In the Beginning : Our Sleepy Hollow Wedding

When Gavin and I decided to get married we were lying in bed and comparing our schedules - looking at business schedules, blacksmithing projects on the table, art shows, Near & Dear to-do lists and we decided that IF we were to get married this year, it had be October 13th.  There's just no other open weekend. If we didn't, that meant waiting until whenever we could foresee an available time.  Now, I know you're supposed to plan these things like a year in advance and follow all the wedding planning timelines, but simply put, that just isn't our style.  We're movers and shakers.  We get things done and we do cool things. The point of our wedding wasn't to follow all the protocols, particulars and expectations. The point of doing this was to throw a big badass bash and celebrate with our friends and family.

We both agreed that we wanted to celebrate our marriage as a PAR-TAY!!!!!  We're talking about a Pot Luck, Pig Rost, BBQ, Bluegrass Dancin, Boot Stompin, Bon Fire havin', overnight campin' good time!!!  Not a traditional wedding by far - skip the first dances, skip the seating charts, the favors and the caterer, skip the formal invitations and the head counts - just throw a slammin' massive-ass party that was truly representative of us.

So we did. And it was a blast!

Photographer : Boko Photo and our friends who used the wedding party app

DIY Farm Wedding Decoration and Details : Our Sleepy Hollow Wedding

I apologize in advance!  This post is long and image heavy. But enjoyable none the less! 


Now this was the fun part!  Decorate for a down home bluegrass hootenanny on the farm?  Yes please!

Flowers

This was the biggest DIY project of them all - at least for us girls - and it was totally worth it! I started by doing a little research on flowers and their meanings. After reading through the flowers we liked, Gavin and I decided lavender was what we wanted as the main bloom to work with. 

The lavender flower represents luck, success and devotion.

Once that was decided we stocked ourselves up with several bundles of French Lavender from a local lavender farm. I then shopped around and added Red Thistle, Texas Tallow Berry Bundles, Mustard Yellow Yarrow Stems, Purple Larkspur Dried Bunches and Eucalyptus to the mix from Save-on-Crafts.

Simply beautiful around the barn!  My near and dear friend Charola made these beautiful bouquets of them and collected them around the tent poles at about chest level.  They worked wonderfully to cover the poles and provided a lot of festivity!

A few weeks before the wedding, Gavin's mom ( aka G.Mama) found Berry's Blooms, a flower farm in Medina, OH. I called and setup a time to come down and see the farm, discuss in season flowers and quantities with the owner, Teri. The day before the wedding, Charola and I went out to the flower farm and Teri had waiting for us 5 buckets of freshly picked blooms and several pots of mums. They were gorgeous and smelled heavenly!

Setting up the Tables

I spent weeks and weeks before the wedding collecting everyone's clear glass recyclables. Thanks to my family, friends and facebook I was able to gather several hundred jars and bottles - wine bottles, mason jars, jelly jars, spaghetti jars, glass syrup bottles, olive jars etc. - along with votive candles, votive holders and floating candles for inside any wide-mouth jars.

We had to add marbles for a little extra weight and tape the ends
of the tablecloths down since it was a bit breezy that day.

We decided the best /easiest/cheapest way to dress the tables would be a roll of white plastic and a roll of kraft paper as table runners.  Cheezy for a wedding?  Sure. But it was the perfect solution for a messy pot-luck pig roast.  

Wanna know the best thing about kraft paper table runners?  Your guests can write on them! Gavin and I thought it would super fun to put out a boat-load of Sharpies® and let our friends and family go to town!  And they did!  It was fun to read the messages, see the silly drawings and actual works of art drawn for us on the tables.  VERY festive!

It worked out beautifully!

And, in the end, no one commented on our lack of traditional "wedding" linens. It wasn't the brown chairs, plastic table cloths and a roll of kraft paper that was going to make the party anyway, it's the people.

Bouquet and Boutonnieres

This one is simple. 

I walked down the isle holding just the purple lavender and we built the rest of my bouquet to open the ceremony by adding several fresh flowers we picked up from the flower farm.

