pearl grey skies & fireflies
Old barn doors. Cream eyelet and Swiss champagne satin batiste. Mason jars of roses & forget-me-nots. Streamers of bright ribbon clutched by children. Tiny violinists under apple trees. Punched tin can lanterns. Sweet ancient songs sung by schoolchildren. Dancing wildly to a bluegrass band. Sugary white cakes. A tiny wedding night cottage. Tealights floating in the pond where children try to catch frogs. Arbors woven with roses.
Yesterday was my sister-in-law’s sister Myra’s wedding, held at the farm that has been in their family for many generations. As a wedding present, I designed, patterned, and sewed her dress, somehow got wrangled into doing her hair and makeup, put together the bridal bouquet from white roses & bits from her grandmother’s garden, and arranged the flowers for the bridal table. Who knew I had a secret one-stop-wedding-shop inside me just waiting to come out?? (And stood in as amateur backup wedding photographer!)
My mother sewed the bridesmaids dresses, as well as the ties & vests for the boys. A very DIY wedding – flowers from the garden gathered into maple sap buckets by the bridesmaids, a potluck meal, a cake made by an aunt, handwritten vows, handbuilt pews (and outhouses!) & a lot of love.
30 Comments on pearl grey skies & fireflies
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[...] my dress plus finish building the cabin plus build a deck/dancefloor plus yadda yadda. I’m a DIY girl but dang, I do not know where some people get the [...]
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[...] Jim & Myra’s wedding? Well, besides having a gorgeous wedding, they have a gorgeous house and new baby! Jim has spent [...]
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Kristin
June 21, 2009 at 8:43 pm (1458 days ago)You did a gorgeous job Tamera, even the photography looks lovely, you must be proud and exhausted!
april
June 21, 2009 at 9:21 pm (1458 days ago)WOW! Seriously! Absolutely stunning! You must have been feeling the pressure as a one-stop-wedding-shop, but you sure can’t tell by looking at these photos! That dress is so pretty! You brought that cotton eyelet lace to a whole new level. The flowers are so sweet. I think they were lucky to have you as the “back-up photographer” as well… looks pretty pro to me!
Fantastic job my dear!
Angeliska
June 21, 2009 at 9:24 pm (1458 days ago)Holy-holy, girl! This all looks so amazing- every bit is so perfect, and these pictures you took are beyond! You are a tiny dynamo and everything you touch turns to pearls and roses. Love on you!
verhext
June 21, 2009 at 9:26 pm (1458 days ago)The fabric choosing was my favorite part, I think! I knew I wanted something clean and not fussy, but pretty – it’s a country wedding! She danced all night in it and it was holding up when I left, late.
It was definitely an honor to be trusted to the dress, hair and makeup, but she declared it all exactly what she had envisioned – so – success!!
Thank you for the sweet comments!
verhext
June 21, 2009 at 9:32 pm (1458 days ago)Angel: When I move to Austin, we start a magical event planning / antique shop / cupcakery / witchcraft on demand shop. Yes. Also Holly.
nath
June 22, 2009 at 1:10 am (1458 days ago)you clever thing. it all looks so super-special and homespun and, of course, magical. i especially love the pearly roses and forget-me-knots.
what a day to treasure.
valerie
June 22, 2009 at 3:49 am (1458 days ago)tamera. that is so amazing. i would hire you in a heartbeat.
Francesca Furiosa
June 22, 2009 at 7:28 am (1458 days ago)But really, really?!
Amazing.
You are one wonderfully talented woman, T.
lindsay
June 22, 2009 at 11:44 am (1458 days ago)amazing and perfect and magic.
Maven
June 22, 2009 at 5:41 pm (1458 days ago)So, so, so lovely.
Maryah
June 22, 2009 at 6:50 pm (1458 days ago)These take my breath away – everything a wedding should be, but so often forgotten is here. Love, attention to detail paid with caring hands and words from the heart look like they made this the day of their lives – Congrats to all involved =)
Automne
June 23, 2009 at 7:47 am (1457 days ago)Magical. You do everything so well.
rachie
June 23, 2009 at 10:50 pm (1456 days ago)all of it, absolutely stunningly beautiful. it looks like it was such a happy day, and i knew you could make that dress look as amazing as you wanted to. really good job. i’m glad she loved it, too, but i didn’t expect any less.
now i need to find someone to marry so you can make MY dress.
i actually really want to just have the fun party. the guy would only be secondary.
kaahl
June 24, 2009 at 12:13 pm (1456 days ago)singing girls photo is the best.
