“I wasn’t the kind of girl who had dreamed about her wedding day since the age of five”, began newlywed Leah who married Simon earlier this year, “and being engaged on December 20th and getting married on March 31st didn’t give us a whole lot of time to plan anyway. So I found myself in a little deep at first, but a few days into discussing ideas, we realized how cool it was to be able to create an event from the things we love – nature, the woods, rustic details. Daily life delivers you many inspirational things, and having eclectic tastes we knew it wouldn’t be a cookie cutter or ‘paint by numbers’ kinda wedding.”
“We decided we wanted to be married in the forest”, she continued, “and so our feel of the day went from there. We stuck to earthy tones. The woodland didn’t need much decorating and the natural beauty of the Pacific North West was an inspiration in itself.”
“We had decorations that included antlers, natural burlap, feathers, herbs and mason jars wrapped in sticks and hemp. We wanted to do something personal for our friends, so we made the wedding favours from brown paper lunch bags and stamped with our ‘crest’ that I had designed and had made up at a local rubber stamp company. We stitched the bags along the top with string to seal them and in the bags, we put little jars of Citrus Chutney that my (now) husband lovingly prepared, a piece of Biscotti and a test tube full of vodka infused with thyme. These turned out better than expected and the tedious work of pouring vodka into those thirty-two test tubes was worth every second.”
“To decorate the reception we went, with our families in tow, into a Trader Joe’s and bought a lot of potted mixed herbs, lavender, thyme and rosemary. We made these into our table centrepieces, and the remaining flowers became both mine and my maid of honour’s bouquets. Up until the day of the wedding, I thought I would just go out and pick some wild flowers, but there isn’t that much time on your wedding day (funnily enough), so our wonderful friend Andrea, created beautiful herb and flower bouquets and our boutonnieres and corsages. They were perfect.”
“I think my favourite thing about the whole experience (besides marrying my best friend) was the day before our wedding and being there with our families”, Leah concluded. “I remember us all sitting around our friend Kim’s little house in the woods, which would soon be the place we would be married, with the fire crackling and the smell of fresh beer bread in the oven. I was thinking how wonderful it was, creating and making things together as families combined, and what a bonding experience we were having. And that is really what it’s all about – two people celebrating their love with the one’s they love.”
Utterly gorgeous. Thank you to Leah & Simon and their photographer Dallas Kolotylo for sharing with us today.
Photography Credit: Dallas Kolotylo Photography Ceremony Venue: A cabin on Enchanted Forest Way in Orcas Island, WA
Reception Venue: Outlook Inn, Orcas Island
Bride’s Dress: Pronovias, ‘Paris’
Bride’s Shoes: Sportsgirl
Bride’s Headdress: Rouge Pony |
Groom’s Outfit: Zara
Bridesmaid’s Dresses: Urban Outfitters
Cake: DIY
Flowers: DIY
Hair & Make Up: Maria Malousis
Stationery: DIY
Caterers: New Leaf Cafe at Outlook Inn Vintage Umbrellas: Bella Umbrella
