Elements of a DIY Wedding ~ New House Design

I first mentioned my daughter's wedding

on June 25th in my tribute post to my parents.

The first and one of the most important decisions made

was

Location.

My daughter wanted an outdoor wedding. There are a lot of factors that go into that.

Rentals:

chairs, tables, tablecloths, tents, dance floor and even

porta pottys.

After calculating the potential cost, we opted for an

all-in-one location.

Which we found

here.
Location

This family owned plantation house provided the perfect backdrop and as a bonus they have a fully equipped pavilion where the reception was held.

Once the decision about the location was settled, we focused on the other elements of the wedding.

The Dress

Three days after her engagement, my daughter phoned saying that she'd found the perfect dress online. I contacted the store and discovered the dress was a discontinued model and only one store in Georgia had her size. So, that evening we drove 1 1/2 hours for my daughter to try on this dress. Once she put it on she realized that it was beautiful, but she didn't feel like a bride. So, she tried on several more. They all looked lovely to me - then we came to

The One.

This dress had just come in that day, still wrinkled from the packing - but when she put it on she didn't want to take it off.

And it had an element that pleased both her and her sister.

It had pockets.

This taffeta ball gown was the perfect choice for an

outdoor wedding.

Wedding Colors

and

Bridesmaids

Her Colors were orange and green

and she had nine bridesmaids.

She had four wearing green

strapless dresses tea length

and four wearing orange.

My daughter, her maid of honor wore a

halter dress in orange.

She also had each wear strappy flat sandals with faux diamonds that she ordered in bulk from Payless.

The Flowers

We had 34 tables to decorate as well as the

bride & groom table

and the bridal party table.

I found a wholesale florist where I

chose the flowers based upon her colors.

I also made her bouquet out of

orange, green and cream roses.

She saw an example of a bouquet

with wide banana like leaves surrounding

the flowers - that's what I created for her.

Table settings

and

Decorations

For the tablesettings we were blessed in being able

to borrow tablecloths and plates.

We bought large buffet napkins in orange and green.

We alternated the colors on the tables.

My daughter found these colorful napkins

on clearance at a party supply store

We placed two votive candles, a framed

picture of the couple

(we didn't pay more than $1 for each frame) the floral arrangement and

salt & pepper shakers at each table.

The framed photos were offered to guests

at the close of the reception.

I also purchased orange, green and cream

lanterns to be hung in the pavilion. The

lights were already hanging in the pavilion

and at night creates an enchanting atmosphere.

The Dessert Table

My sister-in-law and I had matching

sets of these lantern candleholders.

I thought their amber color would go well with the wedding's colors.

In the center we had the

Groom's Cake

In this case it was a tower of brownies

made by my youngest daughter.

My son-in-law doesn't like cake,

but he loves my daughter's brownies!

His mother made chocolate peanut butter balls

and I added cream puffs

(those great ones from Sam's Club)

Each of the dishes used were our own.

The Drink Table

I purchased these rustic baskets from

Michaels along with the leaf garlands and

the ribbons used in the decorating.

I filled two baskets with green apples.

Of which there were two left after the

reception -

the guests were eating the decorations!

The Wedding Cake

We saved quite a lot here. I ordered this cake

at Publix Bakery. Since my son-in-law didn't like cake, we bought a small two layered wedding cake

I loved this style. It had a glass tubular center, which we switched with four clear columns that we filled with

orange ribbon. I then placed rosebuds in the middle and on the top.

I also special ordered the cake topper

A Bride and a Marine.

For the guests, we ordered very large sheet cakes from Sam's Club edged in green icing - they were cut in the kitchen and served after the meal.

The Menu

Yes, we fed nearly 300 people dinner.

Which I prepared most of the food.

We had

Pork Loin with Orange Sauce

Grilled Chicken with Peach Sauce

Twice Baked Potatoes

tossed salad (Olive Garden style)

and

rolls

(my son-in-law's mother regularly

bakes her own bread)

I purchased the very large pork loins

at Sams Club

and chicken at Walmart.

Over the course of a few weeks I'd bake the pork

slice it and freeze it.

My husband cooked all the chicken at one setting and

we froze that as well.

I baked the potatoes

cut the tops, scooped out their center, added sour cream,

melted butter and seasonings -refilled the potatoes and replaced the tops. I froze these in two layers in large buffet

disposable pans. I also added herbed butter on top for extra flavor.

I did some test runs beforehand to get them right.

Before serving we had shredded cheddar and bacon bits

topping the twice-baked potatoes.

Here's the recipes for the sauces

Orange Glaze

Peach Glaze

We had some wonderful volunteers to serve each guest at their table (we borrowed carts)

The Ceremony Decorations

A couple of times I shared with you the

I adapted Cassie Chappell's beautiful coffee filter flowers. You can see her work
here.

Paper Roses

I made for the two curtains to flank the sides of the front steps.

I borrowed two garden trellises to hang

the roses which I strung together with

fishing wire. We had to be oh so careful transporting them!

The owners of the plantation provided the chairs and the

tables as part of their package.

The ferns and the plant stands were also borrowed.

We decorated the aisle chairs with flowers and tulle. The flowers were found on clearance at Michaels. I separated the bouquets leaving three for each chair tied at the back with the tulle. The tulle used throughout the ceremony and

the reception were collected at various stores

Michaels, Hobby Lobby and online.

I also purchased silk rose petals online to

line the walkway.