Dress Launderette
michelle
June 24, 2009 at 3:19 pm (1456 days ago)i really love the last picture, it’s very sally mann!
Magpie
June 28, 2009 at 1:56 pm (1452 days ago)“Amateur” photographer, she says! You did a fantastic job – photos, dress, hair and all! I think you have a calling.
As a newly engaged woman myself, I think I want to hire you as my wedding planner!
(Oh, just out of curiosity, what’s the age diff between the bride and groom? I’m just curious because my fiance is 10 years my senior, and it looks like there are a few years between these two. Boy, oh boy, though, don’t they look happy!)
verhext
June 28, 2009 at 2:14 pm (1452 days ago)Magpie: Maybe I have a new calling indeed! It was fun. They’re 14 years apart, she’s 27 and he’s 41. Cute though!!
What are you planning for your wedding?
andrea gutierrez
June 29, 2009 at 7:23 pm (1451 days ago)oh my…what a breathtaking day…
roxi
June 30, 2009 at 7:37 pm (1450 days ago)wow! you did a fantastic job, what a beautiful wedding! i like how everything is very elegant but still simple. yr shot of the couple kissing with her veil sweeping out is heartstopping.
LauraKitty
July 5, 2009 at 7:20 pm (1445 days ago)What a lucky girl to have you around to do so much and to do it all so beautifully!
verhext
July 5, 2009 at 7:33 pm (1445 days ago)thank you so much! it certainly was rewarding to see it all come together.
Kelly
July 14, 2009 at 7:12 pm (1436 days ago)It is absolutely stunning! Kelly
Hänni
August 5, 2009 at 7:31 am (1414 days ago)Hello, I’m here from the Vintage Glam Wedding Blog. Myra’s dress is *spectacular*. I wonder why you aren’t selling custom gowns through Etsy. Again, *amazing*
verhext
August 5, 2009 at 8:09 am (1414 days ago)Thanks, Hanni!!
I have a full time job working for Fair Trade Certified as a web strategist, which I love -no time for many side projects!! I am making another custom dress for a friend, but this is a friends and family benefit only!! Brides are too much to handle! Hee.
Jess
August 5, 2009 at 1:29 pm (1414 days ago)That dress… OH that dress! I’m seconding the Etsy shop rec. I’ve been looking for that dress for 9 months, ha ha!
Meg
June 28, 2010 at 1:53 pm (1087 days ago)AHHHAHAHHAHHHHHH! This is youuuuu. Well, not you as in yours, but you as in you wrote it. Someone sent me a link to this post (of course) last year, and I was like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s really great, but it’s so awkward that the bride is 16.” And she’s NOT 16. Suddenly it all becomes clear.
Off to look at pictures of their baby.
verhext
June 28, 2010 at 11:39 pm (1086 days ago)Ha! Seriously, though – this experience, before being engaged or even THINKING about being married, made me feel comfortable putting on a wedding. Within ONE WEEK, we put everything together, and it is DIY in a real Vermont sense, not in a crafty-blog sense (though I wish someone had DIY’d the hems on the men’s trousers, sheesh) – if they hadnt spent $ to get electricity to the land, they would have spent around $2000 total.
And yes, she’s 28 here. Older than MANY brides on APW, for sure.
Dress: made by me
Hair and makeup: me
Bridesmaids dresses: fabric hand screen by a friend of the groom, dresses sewn by my mother
Arbor / benches for ceremony: made by the groom
Venue: bride’s family farm
Flowers: wild / arranged by me
Cake: bride’s aunt
Cupcakes: my brother
Food: potluck
Photography: me, her sister, etc. (http://www.flickr.com/groups/1113584@N24/pool/with/3646095434)
Maybe I could do a “wedding test run” post for you, about the experience, and how it’s feeding into my own wedding planning??? Hee.
Ben
February 16, 2013 at 11:19 pm (122 days ago)I am happy there are cool people in this world like you. Beautiful job, and I LOVE your strawbale house.
Ben…