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: Nicole, 27, Social Worker

The Groom: Jon, 26, Visual Arts Teacher

The Location: Linden Hall Mansion in Southwestern Pennsylvania

Wedding Colors: Champagne and white with hints of pink.

Budget: $20-25k

Where they splurged: Awesome food and great entertainment were important to both Jon and Nicole, so they splurged on a great DJ who used a music video screen and had surf and turf for dinner.

Where they saved: Nicole loved her dress, and loved even more that it was less than $500 from David’s Bridal.  The couple also decided to skip the favors, and instead put a “question and answer” game sheet about the bride and groom on each table.  They made the sheets themselves on their home printer and stuffed them into silver envelopes they picked up from Target for an elegant feel.

What made this wedding modern: Jon is Filipino, while Nicole has eastern European heritage, so traditions were incorporated from both cultures to make sure both families felt included.

The girls wore champagne bridesmaids dresses in different styles and carried white and pink roses.

Nicole's gown featured champagne gold embroidery that tied together their champagne color theme

The best part of the wedding:

Nicole and Jon had a blast at the reception and were glad they spent the extra cash on the DJ video screen.  “The main thing Jon and I wanted out of our wedding was to get all of friends together and to have a great time.  We would have done that anyways, but our DJ definitely helped!”

Looking back, what they would have changed:

Nicole said that a lot of vendors that she worked with were not very accommodating.  If she had to do it again, she would have dumped the vendors she didn’t like and gone with vendors that were friendlier and more flexible, even if they didn’t offer exactly what she wanted.  “It just wasn’t worth the stress!”

Her Advice:

“When the wedding day comes, relax, quit worrying, and have a good time.  If you’ve done all your planning, everything will come together.  Even if a few things go wrong, there isn’t anything you can really do about them, so might as well let loose and just have a good time!”

The rain decided to hold out for the ceremony.

The Linden Hall Mansion provided a gorgeous backdrop for the photos and complemented the color scheme.

Gorgeous peep toes completed the look.

The mansion interior went perfectly with the champagne color scheme as well.

The DJ was well worth the splurge!

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