today’s wedding features tim and marijke fox.
marijke is a friend of mine and also very involved with lisa leonard designs.
you’ve probably seen her face on my blog before!
{today’s special is a coupon code–keep reading it’s near the bottom!}
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tim and marijke were married at a private, rural residence in arroyo grande.
amazing photos taken by studio castillero.
i love, love the yellow balloons.
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the setting was rural, near vineyards, lots of huge trees.
just perfect.
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so many handmade touches…
seating assignments were hand written on manilla tags
each guest was given a jar of {delicious} homemade plum jam.
i think it’s the small, creative touches that make the day personal.
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every bridesmaid wore one of our designs.
marijke chose a different piece for each girl and customized it to make it meaningful.
what a precious gift!
pictured above is the dewdrops necklace.
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marijke wore yellow sandals.
and she made her wedding dress (with the help of a friend).
can i just say again, i love handmade details!!
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other bridesmaids wore the
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don’t their smiles radiate in this photo above?
surrounded by friends and family-so beautiful!
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they came across an old bathtub while they were taking pictures
so they stood inside.
love it. oh, and i love the sunset. so warm.
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the oak trees surrounding the site were breath-taking.
magical.
marijke and tim, thank you for sharing your beautiful, inspiring wedding with us!
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we wish you lots and lots of years of happiness!!
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and today’s special is discount code!
use code ‘weddingday‘ for $10 off your order of $50 or more.
any order over $50, all day.
good times!
click here to shop our hand-stamped jewelry!
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okay, today’s question!
tell us something about your wedding that was non-traditional.
for example, we served 10 different flavors of cheesecake at our wedding
instead of a traditional wedding cake.
what did you do that was DIFFERENT
or if you aren’t married, share an idea of something non-traditional you like!
we were married on a sunday, not the typical saturday. and for our rehearsal we wanted something casual and fun, so we had a cookout at the local park after rehearsal at the church. instead of throwing rice or birdseed we had bubbles; made for a cool photo op. we had no vocalist- instead we had a string quartet and a pianist- so lovely.
we toasted with Mt. Dew (my husband’s favorite) and danced to a very non-traditional rock song. 🙂
My wedding was at 11:30am. Who in their right mind actually does that?!?! We were so pressed for time! That said, hubby and I left directly for our honeymoon after the reception, and drove 6 hrs to the beach.
We served wedding pie (apple) instead of cake. And it was delicious!
I love that you chose to serve different flavors of cheesecake! How fun. I am not doing a garter toss; I think I’m too modest for that 🙂
We only had 17 people, including us, at our wedding. It was just immediate family because we didn’t want to stress over the details – we wanted the day to mean something other than stressing over the fact that there was a typo on the matchbook covers (for instance). It was a destination wedding at a beautiful resort in Arizona. I bought my dress, which was not a wedding dress, at a little boutique in the town I lived in; it was the color of champagne. My husband wore a navy suit. I went to a florist two weeks before our wedding and chose the flowers – a bouquet for me, a boutonniere for my husband, and flowers for my hair. We got married in the library of the resort in front of a huge fireplace. We had a simple Episcopalian service – no music. My husband and I walked into the room together. Afterwards, we had a wonderful buffet luncheon. The wait staff told us afterward that it was the most beautiful and meaningful wedding they’d ever seen at that resort. I loved that day! I’ve never regretted getting married that way.
I wore orange and my brother was my maid of honor!
We had our mom’s present the wedding bands to the pastor when it was time for the vows instead of just having the best man hand them over. It was a really fun way to include them! We also started dancing right away and had no assigned seating so you could eat when you want, with who you wanted and then dance the night away.
Lisa~ any idea where the girls’ dresses came from? They are adorable!
I’m not married, but I just had to comment. I’ve been lurking around your blog for awhile now; I found you through (in)courage. Then when I saw this post I was like, “what?!” I went to Israel with the groom, Tim! (And a bunch of other people from Calvary SLO.) It’s just funny what a small world it is. 🙂 Love your blog!
Hmmm I am trying to think… but I think we did a lot of traditional things now that I think about it… Umm… we didn’t save the top layer of our wedding cake to store in the freezer to be eaten on our one year anniversary (which is this Sunday). I think we’ll just get some cake from a local baker and eat it instead haha!
We danced our first dance to a fast up beat song (My First My Last My Everything by Barry White) with all of our guests on the dance floor surrounding us!
