The Bride: Christie, 26, Physician

The Groom: Kevin, 28, Owner and Operator of Rooker Angus Beef Cattle

The Location:

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church  in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, with a Tent Reception at the Groom’s parents’ home

Wedding Colors:

Casual rustic elegance - Shades of green, gold, and bronze

What made this wedding modern:

Christie and Kevin wanted their wedding to have a casual feel that represented their personalities.  To accomplish this, they chose Kevin’s home for their tent reception and complemented the site with tan tuxes for the groomsmen and short, vibrant green bridesmaid dresses.  Guests played cornhole (a bean bag toss game) and mingled outside in a lounge-type area during cocktail hour (so fun!).

“We like to think that we put our own personal touch on the day by paying attention to little details to really take care of our guests,” says Christie.

The groom's parents' farmhouse. Gorgeous!

The short green bridemaids dresses really made a statement towards the day's casual yet elegant tone.

Where they splurged:

“Definitely on the restroom trailor we rented,” says Christie.  The trailor had to be big enough for our 400 guests and make it through hours of celebrating.  Christie and Kevin took the time to spruce it up with toiletry baskets, rugs, and ferns.  They also went all out on the food by grilling beef tenderloin from Kevin’s family’s wholesale meat store on site (Yum!!!).

Where they saved:

Christie and Kevin saved a ton of money by doing a lot of things themselves.  Their handiwork was amazing and you’ll be blown away by what they accomplished.  They started with making their own fabric invitations, chair decorations, ceremony programs, stamped hankerchiefs for the bridal dance, and centerpieces.  Christie and her mom also made over 30 cheesecakes to serve for dessert as well as the appetizers that were served during cocktail hour!!!  The coolest part - Christie and her sister made 20+ gallons of white peach sangria for the bar!

Left-side: A basket with fabric pieces was presented to guests so that they could leave a special message for the bride and groom. Right-side: A circular motif was used for the seating chart and matching seating cards were hung on a clotheline for aesthetic appeal. Adorable!

Favorite Part of the Wedding:

“Our family and friends played such a big role in planning and preparation months before and on our big day - our favorite part was seeing how proud they were of what we had all done together.  Looking around on that day and seeing how lucky we were to have loved ones give so much to us really meant the world to us.”

A few slices of the 30+ cheesecakes that Christie and her mother prepared from scratch.

Looking back, what you would change:

“I think you always wish you could spend more time with your guests.  Other than that, we woudn’t change a thing - we enjoyed and savored every moment!  Our guests had an amazing time and so did we!”

Her Advice:

“Spend some time really thinking about what you want your day to be like - it will make the planning go much smoother.  If possible, spend some alone time with each other on the big day.  We were able to sit in Kevin’s house and watch all of our guests during cocktail hour - it really gave us time to take it all in!”

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The Bride: Kim, 29, Online Advertising

The Groom: JD, 32, Marketing

The Location: Lowndes Grove Plantation, Charleston, South Carolina

Wedding Colors: Summer Pastels - pale blue, muted pink, white and gray

Budget: $30k

What made this wedding modern: JD and Lisa come from two very different backgrounds, so they created their own modern style by “marrying” their two cultures - Korean & southern.  Lisa and JD  incorporated traditional hand-made fans from South Korea as favors, which were perfect for the southern heat; served southern style and Korean style barbecue during the reception; and had a traditional Korean bowing ceremony during their welcome/rehearsal dinner.

Kim and JD during the Korean bowing ceremony

As Lisa puts it, “JD is a southern boy from Charlotte, NC who grew up with an American childhood and I am a Korean-American gal who was born and raised in NY, but with a traditional Korean upbringing raised by parents who came to the states in search of the American dream! So we were glad to share elements of our roots with our guests on our day.”

Where they splurged: Lisa and JD’s big splurge was the venue. “It was beyond our budget even with the reduced costs that came with our off-season wedding date and smaller guest count, but I loved how the plantation evoked that old-school charm and grandeur of what the south had been. It was very “Gone With the Wind,” and every time we saw it I had the movie’s song singing in my head!”

The Lowndes Plantation.. I'm with Lisa, I can hear the Gone With the Wind theme song loud and clear!

Where they saved: The photography (believe it or not)! “I searched Craigslist.com to find photographers - and found an amazing one in Joelle Maki, who offered a very low-cost “a la carte” option where we were able to select certain items versus a bigger package that included things I didn’t find necessary. Our videography was done by a friend, who is a documentary film maker, and he captured our day in that very cool cinematic fashion! “

Favorite Part of the Wedding: “My favorite part was the venue! I really, really, really loved being inside the plantation - a house, really - there were so many beautiful rooms and each had a different theme and color palette, with very traditional details from the crown moldings to the regal, sweeping drapes that you don’t really see in homes today. I couldn’t get enough of it! We spent our wedding night inside the plantation, too - which functions as an inn, as well.”

