Fabulously Wed: Real Wedding: Married in an Early American Way

I am so excited to share today's post sent over by Stephanie and Ashley of White Rabbit Studios! Jonathan and Melanie's May 22nd wedding is very special to me because it is our first EXCLUSIVE! That's right...you can truly say you saw it here first! It is filled with loads of tropical DIY details paired with down home early American goodness!

We absolutely love to know the love story and wedding day memories of the weddings we feature.
Here is what Melanie had to share: Jonathan and I have dated for quite some time; almost six years when he proposed, almost all of that time long distance. We moved in together when I moved back from DC to Huntsville too see how things would go with us in the same city - make or break time - and the arrangement was perfect! We got engaged in the summer of 2009 - Jonathan made a picnic dinner for me: fried okra filled with pimento cheese, stuffed mushroom caps, crab cakes, fancy cheeses, smoked tuna dip and chocolate covered strawberries. He took me to the Monte Sano (a state park on a mountain in Huntsville) at sunset, fed me, plied me with prosecco. And then he got down on one knee in the dirt and asked me to marry him.
Leading up the wedding, I had the most fun scavenging for personalized things on Etsy and figuring out how to make this day our own. Our guestbook was made by Lacunawork, whose shop is based out of Portugal, from reclaimed wood. She carved our names and birds of paradise on the cover. This was particularly great for me because my dad loved to sculpt huge pieces of wood in his free time, so it reminded me very much of him.

The bridesmaids gifts also came from Etsy and I thoroughly enjoyed being able to give them custom, unique, fun, artsy gifts. I had a great time planning, but in no sense was I a DIY zombie.

If I could describe my approach to this, it would probably be lazy chic. I wanted gorgeous things to surround the wedding day, but I didn't want to kill myself (or my mom, or my lovely friends). I felt like Jonathan and I had a gorgeous, fun, sentimental wedding. The most important thing to us was to celebrate with our families and closest friends, and we definitely accomplished that.

So, the wedding day... The day started at my mom's house where all of the bridesmaids had slept over the previous night. We got the day started right with homemade coffee cake, high octane coffee and mimosas. Now would be the time to recognize the sheer amazingness of my bridesmaids and close friends. This entire day was fabulous for me - cruising around town, getting my hair done, eating a leisurely lunch.

While I was in a bridal daze, the girls were making arrangements, packing me for that night, shuttling items to the ceremony and reception site. My good friend Steph made all of the bridal party bouquets and boutonnieres - we ordered masses of tropical bouquets from Costco.com and spent the afternoon between my bridesmaid's lunch and the rehearsal dinner arranging the flowers for the reception site.
Steph saved the day and made the extra flowers into bouquets for my bridesmaids and me and I can't get over how beautifully they turned out. Steph has a master's degree and is starting a high powered job soon, but I maintain she could do a great business on the side as a florist

One thing that struck me over and over on and around our wedding day was how talented and helpful our friends were. On top of Steph's floral prowess, my new sister-in-law, Stacey, did my hair and my mom's... we both loved out 'do's', and even though they were both down, they stayed all day.