My mom was my maid of honor 🙂
I put hubby’s ring on the wrong hand, and he brewed beer for our reception. Plus, it stormed like mad on the day of our wedding, and since our reception was outside… =) We had the reception at my MIL’s house so everyone moved inside. We both changed into jeans and a sweatshirt and I believe I wore slippers for the rest of the day. Oh, and the fondant on our cake hardened because it was so cold, so it was like cutting into solid putty LOL
My high school sweetheart and I were together for 7 years before we got married last August. We went through a lot together with friends and family coming, going, and staying. It was very important to us that we incorporate all of them in our wedding. We were married at my Grandma Dot’s elementary school to honor her memory and we used dahlias to honor my Grandpa Ken. I wore my Grandma Toni’s rings that she wore at her wedding and we played some of my Grandpa John’s and my husband’s Grandpa Lee’s favorite music. We had a family friend marry us, as him and his wife’s relationship inspired us through our years together. I asked my artistic sister make my jewelry and sing a song for us in our ceremony. A couple of our friends wound ribbon through our 85 guests so we could pass our rings around for blessings and well wishes so that everyone we loved most could be part of our commitment to each other. My husband and I even made our own guest book, using photos of us over our years before and after we met so our guests could write comments and share memories of their own. In the end, all our friends and family thanked us for their involvement and we would not have changed a thing! I love reading everyone’s stories about their wedding day! It was our favorite day and we just love talking about it! 🙂
Beautiful pictures!!!
My husband and & wrote a song (music: him, lyrics: me) and sang it at our wedding. He played the accompaniment on guitar.
My 10 year anniversary is coming up in July so it’s very fun to think back to that special day… I think the most non-traditional thing we did was serve Otter Pops (little frozen popsicles) along with our cake. It was a hot summer day and they were a huge hit!
My husband & I were married on May 29th (almost 17 years ago!) in a 1940’s themed wedding. . . we even drove away in a black 1940 Ford!
My wedding was pretty traditional at the church, except instead of a white dress my dress was ‘blush rose’ ….parts of the family still mention it LOL (I am just TOO pale to wear white); plus I changed from my heels to sneakers with lace laces for the reception.
We had the reception at a camp with an old converted barn with a HUGE fireplace. The rafters were decorated with white lights & tulle.
I also surprised my husband with a groom’s cake in the shape of a harmonica (he is a musician)
Oh, and one of my closest friends sang “If I Should Fall Behind” wearing jeans and a sweater becuase she arrived at the church minutes before the wedding started. Until she started singing, I had no idea if she had made it or not because she arrived so last minute. My friend and her husband were supposed to arrive via plane the morning of the wedding with plenty of time to spare, but the winter weather caused delays and the plane landed about 45 minutes before the ceremony began. She jumped in a cab for the 30 minute trip to the church, while her husband waited for their bags (which actually didn’t make it on the flight and didn’t make it to Omaha until they had already flown home the next day). She sang beautifully and it meant so much to me that she was part of my day, especially since it was really stressful for her and her husband!
Our wedding ceremony was pretty traditional, aside from one thing. My mother was put in the hospital 2 days before the wedding and wasn’t going to be released for my special day. Since I am an only child it meant the world to her to be able to see me get married. She had been battling lung cancer for two years and was so upset that her body wouldn’t hold up just a few more days. So on the day of the wedding my soon to be brother-in-law came up with a great plan. He hooked up a computer at the church and one at the hospital. He installed a video messaging service on both computers and aimed the camera at the spot where me and my fiance were going to stand. Before the ceremony started, the pastor told everyone about my mom watching from the computer. It was so amazing that technology allowed her to watch me get married. She passed away almost a month later.
Oh, this wedding is gorgeous! I love the yellow. And handmade touches? Yes, please!
Lovely, Marijke and Tim! And those beautiful bridesmaids, too. 🙂 (I am the mother of one of them…)
Twenty-nine years ago, I was a bride with homemade mints, homemade bouquets, and a simple Laura Ashley white dress with flowers in my l-o-n-g hair. The Lord has blessed us in amazing ways, and I am so thankful for the gift of marriage and the love we share because He first loved us.
Gorgeous Wedding! It looks like such fun!
Our wedding was a simply wonderful day! One of the most memorable parts was something I didn’t have any part in planning. My husband and I were married on December 30th in Omaha, NE and I anticipated snow, sleet, cold weather – pretty much anything you can think of and was ready to be okay with all of it. But I never dreamed it would rain a cold, cold rain all day on my wedding day.
