Today’s real wedding features the second of Natasha and Mark’s two wedding ceremonies.  The first was a civil ceremony that took place in May and the second was a much larger ceremony and reception that took place in August at The Country Club in Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada.  Natasha first came across Etsy while browsing the wedding website Wedding by Color in search of a photographer.  She found her photographer and so much more!

The Details

Treble clef table name holders by AllegroArt

Thank you for being my bridesmaid cards and Sixpence for the Brides shoe by MonAmourBoutique

Photography by Kristie Macor and Brenden Woods of  Tied Photography 

What was your theme/colors and what inspired it?

Started as ivory, purple and silver but ended up more like a peacock palette, with pinks, purples and blues. I was fine with that in the end, it turned out really pretty!  What inspired the original palette was that my favourite colour is purple and I knew I wanted to wear off-white. What inspired the quasi-peacock palette is that it is impossible to find 5 bridesmaid outfits the same colour – so we went with the flow and it came out beautifully!

What creative (DIY) or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?

We initially exchanged Happiness and Energy bracelets at our civil ceremony and not rings (bought from Etsy). We used these to symbolize that we started as friends (we were actually friends for 10 years before we first dated) and would always be friends.  We later used wedding bands in August. We also fused our cultures into the day – Jamaica, Indian, Sri Lankan, we had Jamaican food and music, Indian attire and some music and a special ceremony and then Sri Lankan spice boxes as favours. Also we named our tables after songs and ordered great treble clef table name holders from Etsy seller Allegro Art to house them!  We also did a sand ceremony, but instead of just uniting the two of us, we asked our moms to join us and we united our families as well. Family means everything to us.

What is the most memorable moment of your day?

Seeing my husband as I walked down the aisle. Nothing else mattered. Not the weather, not the details, just the man of my dreams waiting for me, with a happy smile on his face. So amazing.

What was your favorite Etsy find?

I loved the bridesmaid cards, the Sixpence and the treble clef holders. They were all such beautiful touches.

What’s the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you’re on the other side? 

Relax and enjoy the process. Try to express yourself through your wedding but don’t lose the meaning of the wedding in all of the details. And a day-of-coordinator and good photographer are must haves!

Amanda and Mark got married last August at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa in front of a 500,000 gallon fish tank!  They, along with their 60 guests had the entire Aquarium to themselves.  And as Amanda put it…it was awesome!

The Details

Monogram by jennjohnstondesigns   

Cootie Catchers by katskrafts

Personalised handkerchiefs by linenwhites

Seashell bouquet & brides hair piece by romanticflowers

Table Numbers by GEDesigns

Personalized table runner by exclusiveelements

Sign by EverlastingMoment

Guest Book by cutthecakedesigns

Photography by Logan Mallon of Just Say Cheese Photography 

What was your theme/colors and what inspired it?

Pool Blues Ivory & Silver. The colors were inspired by the venue. We wanted a beautiful under the sea look. And the silver was for the color of the fish scales and reflection of the moon on the water.

What was your favorite Etsy find? My bouquet.

It was so original and exactly what I wanted since I am not a flower kinda girl!

What creative (DIY) or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?

I did a lot of things myself. I loved my silver boxes with our favorite candies inside. Wrapped with a blue ribbon and a white starfish glued on top! Everyone loved them! And my centerpieces I did myself. I took tall cylinders and put seashells on the bottom and a party light inside. Then took a single white orchid and put inside. It was perfect for the tables since everyone could see each other and fit in with our underwater theme. Plus we were in front of a HUGE fish tank. So it worked! For invitations we had messages in bottles. They were soo cute! They had sand in the bottom and little shells and our invitation rolled up. And then a seashell box it was in. It really helped set the tone of our wedding.

What’s the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you’re on the other side?

Relax. Take your time. And do a lot yourself.

What is the most memorable moment of your day?

Before our daughter walked down the aisle as our flower girl, we had penguins walk down the aisle! And the sparkler send off was a lot of fun too!

Today’s wedding took place last May at the Darwin Botanic Gardens, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.  Bride Desiree first learned of Etsy through the wedding forum Australian Wedding Central.

The Details

Customised toasting flutes from Magic Brushes Workshop 
Silk flowers for bridal bouquet, bridesmaids’ corsages and buttonholes from Southern Girl Weddings 
Brides gold earrings from LuluSplendor  
Program fans from Impression Invitations  
Table number holders from The Funky Shack  
Shoe clips from Twisted Crystals  
Bindi from Miischelle 

Photography by Christopher Knight from Digifilm

What was your theme/colors and what inspired it?

Our wedding theme was Fusion (Indian + Western) to incorporate both mine and Matt’s cultures (I’m Singaporean Indian and he’s Australian).  The colors were red, white and light gold, inspired by my Indian background.

What was your favorite Etsy find?

It’s a tie between the silk flowers and the shoe clips! The seller for the silk flowers was just amazing. She was very patient and customized it to suit my wedding entirely. The shoe clips are my favorite as well because I can re-use them whenever I want

What is the most memorable moment of your day?

