love is blonde

One of the things I loved most about wedding planning was sharing all the fun details on the blog. Now that my wedding is long gone, I have recruited one of my best girlfriends to share her wedding planning details here. So everyone, meet the lovely bride Alexa.

Alexa and her handsome and smart fiancé live in Ohio and are planning a June wedding at a rustic little farm in Akron. They have been together for longer than I have known my own husband, so I am super excited to see them exchange vows and smile and pose for photos and dance. Also, my very own European vacation begins literally hours after their wedding, so I tell them that I am honeymooning again on their behalf.

In Alexa’s words: “Our wedding day combines our favorite things and was an exercise in creativity. We wanted a casual but nice affair where we felt like ourselves. It took us a long time to even warm up to having a wedding (we’ve been together 8 years) so we were not going to backtrack from our ideals! From the food, to the dress, the location, the activities, the music, and even the mason jars–we were motivated to make our day reflect our life. With a little help from our friends, it has come together like a dream!”

(Side note: I borrowed a few pics from Genevieve Nisly, who photographed a wedding at the farm last summer. She will also be photographing Lex’s wedding. She looks pretty darn talented, don’t you agree?)

“We are getting married on a historic farmstead near where we live in Ohio. The driveway is gravel and shaded heavily by trees. You come to the clearing and there is the barn and meadow. It’s our wedding oasis!  Guests will be greeted first at our Lemonade Stand as they walk across the meadow. My fiancé’s sister will marry us in a snuggie (just kidding!).  Afterwards, we’ll play lawn games in the yard (croquette, bocce, cornhole- renamed “love bags” for the day) and sip spiked lemonade. Oh and yes, we’re having a bluegrass band for the ceremony and cocktail time!”

“Dinner will be grilled on site- kabobs and we’ll dance the night away as the sun sets. We may have a bonfire too.”

“The groomsmen will be wearing navy chuck taylors, a tie and khakis. My fiancé will wear cream chuck taylors and a blue suit. The bridesmaids will be in navy subtle lace patterned knee length dress as well.” (Note from Janet: These are not the exact clothes, just similarly inspired. I can’t be giving away ALL the secrets!)

Alexa loves birds possibly more than even I do, so she wants a simple cake like the one pictured, with with some birds possibly on top. I don’t have a photo of this but I can already tell it will be one of my favorite things about her wedding. Crazy bird ladies unite!

The wedding is already less than 100 days away, which is always a big milestone in planning. Thank you to my dear friend for sharing your wedding plans here and cheers to your upcoming big day!