Some of the interesting features of our wedding included my fuscia, suede ballet flats (so cute and I can still wear them!), luminaries my mom made out of ice, bright fuscia and chartreuse green flower girl dresses for my nieces, the fact that I wrote our entire ceremony, our wedding cake with chocolate frosting (and raspberry filling), and the fact that my husband and I took a photo with every table at the reception while our guests were on their way to the buffet line. It was an incredible day!
For our wedding (2 months ago) in addition to cake we served a selection of pies. Also I wore my cowboy boots with my dress. We also recited our own vows in addition to the traditional vows. Praise God our wedding was so blessed.
When my husband & I married (almost 6 years ago!) It was just him & I in the Cayman Islands. I walked myself down the aisle. When we were saying our vows, I poured my heart out to him, telling him I *knew* at the age of 16 he was the man I would marry someday. (It happened 10 years later when I was 26!)
My husband (and the best man) ran away during the ceremony! hahaha (That sounds really bad!)
The moment I saw a blank stare fall across his face, I knew something was wrong. He leaned into me and whispered, “I forgot your ring.” Then turned to his brother and directed him to the ring box, in a car. When his brother came back with an empty ring box (we found out later it was the box to his ring), he looked at the officiant and said, “I’ll be right back.” At first, nobody in the audience knew what was going on, but soon everyone was giggling. Luckily he came back quickly and the ceremony finished perfectly. It’s definitely not what we planned for, but made the wedding very memorable!
And…he’s a great list maker now, 7 years later! hehe
When my husband and I got married, we greeted every guest at the front door of the house we were married in welcoming them to our special day. All of our guests were really shocked when we greated them at the front door.
Instead of lighting a Unity Candle, Zack and I each had a vase of salt and together we poured our vases of salt into a larger vase of salt. This is a biblical reference: When men wanted to finalize a sale or “sign a contract” they would put a pinch of salt from their pouch in the other man’s pouch, and vice versa. The idea is that there is no way to tell which salt grains belonged to the other man, and returning each man’s salt grains to the right pouch was the only way the contract could be undone.
So like with our marriage, Zack and I have exchanged salt. We can’t undo this because there is no way to know who’s salt grain is who’s. So, we are forever mixed :]
We just go married last week and our wedding was pretty different from the rest of those in our families. There were only 9 of us there. We had a maid of honor and a bridesmaid, but no other attendants. We got married in the middle of the town square in the little historic town we live in. Oh and the best part, there are old cannons all over town and we took pics of me firing the cannon at my new husband and him acting like he was being shot. They were awesome and the photographer had a great time with it!!
My husband and I got married on the rocks of the shores of Lake Superior in MN. It was fabulous! We didn’t have to pay for the space and it was beautiful.
I walked down the aisle to my husband’s old piano teacher playing Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer,” mainly just the intro piano piece. I am not a dancer, nor am I particularly tiny, but one of our first dates was to see “Almost Famous,” and this song is a big part of it! Every time I hear it, I think of that date and of our wedding.
Also, my bouquet I tossed was secretly four small bouquets! Still no idea who caught them, as we quickly got away in the pink ’57 Chevy afterward!! Such a fun night!
Love, Love, Love Wedding Week!! I have so enjoyed reading all the creative, meaningful, and personal ways everyone used for their special day. Both my parents walked me down the aisle and my Daddy signed (my parents are deaf) a blessing he had written for us before he and my mother gave me away. Trey and I signed our vows in honor of them. My mom and her best friend made our three tiered chocolate cream cheese pound cake! Delish!
Untraditional – a gorgeous dark dark choc cake with drunk blackcurrants (soaked in delicious liquer) in several layers throughout. Iced with divine soft butter icing and flowers. YUM!!!!
I love the touches of yellow that she used in her wedding. Priceless.
My wedding dress and shoes had maribou feathers on them. People immediately get a weird reaction, but it worked. When my heels started hurting, I switched to white Doc Martens. I have had the doc Martens since high school, so they were my special touch to something old.
We got married in the yard of my childhood home and my husband brewed the beer for our reception.
