Abigail & Joshua
Rustic Barn Wedding
08/20/2022
Theme: Rustic, Sweet, DIY Affair
Congratulations to one of our brides! Thank you so much for sharing your wedding day pictures with us! This DIY wedding was a dream come true for Abigail! Read on to find out all the details of this sweet intimate wedding and get some much needed advice from a real bride.
The Veil
For those of you wondering about her custom made veil, it is a single tier 40” long Waterfall cut veil, with lace #12 edging going partially up the veil.
By adding a complementary lace trim to her veil, she not only complemented the lace details on the back of her dress but added more detail to the front of her gown. Overall it was a beautiful choice!
Love Story
From the Bride: In November, I invited one of my best friends and her fiancé to come to a Bible study with me, and they decided to bring along a relatively new guy they had met at their church. We carpooled together from Columbus to Franklin every Tuesday night, with me and my husband sitting in the back together. The more we talked, the more we laughed, the more car rides together, the more we started to like each other. The week of Thanksgiving, we had had plans to hang out as a group, but it was ruined when I tested positive for Covid. The next time I saw my husband was the moment I fell in love with him. As soon as we started going on dates and hanging out more, we became best friends. It just felt right, every single moment of it. So much of our love story can only be described as God’s hands or destiny or fate.
Ceremony & Reception Theme
When my husband and I first started wedding planning, he asked me what one thing I was unwilling to compromise on, and I said, “fresh flowers.” So, our original idea was a barn wedding that had a ton of fresh flowers. We decided our colors would be lavender and sage green, and we wanted the overall wedding to feel intimate, sweet, and simple. I was told many times how easy of a bride I was, which I attribute to wanting to keep the wedding focused on our love and not the small details.
Bridal Look
Since we were going to have a very short engagement, only five months, I knew I needed to immediately get a dress. My mom, sister, grandma, and two best friends came with me to Sophia’s Bridal in Columbus, Indiana for my first appointment. I had a cold that day but with the limited time we had, I knew I had to power through. I knew I wanted a simple dress, maybe some flowers, maybe some lace, nothing too tight…but I came into the appointment with as few expectations as possible.
Every dress I tried on, something was amiss, until the very last dress that my stylist pulled as a “wild card”. The dress was just white fabric except for the back that had lace on it. I felt so incredibly beautiful in it, and I knew it was the dress.
I tried on a veil in the store, but the lace just wasn’t quite right. I started doing some research into custom veils, Etsy veils, big box dress store veils, but nothing was *right*. I somehow stumbled upon Classic Veils, and I realized how much customization I could do with them. I ordered a few lace and color swatches, and after speaking with Krystal a few times, I designed my perfect veil to go along with my perfect dress.
Gifts & Favors
We decided to not give out favors during our reception to save money. But we still wanted to honor our wonderful friends and family who supported us through this entire process. I gave my bridesmaids a personalized makeup bag with eye masks, nail polish, a purple scrunchie, a handwritten note, and custom earrings that I would be wearing during the reception. My husband got his groomsmen all a pair of socks with little animals on them that they wore for the wedding. We plan on getting our parents a picture book of our wedding day, and we plan on getting a personalized gift for my aunt and my mom’s friend who were a huge part of planning our wedding.
Wedding Playlist
Bridal march: “Falling Slowly” I just really love this song, and I loved how it sounded on the violin. My husband and I have a sweet, slow falling in love story.
Ceremony exit song: “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros This has been a lifelong favorite song of mine. It completely captures the love we have for each other.
First dance: “Simply the Best” by Billianne I stumbled upon this song at some point, and I love the lyrics of it. I can’t count the number of times I have looked at my husband and thought, “He is simply the best”.
Father/Daughter: “Cinderella” by Steven Curtis Chapman My dad used to take me to a father-daughter dance every year, and this song was always played that night. It is such a sweet memory I have with my dad, and now it is a part of my wedding memory too.
Last song of the night: “Band of Gold // Summer Sessions” by the Gray Havens My mom and I love this song, so it already meant a lot to me, but it is such a sweet reminder of the commitment we made to each other on our wedding day.
DIY
I feel like my entire wedding sort of became a huge DIY project. My venue was my childhood home in our field and barn. We did so much cleaning and rearranging, we hung lights and curtains, we built fences, we cleaned again.
My aunt, my mom’s friend, and my mom grew all the flowers used for the wedding. My dad and husband built the arch we got married under. I hand lettered every sign that we used at the wedding.
My best friend and grandma made the desserts and cakes. I am so grateful for the village surrounding my husband and I during our whole engagement season.
Doing so much ourselves brought the inevitable stress but it also brought so much more joy, love, and celebration to it.
Honeymoon
My husband and I went to Wanship, Utah to stay in an AirBnB cabin in the mountains. We knew we wanted a private location that was close to a small town in a state neither of us had been to. It ended up being absolutely perfect and gorgeous; the perfect place for us to relax and enjoy each other’s company.
Wedding Planning Tips & Tricks
Some advice that I followed while planning my wedding is to let all the details just fall into place. Don’t stress and stress again about the small details that will fall into the background on your actual wedding day.
List of Vendors
Photographer:
Sean + Kat Photography
@seanandkatphotos
Caterer:
Fresh Fork Catering
@freshforkcatering
Desserts and cake:
Abby Beasley
@_abby_beasley_
and my grandmother, Nancy Kirlin
Dress:
Sophia’s Bridal
@sophiasbridalandtux
https://sophiasbridalandtux.com
Veil:
Classic Veils
@classic_veils
Reception earrings:
Hometown Girls Jewelry Co.
@hometowngirlsjewelryco
https://www.hometowngirlsjewelryco.com