Walking down the aisle and seeing my husband’s beaming smile.

What creative (DIY) or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?

- Table numbers – I created our table numbers using photos of our 3 pets and the word ‘love’ in different languages.
- Handmade individual guest cards that were completed and compiled in a DIY guestbook.

What’s the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you’re on the other side?

Compromise!

Today’s wedding had a “Dude of Honour”, a “Groomsgirl” and the bride and groom reading their vows off  from their Iphones.  With fun elements like that you know that Thanisha and Ian’s wedding was going to be a blast.  200 guests shared their fun filled day at the  Holland Ranch, San Luis Obispo in California.  Bride Thanisha first learned of Etsy from her Bridesmaid who was raving about what she called a “ridiculously awesome crafty site”.

The Details

Giant initial letters and the table numbers by thebackporchshoppe
Custom stickers for the “Thank-you” goodie bags by MAUpromos
Boy and girl robot wedding toppers for the dessert bar by Littlebrownbyrd
Vintage typewriter we used in lieu of a guestbook. Guest could either type us a message or write us a postcard by amyquerin
Fabric squares for reception tables by fabriccloset, fabricpalooza, mimis, fernridgefabrics
Sign to direct guests by TheWoodenOwl

Photography by Jen Rodriguez Photography 

What was your theme/colors and what inspired it?

Our wedding to convey a romantic but rustic chic feel. In San Luis Obispo, there are a plethora of gorgeous locations and we had a lot of out of town guests coming to the wedding so we wanted to showcase how beautiful it is where we live. From the color palette of soft peaches and corals of the bridesmaids dresses to the khaki color of the groomsmen (and groomsgirl). My bouquet and all the flowers were local and what was in season. We had a lot of wildflowers and herbs infused throughout the wedding.

What is the most memorable moment of your day?

Ohhh I can pinpoint just one so here I go:
1. Having my brother walk me down the isle while the theme song from Amelie was playing
2. Seeing my soon to be husband at the end of the isle waiting for me
3. Reading our vows off our Iphone
4. Calling him my husband for the first time

What creative (DIY) or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?

It was important to me to have unique elements in our wedding that our guests would not see at other weddings.  It started out with our invitations. I wanted our guests to get the invitation and say “wow that’s going to be a fun wedding” My bridesmaid Pam (who is a goddess and will be opening up a shop on Etsy in winter) made the invitations and programs. I love flowers and the floral look so my mother in law made different floral fabric squares for every single table. Instead of having my brother on the grooms side I had him on my side as my “Dude of Honor”. My husbands sister was a groomsgirl. My husband is gluten intolerant so we had a completely gluten free dessert bar. My mom even made her famous peanut butter cookies (gluten free of course).

What was your favorite Etsy find?

The Robot Wedding toppers that matched my tattoo. My husband loved this so much when I showed him.

What’s the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you’re on the other side?

Remember it is about two people in love. Make your wedding personal and something that really reflects both of your personalities. Your guests will enjoy it more if your try to keep it about you two and not a cookie cutter style wedding.

Katherine and Chester shared their fun summer wedding with 145 guest.  They were married in Ohio on August 7th, 2010.   Katherine first came across Etsy while browsing the wedding blog “Style Me Pretty”.

The Details

Custom bridal bouquet tile by palomasnest

Tons of pink and cream paper pom poms by FiestaPomPom

Mustache photo prop by whiskerworks

Custom sugar anemones by sweetpetalbakery

Table number/names calligraphy by treschicecriture

Photography by Norman Freelan and his assistant, Sarah

What was your theme/colors and what inspired it? 

I wanted the wedding to radiate fun, summer, and pink.  I think the decorations and details we chose really supported the vision.

What is the most memorable moment of your day?

The whole day was so much fun.  I loved seeing Chester for the first time that day.  It was so special to have all our friends and family with us to celebrate.  I definitely got a kick out of some of the dates of the bridal party having the limo driver take them to get a fast food order for all of us while we were taking pictures!     

What creative (DIY) or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?

My mom made about 75 flag pennants for guests to wave as we exited the church.  It was fun to see the flags waving in the sun.   We had white roses in a vase in our church.  We wrote a note in our program to let guests know they were there in memory of our relatives and friends who had passed away.   To incorporate Chester’s love of cycling, the seating display featured mini bicycle ornaments with flag pennants on them to direct the guests to their seats.  The tables were named after mountain climbs in the Tour de France.  Guests could drink from brightly-colored striped straws and dab their mouths with customized trivia napkins featuring fun facts about us.

What was your favorite Etsy find? 

I really wanted to have sugar flowers on our wedding cakes but had trouble finding just the right ones.  Etsy was the perfect place!  Sweetpetalbakery was amazing.

What’s the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you’re on the other side?

My best advice for planning a wedding is to make sure that you have elements that your guests will see and say “that’s so the bride and groom”.  Those personalized touches are what your guests will remember and they make the wedding day so much more fun.  Also, the day will not go exactly as you have it planned, handle that with grace and laugh it off.  Not even a flat tire on our limo en route to the reception could ruin our fabulous day!