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Happy Friday, BSB readers! Although this wedding took place last fall, the sunflower details are perfect for the summer too! I love Whitney's beautiful bouquet and the gorgeous flowers at the wedding venue and the reception! And how fun are the photos of the groom and groomsmen getting ready in the woods?  Enjoy this lovely wedding with sunflower details. xoxo, Jessica

Whitney + Tucker

October 17, 2015

Mill Spring, North Carolina  |  Trickle Creek Farm

What was your budget? 

Our budget was $20,000.

Wedding Coordinator/Assistants – $500

Music (Ceremony/Reception) – $3,400

Food (Dinner/Dessert) – $4,000

Rentals (tables/chairs/linens) – $3,400

Photographer – $2,100

Stationary (save the date, programs, invitations, postage) – $450

Dress/Alterations/Make-up – $1,100

Horse & Carriage – $375

Alcohol – $1,000

Ceremony/Officiant – $500

Transportation – $500

Flowers – $1,200

Miscellaneous/Gifts/Decorations – $500

How many guests did you have?

We had 200 guests.

What creative or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?

We decided to have the wedding at my husband’s family farm. This wasn’t originally set up as a venue, so it took us about a year of blood, sweat (and some tears) to turn the farm into a perfect wedding venue. This is by far the biggest personal touch to our wedding as we had lots of friends and family help us along the way!

Other little items that I loved were our wedding favors, which were jars of homemade blackberry jam that my husband’s grandmother made. The blackberries were grown from the farm so it was wonderful to have something so close to us be shared with our guests.

A lot of the decorations were items we found on the farm (wood, old jugs, mason jars, etc.) My friend who is a carpenter built us our arbor from the birch trees that stand along the riverbank that runs through the property. We also used wood slabs for centerpieces and wrote table numbers on smaller slabs.  My cousin is a great artist and she painted a fun stand-up cutout board where guests can take stick their heads in the board and take their picture.

What was the biggest thing you did to save money?

Definitely having the wedding at our property! This allowed us a lot of flexibility in terms of set up and breakdown and gave us more time to put our personal touch to the wedding.

I also decided not to go for a big name designer for a dress since I knew I was only going to wear it once and did a lot of the decorations and programs myself. Additionally, my husband and I are not big dessert fans, so we opted for cupcakes instead of a fancy cake. I think this worked out great as I’ve seen at many weddings that the dessert table always has leftovers. Cupcakes are definitely a lower cost option and it also saved us money on additional plates and utensils.

What’s the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you’re on the other side?

Be yourself and do what makes you happy! I feel like brides these days are so pressured into having the “perfect, picturesque wedding,” which can often lead to a lot of extra costs. Do what you makes you happy and your guests will enjoy it too. If you want to have a specific element to your wedding but might not have the budget – ask for help! It was so special to see how many friends and family who offered to make something or pitched in to fix something for our wedding. And, I think they liked seeing their imprint at the wedding, too.

What was your biggest splurge?

The band! I love to dance and listen to good music. When my husband and I were setting up budgets initially, we decided to allot a good chunk of change to having a good entertainment and it really paid off! Everyone ended up dancing the whole night – even our grandparents, parents and their friends – and it just made it such a fun atmosphere.

Another thing that I decided to splurge on was coming in on a horse & carriage. How cool is that, right?! Luckily my wedding coordinator offered this as an additional service so it wasn’t too expensive or difficult to coordinate. I felt like a princess riding in to find my prince. Plus, being on a farm, I thought it was perfect for the environment.

What was your favorite detail?

Our family tree of photos! We used old windows that were in the barn and hung them between two trees and placed photos of our grandparents and parents’ wedding and some photos of my husband and I. I just thought it was a cool way to display the photos and incorporate the elements of the farm (trees, windows) that were already there. That was one of the biggest things that I tried to do with all of the decorations – make them seamless with the venue’s atmosphere.

What is the most memorable moment of your day?

Saying I DO! I feel like many of the moments leading up to the ceremony ran together and were a complete blur for me. Once I was up at the alter with my husband and I could hear the river running in the background, I felt like time stood still. After we exchanged our vows and the minister announced us, I just had the biggest smile of my face and it was wonderful to turn around and see all of our family and friends there supporting us. It was so special.

VENDORS 

Photographer: Sarah Whitmeyer Photogragraphy • Venue: Trickle Creek Farm • Wedding Coordinator: I Do, Traditions • Florist: Hendersonville Flower Market • Catering: Mountain View BBQ  • Rentals: Classic Event Rentals • Ceremony Musician: Matt Williams • Reception Band: Empty Pocks • Dessert: Butterbug’s Baked Goods • Dress: David’s Bridal • Makeup/Hair: KC Hair Salon • Stationery: Green Dog Designs