I’m from the US, but live in Denmark. Both countries have fun traditions surrounding the whole wedding ceremony. I hope to meld the best of both worlds into one amazingly fun wedding (one fine day…) For example, the bride and groom dance the bridal waltz here, with the guests gathered around and moving in closer and closer each time the melody repeats itself. Once the happy couple is boxed in, the men pick up the groom and clip his socks. This is to symbolize the fact that he now has a wife to mend them. Also, friends of the couple often preform short sketches to honor them instead of giving speaches. This is entertaining for all.
Hey Carolyn email me at [email protected]. So sorry you’re having trouble!
We served fried chicken, fried right there at our outdoor wedding reception–and I’m a vegetarian. People still talk about how good the chicken was though! : )
Hi Lisa,
So fun – weddings are definately something to smile about. I love attending weddings because I usually feel like I got a litte married too – you know???
From yesterdays’ post – one special memory from my wedding was how much my husband was crying when I walked down the isle & the doves that flew away when we kissed!!
Today’s question – most of my wedding was traditional – except that we got married outside, not in a church and I walked down the isle to The Lord’s Prayer. Other than that, I think it was pretty traditional!
Hope you are having a GOOD week!
xoTiffany
Scott and I were married 12 years ago and a friend ( who is an artist) drew the art work for our invites and then we printed them ourselves. She used a line from a poem that Scott wrote for me as his proposal. My sister made the bridesmaid dresses and a friend made our cake. Loads of potted plants and flowers were used as decoration. Simple but beautiful.
I keep trying the use the coupon code and it says invalid–help 🙁 Thanks!
My wedding was super traditional in 1980. My daughter had her wedding in a 250 year old church in the country. Cellos. Guitar for lighting of the candle. No singing. No flowers other than those on the pews and in the bouquets. It was beautiful. And a non-traditional delicious lemon blackberry oval cake. There was none left!
Instead of walking down the aisle in a church, I came down a big curved staircase in what used to be a fancy restaurant (turned event facility). I felt very “Gone With the Wind!”
Well we did the same as you actually. My mom and I made 3 different kinds of cheesecake (if I remember right there was plain with both strawberry and blueberry sauce to top it, turtle and chocolate raspberry) and had just a sheet cake for the people who had to have cake. We also made candy “mints” that I used to make with with my grandparents as a child. It was bittersweet as my grandmother died the week before our wedding, but it certainly felt like she was there with us!
My husband performed the music during the ceremony…he had written a song for me and serenaded me in front of the whole congregation. He also wrote the processional that I walked down the aisle too (it was the instrumental/piano version of the song he wrote when he proposed).
One of my grandmothers cross-stitches and the other needlepoints. They each made a ring-bearer’s pillows (my ring bearers were 5 year old twins that I’d been babysitting since they were infants).
We had a very modern cross blessed by our priest during our ceremony. And we then asked each guest to come and touch and make a blessing to us during the ceremony too. And now we hang it in our house as a symbol of sooo many things!
Instead of wedding cake (neither me or my husband like cake) we had funfetti cake! So when guests got their piece of cake they were really surprised by all the colors!!
Instead of having a bouquet pre-made, I sat people who were important to me on the aisle and they each handed me a rose as I walked down with my dad. When I got to the end of the aisle, my mom wrapped all of the stems in a cuff made out of the dupioni silk cut from my dress. It was a really special touch for me and a way to involve so many people who helped make me into the woman I was.
I am reading this at work and tears are coming to my eyes because I am so happy for all of you that posted. My fiance and I are going to start planning our special day here soon and I love all of these fantastic ideas.
Lisa-I love that you are doing wedding week-fantastic! Also, I also adore handmade and personalized non-traditional wedding ideas so thanks for sharing!!
smiles,
gina
non-traditional…I put my husband’s ring on the wrong hand! oops. We didn’t do a garter / bouquet toss. and personal…my girlfriend (and bridesmaid) did our wedding flowers, my sister (and bridesmaid) made my dress and the flower girl dress, my mother made my cake. I made all of the invites, programs, place cards and favors (wine charms). I also made each bridesmaid a purse. And i wouldn’t have it any other way.
I don’t eat cake, so my husband and his mother dipped white chocolate strawberries the night before the wedding that we fed each other.
And I sang The Prayer at the church. It was meaningful to both me and my husband.
Oh, and my shoes were my something blue. Which I love even more now because they look so cool in the photos. And my hubby wore black socks with blue polka dots.
When my husband and I were married we didn’t use the traditional man and woman as the topper to our cake. We used Mickey and Minnie Mouse. I also walked down the aisle by myself.
