal party means more intimate time together (and also nicer gifts for them!) If you have a friend who loves weddings, decorating and is organized, ask her to be your day of coordinator- cheaper and she gets enjoyment out of helping!

Wedding Stationery

I had the wedding invitations made by a small business out of Morgantown, WV called Elm Leaf Design, run by two lovely ladies, Erica and Meg.  We tried to support as many local businesses as we could during the wedding planning process, and it was so nice to be able have my hand in the designing process of the invites.  They also designed our postcard save-the-dates.  The invites were self mailers that folded in on themselves and required no envelope.  They had a perforated tear off RSVP portion on the bottom and were so unique!  We received so many compliments on them, and I feel that they reflected our wedding style perfectly.  They were a nice intro into the overall flavor of the wedding.

Wedding favors

We opted for brown Kraft paper wildflower seed packets custom made via Etsy that had “let love grow” imprinted on the front with our names and wedding date.  We placed each favor on top of the napkin and silverware at each place setting and then wrapped with simple coral raffia to reflect the colors and the natural/rustic theme of the tables.

What types of flowers did you have?

Our centerpieces consisted of white hydrangeas, sprouted willow branches, moss covered branches, salmon ranunculas, various succulents, peach hypericum berries, viburnum, and celosia in birch containers.  The bridesmaids bouquets consisted of these same flowers along with coral peonies and Juliet roses with the stems wrapped in a moss binding.  The bridal bouquet was made up of white peonies, succulents, Juliet roses, eucalyptus, white ranunculas, and hypericum berries.  The boutonnieres were salmon ranunculas with a white ranuncula for the groom.

Knowing what you know now, would you change anything?

I would have had two meals boxed up for us to take with us after the wedding, so we could have actually enjoyed and tasted the food we had.  We did however take a couple of pieces of cake with us for a late night snack. I also never dried and saved my bouquet, and I do kind of regret that.  I ended up saving a few of the moss covered branches from the centerpieces to incorporate into my memory box, but I still miss those beautiful peonies!

Highlights from the ceremony & reception?

The highlights from the reception were the speeches from the best man and maid of honor, Jared and Chelsea.  They were funny and sweet, and we are so blessed to have them as friends.  Another favorite moment was the very last song “Carolina in my mind” by James Taylor.  Our photographer and videographers suggested we ask everyone to mingle outside of the reception area while Jack and I shared this moment together just by ourselves on the dance floor.  It was emotional for many reasons: the beautiful day was coming to an end, we were filled with love and thankfulness, and we were going to be moving and starting a new life together in North Carolina in just a few weeks, making the last song very symbolic for us.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?

We went to Maroma Beach in Riviera Cancun.  We brought our Go-Pro with us and got awesome shots from the week when we went snorkeling with sea turtles and hiking around the Tulum ruins-relaxing and beautiful!