Every so often I get a wedding that I get so excited about that it makes my little toes wiggle with excitement when I post it. This reader wedding is without a doubt one of those. So, without further ado, I bring you Emmy & Kirk’s wedding at Larkspur Farm, Mount Vernon, WA. Hold on to your hats, this is a big post!
What made your wedding creative?
We tried to highlight things that we already love. For us some of those things are letterpress printing, fresh flowers, typewriters, having fun outdoors, photography and music: I took a stab at letterpress printing by enrolling in a great class at the School of Visual Concepts and came out with some lovely invitations. I love fresh flowers and try to keep a bouquet in the apartment, year round.
My belles (that’s what I called my dear gals who stood up with me) and I made our bouquets the night before the wedding. My mom, aunt, nieces and sister-in-law made the boutonnière’s.
I made paper flags on barbeque skewers and used them as place markers for the ceremony. The idea was for them to stand in the place that the flag was and pick it up. One side read: Stand Here. Hold Me. The other side had our names and wedding date on it. Guests waved them after the kiss. Later a few guests also wore them in their hair.
We collect vintage Olivetti-Underwood typewriters so we used one of them as our guestbook. We provided large index cards for folks to type on and my dad made a box out of dark walnut that we used as a rolodex to file them.
We did not predict how much the children would love typing. Most of them had never used a typewriter before and we received some sweet, hilarious notes.
My husband is in a band. Several of the guys from his band and another friend are in a bluegrass band called the Half Brothers. They played the Pixie’s ‘Here Comes Your Man’ as the gentlemen walked in. Then Kirk sang me down the aisle to ‘The Way I Feel Inside’ by The Zombies. That was a wonderful moment for me, walking towards the man I love as he sang soft and sweet just to me.
What made your wedding thrifty (whatever that meant for you)?
So many things…. Doing most of it ourselves and keeping the guest list small was the most significant way we kept costs down and the merriment up. My best friend and belle of the ball made our cakes.
We asked a good friend to be our preacher man. Together we wrote a simple, short, ceremony. We hired the resident photographer of Kirk’s band to take photos.
Larkspur Farm has the most beautiful gardens so we played up the natural beauty of the place and took the minimalist route on decorations. We skipped the DJ and made an old soul playlist along with fun dance songs we solicited from our guests. Vintage rings kept things thrifty too. I was lucky to have the opportunity to use my grandmother’s engagement ring and wedding band set. I didn’t even consider dresses that cost a fortune and easily found a beautiful, comfortable and relatively inexpensive dress.
What made your wedding sane?
Just reminding ourselves of what we stand for – adventure, commitment, friendship, fun, honesty, patience, trust, respect, love and teamwork – was enough to make us sane and even relaxed when things got hectic. Our awesome friends who lent both their hands to make the day fun. Our generous and helpful families who let our vision reign. And our truly fantastic caterers, Jessica and Mataio of Ciao Thyme, who kept the day running smoothly and served the most phenomenal (local and organic) food ever.
I love this wedding! I love everything about it. I love the typewriters, the earnestly typing kids, the band, the dress, the flowers, all of it. But more then anything I love the laid back and joyful feeling of the day. I’m leaving you with this picture of the bride relaxing and chatting, because this is what I want for each of us on our wedding day, to have a day we truly enjoy, and to spend time with the people we love as we mark a important milestone. Congratulations Emmy & Kirk, and cheers to you!
