Our DIY days began before we bought our builder-basic house and started fixing it up. We also DIYed our wedding details, from my dress alterations to make it perfectly me, to the personalized crossword puzzle we created for the place mats at our reception.

We wanted to get married outside, but it was July in mid-Missouri, in the country. If we’re honest, it probably would have been miserable. (Actually, I know it would have been, I was seriously sweating just taking our photos outside!) So we did our best to bring that casual, country vibe inside the church and our event hall.

The first impression was fun and festive. Yellow of course! And hand-painted on barn wood from our family farm.

We made a signpost for guests to better find their way around when they came inside. Wyatt carved the stump with our initials and it’s one of my favorite mementos from that day.

We chose foods that we loved from a great local caterer. BBQ of course! We had a menu board and a barbecue sauce bar with the sauces from all our favorite restaurants so our guests could try several and choose their favorites.

 

And instead of cake, we had cupcakes. LOTS of them!

And the cake we cut? Fun!

As for the dance floor, we used sections of picket fence to define the area but still keep it really open for people to come and go.

Oh, and the lanterns? They were the biggest splurge because we had to special order them and they aren’t cheap, especially because we wanted lanterns that were large and we needed a LOT of them. A lot as in hundreds… and we needed the lights, too, but they looked amazing, and we’ve loaned several of them out for other events since then!

For favors, we made a CD of all our favorite love songs, but since we have such different tastes in music, we each had our own section… and then a few songs we both agreed on.

We also saved money by making our own photo booth with fabric and extra lanterns. We stocked it with props like picture frames, chalkboards, and some other silly stuff, then we enlisted a family member to help man it for us throughout the night.

Those photos are great memories and such fun reminders of our guests who were there to celebrate with us! And how happy we were!

Another detail that I loved was how we had the cheapest centerpieces ever…mason jars from my mom and grandma’s basements, and wildflowers from the fields and roadsides near our house in the country. Plus, I had a great day with friends putting all of them together.

We also bought some yellow plastic flower pots and planted real zinnias in them so we had living beauty to take home and enjoy later! And the candles were in baby food jars my family saved for us.

Everything about that day is such a beautiful, perfect memory. (Even the moment when my toe was crushed by an unfortunate step during the dollar dance.)

At the end of the day, it was so special to know that our friends and family had a great time celebrating with us. I honestly wouldn’t change a thing about our wedding day. It was so special in so many ways!

Right down to the empty cupcake wrappers and the completed crosswords!