A DIY Michigan Wedding
I stumbled upon Bryce and Stephanie’s beautiful wedding a few months ago on Amy Carroll’s blog and knew from the moment I laid upon eyes their beautiful celebration it would be a perfect fit for Once Wed. The bride, Stephanie, was kind enough to send over a lovely guest blog to accompany the feature…
Bryce and I were married late in August this past summer on a lovely Thursday afternoon. We wanted our wedding to reflect our vintage style but had stick within our six-thousand dollar budget! I found my dress at Loehmann’s randomly for $55 marked down from $800. The dress was way to big for me so I had it altered and reworked for $100.00. I loved the final product! The ceremony took place at the Port Oneida schoolhouse, located near the little town of Glen Arbor. The school is now an historical building, owned by the local school district, and was once used as a one-room schoolhouse until it closed, in 1939.
We wanted the ceremony to be completely personalized by us, and to have all of our 35 guests saying, “That was just so special and exactly them”! I had recently lost my grandmother, who was so excited when she found out Bryce and I were getting married. I really wanted to incorporate something of hers into the wedding, so I used her vintage-linen handkerchief to make the ring pillow, and a piece of her hand-crocheted lace, around my bouquet.
We opted out of having a wedding party because we thought that it would distract from the most important thing about this day; US! We did make some exceptions by having our dog Morty stand in as the best man, and our little cousins, Ethan and Ella, as the ring-bearer and flower girl. We both wrote our own vows, and Bryce sang me a song he wrote for the ceremony. It was perfectly beautiful! I don’t think there was a dry eye in sight.
Stay tuned for Part II coming up next!
Photography by Amy Carroll
lovely.. simple and elegant!
dying over this wedding Emily! Seriously DYING
Just perfect. I am so impressed with the budget.
gorgeous. thanks so much for sharing. :)
wow. this is the most beautiful wedding i’ve seen and its SO simple. her dress is amazing. i never thought i’d want sleeves but the dress is so stunning.
I cannot believe that dress was $155 including alterations! Unbelievable. What a beautiful day!
So beautiful – the fourth picture is amazing. I love the emotions and the groom reading the card!
so much gorgeousness!
Such a gorgeous wedding! Love it!
very precious. keeping the guest list to 35 is no easy feat. it’s so refreshing to see simple intimate weddings like this. thanks!
love the easy going vibe here!
Beautiful wedding….any idea where the veil came from? I love it!
I drooled over this wedding the day Amy first posted it. Might be the sweetest wedding ever!
What a beautiful wedding and setting! It was a nice surprise to recognize the schoolhouse — I spent some time working for the National Park Service at Sleeping Bear and lived across the road from the Port Oneida Schoolhouse. It is a very special place!
it’s not everyday that I envy a ceremony because I thought mine was to die for but this one is amazing! so beautiful and personal – just the way it should be. makes my heart smile.
How sweet and intimate is this wedding!? And her dress, I LOVED it, what a great find!
http://rubypr.com/blog
Yes, this wedding was filled with unique touches and much planning to make it “just right” for Stephanie and Bryce! From the wonderful invitations to the special location to the original music, it was picture perfect. Our love to the bride and groom!
i literally gasped when i saw this wedding.. absolutely stunning.. and the bouquet is too sweet for words.
L-O-V-E 4REAL
its just so lovely, the dress is amazing too :)
I’m totally inspired by this beauty. I love it.
THIS DRESS IS AMAZING. I love it! Bravo to the bride.
What a gorgeous bride and groom. Love the simple wedding they’ve gone for. There’s no need to be extravagant, when simple is THIS beautiful!
Proof that you don’t need $30,000 to have a beautiful wedding. I love their ideas and can’t wait to borrow some for my own wedding (one day.)
what a sweet wedding. the ring pillow was brilliant and a sweet tribute.
I am in love with the wedding dress. I waaaaaaaaaaaant it!
This is the most romantic wedding I’ve ever seen!!
Wonderful couple+wonderful wedding!!
Such a splendid wedding. Tasteful and graceful and purely lovely. And that dress is devine!
Where are those invitations from?!!!!
Beautiful intimate wedding, people spend way to much on weddings. It’s the marriage that should be important!
Unbelievable – this is what a true wedding is all about. So incredibly beautiful. I’d love to see a tutorial on how she made the ring pillow, such a nice touch!
Wow… beautiful! Im in love with the dress…Stephanie if your ever thinking about selling it in the next little while, I am looking and would be very interested! hannah88s@yahoo.com (doesnt hurt to ask:)
SUCH a stunning wedding and couple!!
I am in LOVE with this dress and I want mine to look like it…Is there any tag that says what brand it is or where it originally came from?
Lea
I am getting married this July and my boyfriend were inspired by the grooms look. Can you tell me where you found that vest. Thanks.
Does anyone know the designer of this dress??!!!!!! So stunning!!! Thanks!!!!
I absolutely love this dress! Its everything I want in a wedding dress and I am going to be getting married within the next year or two. If anyone knows where I can find one similar, let me know!
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this is SO beautiful!