(more on the building my bouquet part when I post about the ceremony)

The final collection of flowers for my bouquet.

I decided to make the boutonnieres and corsages. It was just a simple diy project with some dried flower, a natural fiber ribbon and a glue gun.  The boutonnieres were simply 4" stalks of dried lavender and the corsages were the same with an added sprig of yellow yarrow.

 For my handsome groom, I added a tiny branch of the Texas Tallow Berry and a little larkspur.

Gavin getting his bout pinned on by G.Mama

View of the farm about an hour before quests started to arrive.

Ceremony Decor

We wanted to incorporate Gavin's ironwork into our ceremony. Blacksmithing is a craft he's studied for over half his life. It's a talent, skill and lifestyle that so uniquely defines him, and now us. It was the reason we met!

Above you can see part of the corner pieces we used from his collection. They flanked either side of the ceremony spot and surrounded us with their presence.

I wish I had more pictures of this, but the night before the wedding, Gavin and Clark built this table out of material lying around in the shop. Isn't it beautiful? And it's ours to enjoy in our home the rest of our life. 

The lace and burlap mason jars were quickly put together by my sister-in-law after rehearsal when we realized we needed something for the bouquets during Olivia's story.

We opted out on programs, menues and your typical "day of" stationary. It just wasn't necessary as we didn't have much planned! As you can see from the sign above, our ceremony was 6 hours prior to the start of the band. But we know our friends and family and as long as there's food and (eh-hem) beverages, the party will happen. And it did! 

We used chalkboard signs or painted wood signs to display the information that was important.

Gavin's cousin Emily made us this card box as a gift!

Setting Up the Farm

Bonfire Area

Sign Post - DIY'ed from wood scraps around the farm. Sign painted by Charola.

 (band stage in the background)

Canopy Setup

We purchased several white tarps and a few days beforehand the boys did all the hard work.

They suspended them off the barn and about 40ft into the hillside. Lots of ladders and rope were involved!

We strung several strands of christmas lights, globe lights and paper lanterns under the canopy.

... and around the band stage.

Additional Art and Sculpture around the farm

Designed and handcrafted by Gavin

Designed and handcrafted by Gavin

Designed and Sculpted by Grandpa Armstrong

Designed and Sculpted by Grandpa Armstrong

If you got this far, thank you for taking the time to scroll through and read more! If you have any questions about any of our DIY projects, please let me know!

How to Dye Your Petticoat!

Image : Boko Photo

From day 1, I knew I wanted to dye my petticoat for our farm wedding! I just love the colored crinolines you see all over pinterest and paired with my signature cowboy boots, well.... let's just say, it has "me" written all over it!

I started with some research on fabric dyes (specifically for polyester - I bought two run-of-the-mill petticoats on eBay for $15 each - one to dye and one "just in case!") and decided that good ol' Rit Dye was what I wanted. And after combing through their gorgeous Color Formula Guide, I found a formula for a purple that seemed like it would match Olivia's dress.

Image : Boko Photo

I decided it was going to take 2 8oz. bottles of Royal Blue, 1 8oz. bottle of Wine color, my step-sister's help and a few Blue Moon's to get the job done!

left : Royal Blue   right: Wine

First we color tested a corner of the back-up petticoat according to the directions on the back of the bottle. I mixed the exact formula I got from the Color Formula Guide and let the petticoat soak.  I'm pretty impatient as a rule, so I decided that this was good enough for me. Whatever shade the final color, it's definitely going to be purple.

So moving on to the scary basement....

I then used the utility sink in the laundry area (a bathtub or deep kitchen sink might work if you don't have a laundry sink) and wet the petticoat before putting it in the machine. I followed the instructions on the Rit bottle and set my washing machine to its hottest temperature and poured in 3 bottles of Rit Dye - 2 Royal Blue and 1 Wine. I let the washer agitate to mix in the dye and then using RUBBER GLOVES, I pushed the petticoat down inside until it was completely under water. 

