Stephanie and Ryan were married at the bride’s parent’s home. They wanted a budget-friendly DIY day which was themed around their favourite colours. “I had always wanted a beautiful deep navy/ blue as my wedding colour theme”, the bride told us. “This happened to suit Ryan too with his red hair and blue eyes. As we started looking for bridesmaid dresses we found these beautiful marigold coloured ones and fell in love. The colour scheme then shifted to include marigolds and yellow/orange tones as well as all the blue.”

They didn’t want to spend a lot of money, so a lot of their decisions for the day were based on what they could borrow or re-use. They sourced a bunch of decorations from the bride’s cousin and sister who both got married before them, used faux flowers from old craft projects and hired a marquee which they put up in the garden.

“Having it at my folks’ house gave the whole ceremony and reception a beautiful casual vibe”, Stephanie continued. “It also provided such a homey feeling to the event. People told us afterwards that it felt welcoming and warm. Colour could also be seen everywhere in outfits and hair.”

“We did all the decorating ourselves, my sister made my nieces’ flower girl outfit and decorated the cake, I made the bridesmaids’ and my own necklaces from pattern material and fish sinkers, and we had recycled bottles and jars from my cousin’s wedding with fake flowers in them everywhere. I made up little succulent plants in shot glasses as our wedding favours, bought and strung up fairy lights and friends helped make our own charcuterie board on a large wooden plank a friend had lent to us. The decor was definitely a bit of a mish-mash of objects and items that only came together through colour and placement – but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

There was also had a funny moment where one of the bride’s friends brought out a surprise snake! “One of our friends works with animals and brought a snake to the reception, so Ryan and I got some great photos with her draped around our necks!” Stephanie laughed.

Looking back, Stephanie and Ryan’s biggest piece of advice to engaged couples is to embrace the imperfections that make your wedding your own. “Let things be imperfect, especially on the day,” Stephanie advises.”The worst part of planning was honestly just trying to let go of expectations. I feel we were able to shake off a lot of them, but there were still a lot of ‘shoulds’ and ‘should nots’ thrown at us!”