Emma’s Wedding Ceremony

Trey and I choose to host our wedding ceremony at my grandmother, Corina's, cabin. It's an absolutley breath-taking place. I feel like grandma doesn't get to show her cabin off enough, since it's so far out in the country. Glad she was ok with us inviting around 180 family and friends out to see it! Trey and I both checked our phones obsessively all week, keeping an eye on the forecast. We got lucky and had beautiful, sunny weather the day we tied the knot. The cabin felt like the perfect place for our wedding. We love the outdoors and anything with a rustic feel. I've always wanted to get married in a family member's back yard. The idea has always sounded so perfect and quaint to me, even as a little girl. And I guess, in a way, I did.Here are a few of my favorite portraits of the wedding party. We have some pretty good looking friends, no? We decided not to do the traditional matching bridesmaids dresses or matching groomsmen suits. I like a little variation. My sister did something similar at her wedding, allowing the bridesmaids to shop for their own dress within a small range of colors (white/cream). I loved this, because you get to find a dress that better suits your body type. And I love how the overall vibe ends up looking in a photo. I feel like I can see a little bit of everyone's personality showing through in this simple way. To unify the look all the bridesmaid's had braids with flowers in their updos and all the groomsmen wore matching (custom made!) bow ties.Oh, did I mention my grandma's cabin has a pond with a floating dock in the back yard!? Trey had the idea early on to rent canoes that could serve as the first row of seating around the dock. Initially this idea scared me. But I'm glad I came around, because it was so cute. We had an extra canoe that we filled with ice and served drinks from (including: homemade sangria and lemonade plus beers). We kept the decor simple, since it's such a beautiful spot anyway. The main attraction were large painted rocks that lined the dock (inspired by Salvation Mountain). Our ceremony was simple, and somewhat traditional but with a few customized twists. For example, we wrote our own vows. They still very much reflected traditional vows but with our added goals and ideas and in our own words. I loved writing them together! We also chose to incorporate a ceremony called bittersweet wine. Basically we had a glass of red (bitter) wine and a glass of white (sweet) wine that we both drank from. This symbolized how we are going to take the good and the bad in life together. I had never heard of this before our officiant had suggested the idea a few weeks before (apparently it's a pretty common thing), but I'm so glad he did. The music for our wedding was arranged and performed by Jeremy and a few other talented musicians. I walked down the aisle to Bon Iver's Skinny Love and we walk out to Kayne West's All of the Lights. Our friend John handed Trey a beer as we walked out, and that was probably one of the funniest moments of the ceremony. Although I can't help but ask, where was my beer? 🙂The moments after our ceremony will always be precious to me. We didn't do a formal receiving line but there was lots of time for everyone to hug, laugh, mingle, meet, smooch, have a drink and generally just hang out and enjoy each other. It's crazy to have all of your family and close friends together, all in one place. Other than getting to marry my best friend, this was probably one of my favorite things about our wedding day. You can also see a photo of our "guest book." We had guests sign a vintage bull skull that is now hanging in our living room. I wanted to do something that we would be excited to display in our home for years to come. Trey was pretty weirded out by the idea at first, but he's come full circle. 🙂On our programs we included a hashtag (#tremma) that guests could use in case they were going to Instagram or Tweet their photos. I am totally willing to admit that creating a hashtag for your own event can feel a little/lot silly. However, I am so glad that we did! We loved scrolling through the hashtag the next day, seeing what everyone posted. This photo from Katie Day (@ohkatieday) is one of my favorites.

P.S. You can see even more photos over at 100 Layer Cake later today!

Wedding Ceremony Details
Bride's attire: dress/DIY, flower crown c/o BHLDN, shoes/UO
Groom's attire: suit and shoes/Topman, tie/Forage Haberdashery
Groomsmen bowties: Forage Haberdashery
Hair & Makeup: RetroPolitan Salon
Flowers & Boutonneires: DIY by the bridesmaids
Ceremony Decor: Sharon Taylor Designs
Program Design by: Doren Chapman
Chair Rental: SB Bon Events
Canoe Rental: RiverFront Campground & Canoe Rental
Photography by: Arrow & Apple