As the wash cycle was coming to an end, I'd lift the lid to stop the machine and using RUBBER GLOVES, I maneuvered the soaking wet petticoat around in the dye water to help untangle and unwind. It gets really turned around in there and unless you want a tie-dye effect (which I actually considered btw) it's best to keep untwisting as you go.  

Then I turned the washer setting back several times to let it wash in the dye. The longer is soaks, the darker it'll be. After the third time I let the washer complete it's cycle, rinse and spin. 

Once the washer was finished, using RUBBER GLOVES, I pulled the petticoat out of the machine. It was DARK! and I was a little nervous.... but the only thing to do was since it out and see what I got!

So, I took it back to my bathroom shower to rinse it with cold water until it ran clear. Rinse, twist, rinse, squeeze. Repeat. .... for like 20 mins! Be prepared, it's really hard! My arms felt like rubber when we were done!

I then let it air dry over night and here's the final color!

And some images from the wedding.....  You'll see I also added several layers of color to the underneath of my dress.  I worked with Stitch Cleveland to replace the white tulle and netting already on my dress, with a cream tulle and chocolate brown netting.  I absolutely love the finished result!

Image : Boko Photo

Image : Boko Photo

Image : Boko Photo

Image : Boko Photo

If you decide to do this on your own, just remember one thing : WEAR RUBBER GLOVES!

Our Sleepy Hollow Wedding : Potluck, Pigs and Dessert

Home Cooked Food

There's lots of debate out there about pot-luck weddings. You'll hear things like they are tacky, if you can't afford to feed your guests, don't have a large reception etc. At first I was really put off by all this opinionated jibber-jabber... but then I thought about the people in our lives and I knew, in my heart of hearts, a pot-luck would be the BEST way to keep the atmosphere "down on the farm".

Hosting a potluck wedding was not a budget decision. We felt it was an amazing way to build community and connection among our friends and family. Each person taking a small piece of their heart and home, putting their small piece together with everyone else's small pieces and creating something big!

And boy was it big! 7 tables filled with good ol' home cookin! Soups, salads, stews, chili, dips, pasta, potatoes, pies, cookies.... oh my!

Here is one out of the 7 tables our family and friends
filled with good ol' home cooked food!

I was I had more food table images to show you, but take my word for it - there was plenty!  It was a wonderful way to include our guests, provide a huge variety of dishes to eat and everyone was MORE than happy to contribute.  Our guests really put in a lot of effort in making sure the dish they brought to share was from the heart... and we couldn't have asked for anything more.

However, we didn't feel right asking everyone to provide the entire meal, so we were setup with a few basics such a 125lb. hog to roast and 10 chickens to go in the smoker after the pig was done.  The pig roast was hosted by Paul King of Two Drunks and a Pig.  I can't seem to find a link to him as he was referred to use by the butcher we used - Sherman Provisions - when I do, I'll update the post.

sorry! I don't like this photo much either :) but MAN was the pig good!

Dessert - my favorite part of any meal

As for the dessert, my mother took care of researching a small bakery and soliciting their yummy baking skills.  We ended up using Rosy Girl Baked Goods out of Lakewood, Ohio.  I would LOVE to tell you how devine her cupcakes were, but honestly, I didn't even get one!  I was so busy visiting, dancing, laughing and loving, that by the time I got around to the cupcake table, they were all gone!  So, if you need a testament to their yummy-ness, I'd say that's it!

Here is a list of cupcake flavors we chose:

• Pumpkin Cupcake with Maple Syrup Cream Cheese Frosting
• Apple Walnut Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Salted Caramel Cupcake
• Vanilla Almond Cupcake with Blackberry Buttercream
• Raspberry & Blueberry Ricotta Almond Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting

And our beautiful cake topper was handforged by our very good friend and soul brother
Clark Martinek of Tough and Twisted Blacksmithing.

Need proof?  Here's a quick shot from our "cake cutting".... yes, that's a spatula and yes, it's about 2AM when we finally made it to the cake table.  hahaha!!!  But, as you can see, the cupcake table is empty.  Looks like Rosy Girl Bakery hit it spot on!