There were several non-traditional things that we did our wedding. One of my most favorite things about our wedding is that we were married on the front porch of my parents house (the house I grew up in) and we had our reception in the backyard. It was a perfect country wedding. We also did something different with our cake. We had one large one for ourselves and then each table had their own little cake that was designed like our big cake. It made serving cake much easier and everyone really enjoyed it. Ah! I just love remembering all of the beautiful details of that day. I could live it over and over again! Thanks for encouraging me to reminisce!
We had a couple of things at our wedding…I walked down the aisle between both my parents rather than just my father, they were both a part of raising me and both “giving” me away…our recessional was to Linus and Lucy from Peanuts (just like someone else above!) and at our reception we had a mini-wedding cake for one of my bridesmaids because our wedding day was also her birthday.
Love the wedding pictures!
I had both my father and step-father walk me down the aisle and when the pastor asked, “Who gives this bride to be married?” my entire family answered, “We do”. Instead of wedding cake we went with a tower of cupcakes and even had a table of non-iced cupcakes where kids could add icing themselves and add sprinkles and gummy worms. We also roasted a pig and had it carved at the reception on my families farm. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!
We choose to get married on Friday the 13th, pretty unusual but for us it had meaning…. My birthday is May 13th and my husbands is April 13th so we felt like 13 was a pretty good day for us!!!
Instead of the traditional “blue-trimmed” garter, I chose to wear a black one…trimmed in sequins and feathers. Caused quite a stir at our little Baptist church when my husband took it off my leg (we weren’t inappropriate…but people were shocked that it was black). And 20 years ago, everyone I knew wore a veil…I chose not to. I figured I spent a lot of money on my dress, I wanted people to SEE it!!
Tried to use the coupon code and getting an error: Coupon code “weddingday” is not valid. Help!
As for my wedding – it was a pretty traditional affair.
Thanks for the help!
We had an evening wedding. I know, not totally non-traditional, but for our parish it was. We got married at 6:30 by candlelight. Then instead of a sit down dinner, we had a coctail party that started at 8:00. There was an abundance of food. And it was as hearty as a traditional meal.
We also met to take private pictures the day before. Just the two of us. That caused quite a ripple since we weren’t ‘supposed’ to see each other. But those were the best pictures and the ones that I remember the most.
Enjoy the day!
Erin
Our reception was held in 2 barns on an apple orchard! it was so, SO pretty, with strands of lights with tulle everywhere, and there was even a hint of apple in the air! 🙂
We had many things that spoke to us at our wedding almonst 15 years ago (Wow!!) The one thing that was special to me was that my flower girls who were each 18 mos. old wore handmade velvet dresses trimmed in lace and carried teddy bears with matching lace collars. They were so precious!!
Instead of the wedding waltz (which is a usually quite important here in Austria) we decided to do the last scene of dirty dancing instead. it was quite tricky cause i never danced in my wedding dress before. but our guests and we both enjoyed it a lot 🙂
Our wedding isn’t until May 30th, but I can tell you what we’re planning on doing that’s very non-traditional… mingle with our guests as they arrive for the wedding. I didn’t want the hoopla of a “grand” entrance – we’re just having a simple wedding in my parents’ backyard. I thought this would be more fun and relaxed to mingle first.
Instead of a candle lighting or something of that nature, my groom and I had a foot washing. It symbolized the servant nature of the relationship—to serve each other instead of our selves—as demonstrated by Jesus Christ at the last supper.
Then we served chips & salsa and fajitas at our reception which was SO MUCH FUN!! That is probably mostly atypical because the white dress and salsa can be a deadly combination!! Just make sure you shoot the photos before you eat. 🙂
Instead of walking out to the traditional recessional song we chose to walk out to “Linus & Lucy” (the Peanuts theme)…in the pre-internet days the music was really hard to find, but so worth it…so fun!
Those pictures are lovely!
Tom and I saw each other before the wedding. I waited for him in a private room at the chapel and he came in… it was magical. We cherished that time together before the big moment. A time to pray together and ask the Lord to be with us. I feel that it was more special than if he had seen me for the first time as I was walking down the aisle.
I chose to walk myself down the aisle. 🙂
I got married in a horse pasture on my dad’s farm. He was kind enough to clean all the “piles” up before the big day!
My wedding dress was Egyptian Blue.
*beautiful*
I love the necklaces – what a great gift idea!