Autumn is my absolute favourite season! And whilst it may be coming to an end here in New Zealand, you still have it to look forward to. So today’s wedding is for all of you planning a Fall celebration – be it this year or next. With the help of friends and family, Christina and Tamsen threw the most beautiful, and totally DIY, rustic vintage wedding in an intimate Autumn setting…..

With unique details such as wildflower centerpieces, friends watching the ceremony sprawled out on blankets and an animal-mask-filled marquee reception, this wedding is a quirky delight! And although its hard to believe when you see it, with almost the entire wedding DIYed, the couple were able to create this enchanting Autumn vintage-rustic wedding for less than $10,000!

I will let Christina and Tamsen tell you all about it “Friends and family were amazing and we couldn’t have done it without them. Generous loved ones really make a big DIY shindig possible!

The inspiration for our wedding was nature and romance. We put a lot of love into making a great party for us and our family and friends and I think we pulled it off pretty well. We got a lot of comments on the animal dance party… masks were hung in the marquee by the DJ area and after the reception, everyone grabbed a different animal mask and started dancing. It was a riot and everyone had a lot of fun with it.”

“The venue was an amazing farm a couple of hours from where we live in Philadelphia. It served as the ceremony location, reception location, photo location, and place where we and our friends stayed for free. This saved us such a lot of money – and our friends really enjoyed the camping experience as well!”

“Our friend Lindsey made the guest favors, which were succulents that she grew herself and we made the circle name tags for them with popsicle sticks and hot glue.”

“My Anthropologie capelet I found in a second-hand wedding shop – it was perfect, and my dress was “off the rack” and including alterations was less than $600. Tamsen’s attire was purchased piece meal but it all came together brilliantly, and including alterations was less than $200.”

“One of our favourite parts of the whole day was our portrait session before the ceremony. It meant we got to see each other, and bask in our wedding attire together, for a good hour before anyone else saw us. It felt really special.”

“My bouquet we DIYed. In fact, all together our flowers only cost us $40! We went to Trader Joes a couple days before the wedding and bought 10 of the prettiest $3.99 wildflower bouquets we could find. Then our friends and family helped us make the bouquets, reception flower vases and boutonnieres the morning of the wedding.”

“We skipped the chairs for the ceremony, there were a couple of reserved chairs for our parents and grandparents in the front, and everyone else spread out on blankets. We hung Mason Jars with twine from tree branches with tea lights for a backdrop, and we thrifted beautiful vintage handkerchiefs (cleaned them thoroughly!) and made tiny envelopes for them before setting them on a table leading into the ceremony for weepy guests.”

“We didn’t pay for an officiant. We asked one of our close friends Bryan to marry us. He recited a reading and pronounced us as married for our ceremony. It felt more personal and genuine than if we had paid a stranger and it was free.”

“For our marquee reception we did all DIY decorations, except for the packs of string-lighting we bought at Target for about $120 to put up in the tent. We bought a large roll of burlap and cut it to size for table runners. The table numbers were dollar store & vintage picture frames that we painted gold. We designed the table numbers and printed them to go in the frames. The Flower vases were old bottles we picked up at flea markets, along with the mismatched china. Our thankyou cards, along with our invitations, were designed and silkscreen printed by me (Christina).

We served barbeque, buffet style, so everyone served themselves and it was inexpensive with no wait staff. We hired a couple of nice guys we know to clear tables and tend to dishes post reception.

We called a local beer store and they brought out some kegs. Which together with the 6 bottles of different kinds of whiskey we bought for cocktail hour meant our friends didn’t pay for any drinks, the beer never ran out, and we didn’t break the bank on alcohol!”

“Our “cake” was actually a collection of pies, cakes and cupcakes from a bakery, along with some cool vintage glass bowls used as candy dishes.”

Pearls of wedding wisdom from the brides…..

“Make lists, be organized, and start early. If you want a truly unique wedding that is your style, it’s going to take a lot of time and patience, and double that if you’re trying to do it on a budget – but when the day goes perfect, it’s all worth it.

Also, when we worried that there wouldn’t be enough of this and that, and that so & so might not approve of something; our friends stopped us in our tracks and reminded us that a wedding is all about you, the couple, & not to let anyone tell us otherwise. They were right!”

Tell us a little bit about your photographer…..

“One of the only things we splashed the cash on was our photographer Emily Wren. We tried to spend as little as possible overall, but when it came to remembering our special day through photographs, we really didn’t feel like that was a place to skimp. And looking back now, it was a great decision!”

See what I mean?? Tell me you’re not dreaming of a Fall celebration now! Oh the light *sigh* so beautiful! A hearty congratulations to the love birds Christina & Tamsen! And huge thanks to their lovely photographer Emily Wren who captured their day – the love, light and every little detail – so beautifully. If you would like to see more of her wonderful work, why not take a peek at this elegant garden wedding right here on Chic Vintage Brides. Or head over to her website emilywrenweddings.com, and you can also find her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

If this rustic Fall celebration has you smitten, why not take a peek at this absolutely gorgeous Autumn affair, or this breathtakingly romantic Autumn wedding inspiration shoot, and this is a must see colour combination for Fall, or you might like this berry beauty inspiration board! You will find all of these, and lots more wedding inspiration, by clicking here.

Ooh and if you want to know what hues are big for this Autumn, take a look at the latest top 10 colours from Pantone.

Amy

x

Credits

Photography ~ Emily Wren // Venue ~ Spring Hills Farm // Christina’s Dress ~ Sue Ames Bridal Outlet // Christina’s Cape ~ Anthropologie // Tamsen’s Attire ~ Ralph Lauren, J.Crew, H&M // Cakes ~ Ithaca Bakery // Rentals ~ G & B Rentals // Photobooth ~ Failed Photography // Officiant ~ Couple’s friend, Bryan Hurt // Bride’s Earrings ~ Vera Wang // Hair ~ Friend Lindsey Stevenson & Tamsen’s sister Alexis // Floral Design ~ DIY, Trader Joe’s // Stationery ~ DIY // Caterers ~ Haystacks in Scranton, PA // DJ ~ Couple’s friends, Chris Hartshorne and Ryan Kelly // Beer Keg Supplier ~ Cadden Bros. Beer Distributer // Silverware Rental ~ Scranton Rent-all