Not only did this casual bed & breakfast wedding have a laid back feeling, but according to the bride, so did the whole week leading up to the big day! That is not an easy task to pull off, but thanks to the full week of prep time that their fabulous venues gave them, no one felt pressed for time!
This wedding takes the cake for being cool, calm and under control! You can see more of the relaxed vibe from the day, captured by Catherine Rhodes Photography, when you visit the full gallery here.
Our wedding was DIY- all the way and I wouldn’t have changed a single thing! When beginning the planning process, we decided that one of the most important aspects to us was that we wanted the day to feel 100% like us. From that point, we chose our top areas that we wanted to focus on: Family/Friends, Flowers, Photographer and FOOD!
Living in different states than our family and friends, we get limited time to visit, so it was important to have time to catch up with everyone. Our venue allowed us the entire week before the wedding to set-up and prepare, so we were lucky enough to have plenty of time to get details completed, so that we could take time to stop and enjoy being surrounded by everyone that is so special to us.
Since Neal and I are both horticulturists, you can imagine that flowers quickly rose to the top of our list! I have been involved in floral arranging for quite a while, so it was an easy decision to arrange all the flowers myself. This included the bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, hanging floral spheres and more.
When it comes to food, we knew immediately that we wanted to focus on using local ingredients. Our wedding took place at a charming bed and breakfast in southern Illinois and the local theme tied in perfectly with the setting. The majority of the ingredients for the meal were grown at my sister and brother-in-law’s farm just down the road from the bed and breakfast.
Venue- wedding & reception: $3500 (Historic Bell Hill Bed & Breakfast)
Photographer: $4,000
Wedding Dress: $800 (Nordstrom.com)
Bride’s Shoes- $80 (Anthropologie)
Bride’s Belt- $35 (Anthropologie)
Groom’s Suit- $400 (Men’s Wearhouse)
Groom’s Shoes- $75 (DSW)
Flowers- $1,000 (Swan Island Dahlias and Fiftyflowers.com)
Band: $250
Catering: $2,000 (Cristaudos & Frontwards Farm)