A whole lot of detail and planning went into the setup of Steven & Jaylene’s wedding reception! Jaylene and I combed through countless thrift and antique stores throughout the summer and started collecting items we’d use for decor! Basically everything in this wedding was DIY; from flowers to decor to the delicious food! It was simply amazing.

I was relieved of photography duties during the reception so I could sit back and enjoy my niece’s wedding! I did however sneak around the tent and take a bunch of detail shots. I wasn’t going to let all those hours spent on creating such a beautiful wedding go without being captured! So I may not have a lot of people pictures from the reception but I’ll share a boat load of detail shots with you all!

Guests were directed to various locations by these handmade wooden signs on the lawn. The fabric bunting you see used throughout added such an amazing touch to a plain tent! Thank you to my friend Rosella for cutting out all the triangles and Sherri for sewing the bunting. It was beautiful!

One Plus One designed the tags for a seating chart! I brought a few of my rustic door and window frames which I covered with chicken wire. After attempting my own version of “calligraphy” and writing all the individual names on tags, I tied them to the chicken wire frames using twine.

Even those eye sore outhouses can be prettied up by adding hand painted signs and a hutch featuring a hand washing station and antique mirror hung up on a tree!

The home cooked meal was delicious! My family having Belizean roots, Jaylene and her mom decided on a Belizean meal!!

Spanish rice, Belizean chicken (YUM), coleslaw, and dinner rolls. The meal was home cooked and served by members in my family!

The beverage station was fabulous! We served the Italian soda and Pina colada out of giant antique crocks! I ordered blue and orange striped paper straws and attached little flags to each one. So cute! An assortment of mismatched tea cups were used to serve the coffee. My sister Vera and I spent hours arranging and throwing in little pieces of antiques throughout all the different stations!

For centrepieces we gathered mountains of old books, placed them on ripped music sheets and piled them on all the tables! Paper pinwheels were scattered throughout as well. We used mostly mason jars to hold the flowers which were all freshly picked from their garden! The mason jars were wrapped with lace, twine and fabric rosettes to add some character. Table numbers designed by One Plus One were held up by clothespins stuck & glued into old wooden spools! The whole set up was wonderful and the guests were in genuine awe at all the beautiful details!

I have to admit, the dessert display was probably my favorite! Jaylene found this old shelving unit in their stinkin’ ole shack, painted it and we hauled it into the tent! We had family members bring various dessert dishes for the reception. All the cupcakes were baked and decorated by the bridesmaids! Mother of the bride (my lovely sister) is extremely talented with wood working. She created these beautiful cupcakes trays! Jaylene made all the little signs and I penned in all the different desserts. I loved the colourful dessert dishes that my friend Jessie from One Plus One Design lent us for the wedding. It added a wonderful splash of colour! Needless to say the display was a huge attraction and was admired by many! Oh and of course it was delicious!!

In one corner of the tent we set up a photo memories centre! Jaylene’s way of spending some alone time on the day of the wedding was to get up early and head to the tent to hang all these pictures!

Photo booth! Jaylene & Steven opted to have guests use an Instax camera to get their picture taken. Which was then pinned to chicken wire frames! As you can tell, fun was had by all! Well… almost everyone!

(the last picture features me and my lovely sisters)

I walked the grounds one more time as the festivities were winding down. Here is a quick glance at the “aisle” and marriage license signing table.

I had a chance to work with a lot of amazing people that poured their hearts into making this a perfect day for Steven & Jaylene!

A shout out to Layna, Vera, Shauna, Esther and Sherri!!

Congratulations Steven & Jaylene!

Love,