Looking back, what you would change:

“I tried saving on everything - including very very small things such as sparklers for our getaway. Well, I didn’t know how much of a difference the size of the sparklers would
make so I ended up buying 100 of the small, 7″ kind (thinking I was scoring a deal) - which burned out in 10 seconds! So I would probably spring for the longer ones “

Despite any regret on the sparklers, this bride and groom getaway still sparkled! I also *love* the dress change!

Her Advice:

“Everyone will have an opinion, go with your gut and at the end of the day remember that no matter what happens, no matter what does or doesn’t happen right, nothing will ever replace the feeling you will have on that day and you will never forget it!”

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I was visiting my friend’s Etsy store, Noey’s Papers, last night and I was found something that would make a fabulous bridesmaids gift!

Fill with meaningful photos of you and your maids, and voila! - awesome bridesmaid gift!

What I found were mini chip-board photo albums - the perfect way to create a personal and meaningful gift for your bridesmaids (and not too pricey either - $28 each and they are handmade!).

The albums are really neat.  They are created out of thick chipboard so that they have a very sturdy and handcrafted feel.  Each “page” of the album is completely covered in designer paper, ribbons, buttons, trinkets, etc.  Every page is different, making these albums super unique.

The point of the album is to add personal photos as each page has photo corners already built in for holding your favorite pics.  I thought that placing meaningful pictures of you and your bridesmaids would make a *perfect* gift, especially since the album itself is handmade.  You just can’t find albums like these in stores!

The Bride: Ileana, 25, IT and studying to be  a Nurse

The Groom: Evan, 32, IT

The Location: Sayen Gardens, New Jersey

Wedding Colors: Cream, Ivory, Peach, and Orange with a Garden Theme

Budget: $10 - $15k

What made this wedding modern: Ileana says “The modern touch really took shape in the wedding party. The girls had on Jim Hjelm A-Line Tea length Ivory dresses with an orange sash. The dresses were very simple yet had the splash of color that made them pop. The men’s dark chocolate brown tuxes really blended well with the bridesmaids and made the wedding party image very sleek - that is until at any given time one of the 8 wedding party members broke out into horrific party faces - then we were just us!”

Where they splurged: Ileana said hands down, PHOTOGRAPHY. “We felt that 60 years from now as our memories begin to fade it is pictures that will transport us back in time. We wanted to make sure we had a photographer who knew us and knew how to capture key moments. Michelle was amazing. We chose to do a Trash The Dress session with her prior to the big day (with a Forever 21 stand in dress!)* and it really helped build a great friendship with her. We are so pleased with every single picture that the hard part is picking our album shots.”

*We will be doing a post on Ileana’s Trash the Dress session in a few weeks - you can’t miss it, the session was amazing!

Where they saved: Decoration. “Since it was in a garden, we needed limited ceremony decoration and the reception garden house was so cute and antique-y that it need very little to spruce it up. We opted to recycle some decor from my sister’s wedding and replace the flowers with our colors. We also hit up Michael’s for various accents and ALWAYS had our 40% off coupons in hand. The only flowers that were real were the bouquets, lapels & the garden around us.”

*As mentioned in the bio - Ileana and Evan had a budget of only $10k, which to me is pretty unbelievable considering how beautiful everything was!  Recycling decorations from another wedding is a fabulous idea.  Also, making your theme fit the venue rather than vice verse helps too!  Thanks Ileana for your wonderful tips!

Ileana made her theme fit the romantic vintage decor of the Sayen house, rather than the other way around, in order to save on decorations.

Recycling doesn't mean settling for second rate! These centerpieces were used in Ileana's sisters wedding, saved them quite a bit of money on decorations, and looked gorgeous!

How a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e! The gummy bears represented the personalities of the bride and groom - fun loving and silly!

Oranges and whites with hints of pink and yellow made this the perfect bouquet for their garden wedding.

Illeana and Evan wanted to incorporate their three beloved kitties into their wedding day. Since they are housecats, they had to settle for miniature sugar replicas representing them in spirit!

The best part of the wedding:

“The laughter. Everyone was in such a great mood and happy that everywhere you looked people were smiling. We felt so blessed to have such a perfect day with the people we loved. It’s an amazing thing being surrounded by people who are sending you well wishes every moment. When you are immersed in good vibes it is hard not to get on a natural high. We were married and so happy. And that is what it was all about.”

Her Advice:

“Don’t splurge if you are going to feel guilty about it. ENJOY it. Smile and enjoy your man. The day is about the two of you - not just you.”

All photographs are copyright of Michelle King Photography.

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