Erica & Dennis' Intimate Wedding at a State Park

Erica and Dennis are a lovely, creative couple from Washington D.C. who I had the privilege of working with the month of their wedding! I love taking a brides vision and creating her dream day, but when a bride wants the freedom to create on her own, I also love helping with the last minute details and coordinating the wedding day. Erica was the latter, with Dennis her strong partner along the way. I hope you enjoy reading about their intimate wedding. 

Erica and Dennis' day started off with what she describes as her favorite part!

One of my favorite moments from the day was our first look. I didn't have cold feet, but was feeling nervous about everything coming together. When I saw him, though, I instantly felt at ease, burst into tears of happiness and knew that it was going to be a perfect day.

Dennis and Erica's love story poured into their day and really represented who they are as a couple.

Dennis and I were together for 6 years before we got engaged during a weekend treehouse camping trip. We love being outdoors and knew immediately that we'd want to have a small, rustic outdoor wedding in my hometown of Nashville, TN. We live in Washington, DC so had to do a lot of the planning from afar, which was sometimes challenging, especially when it came to venue selection. We were initially thinking of a farm wedding, but found most of them to be way beyond our budget so we tried to think of other outdoor options like a nice rental house, garden or park. When we found Montgomery Bell State Park, we knew that it was the perfect place to say I do, surrounded by the beauty of nature and love of all our family and friends.

DIY Decor!

When it came to decorations, we knew we wanted to DIY as much as we could since Dennis is so creative. In fact, his very first gift to me was a bracelet made out of a bicycle spoke (he's a bike mechanic!) so as a token of gratitude for sharing our day with us, he made a bicycle spoke bracelet for each of our guests. Everything had our touch, from the songs we chose to walk down the aisle, to the pumpkin decorations we grew, to the bicycle pie topper Dennis made, each selection we made represented us individually and as a couple.

Erica's advice for other brides:

My advice to other brides is to not get too focused on making sure all the little details are perfect because things will inevitably go wrong at some point, but luckily it's not about those things, it's about marrying the love of your life and that's what makes it the perfect day.

Guest Count: 40
Planner: Megan Scurlock, Locklane Weddings & Events
Ceremony Venue: Montgomery Bell State Park – Lake Woodhaven
Reception Venue: Montgomery Bell State Park – Golf Pro Shop
Photographer: Whitney Raquel Photography
Florals: Basil & Bergamot Flower Farm
Centerpieces: DIY (with flowers from Basil & Bergamot)
Catering: Jim 'N Nick's
Pies: Papa C Pies
DJ: Friend of couple, Matt Suitt
Hair & Makeup: Blowout Company
Officiant: Sherrie Binkley

Brianna & Brad's Circus Wedding filled with Fun and DIY

My baby sister got married!
All three McClane girls are now married. It seems so strange that we're no longer little girls, and yet, here we are.

Brianna has always been the most adventurous of us three girls. She was the first to move permanently away from Texas, first to grad school in Chicago before settling in Washington D.C. It was in D.C. where she met the man of her dreams, Bradley. He's a keeper. And they are the opposites that perfectly compliment each other. They're about to pick up on another adventure and move to his home state of Idaho. But no matter where Brianna is - Texas is still home. She chose to have her wedding in Dallas (Plano to be exact), but picked a pole barn in the middle of the city! It was a perfect union of city meets country, with a circus twist.

We have always loved going to the zoo, so I expected Brianna to incorporate animals,
but her reason for choosing the circus theme was so much better than that:

The circus theme came about because I wanted something that involved a lot of color, animals, and was fun for kids. We had a lot of children that came to the wedding, and the circus theme allowed for fun items for all partygoers – including red clown noses, coloring sheets, fake tattoos and animal themed tables.

Honestly, I’m a huge perfectionist. It was really hard for me to chill out about the whole event. That’s why I decided to go with a theme that was focused less on perfection and more about fun. If you looked at most of the items that we used to decorate the wedding, it mainly consisted of gold spray paint, Martha Stewart glitter and glue sticks. Even the pinwheels were bought for a few bucks and spray-painted gold (and they looked great).

Because their officiant (our godfather) is not a licensed minister, our parents (who are both pastors) officially married Bri and Brad!

Great tip - divide and conquer! Not just to be resourceful, but to have your loved ones really involved.

Several pieces of our wedding décor were created all around the country. The backdrop for the ceremony itself was compiled in Idaho. The “Mr.” and “Mrs.” that hung on the back of our chairs was made by one of my friends in Chicago. And I painted the jars that were used in the centerpieces in DC and slowly shipped them back to Texas. I even had a friend volunteer to cut out the mask/fan programs (she said it was a fun task to do while watching TV).

It made the wedding even more special that so many of our friends and family members played such a big part in the wedding. We really couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help.

Tell us about your dessert!

I really love pie. The great thing about doing pie for the dessert, rather than cake, is that there is a lot more variety. People can pick and choose which ones they want to try. It also leant itself again to the theme (thankfully, no one ended up with a pie in their face), and it was a lot easier and cheaper than buying a large wedding cake.

We did decide to have a small cake to cut. It was red velvet, which I love, and the toppers were an elephant groom and bride. They were actually created by the daughter of a friend, so not only did we save money there, but also another great way to incorporate more people into the event. What 8 year old doesn’t love pointing to the sculpture on top of a wedding cake and saying “I did that”?

Unique centerpieces that double as favors!

My mom really doubted the idea of spray-painting plastic animals gold, but she loved it once she saw the final product (and she actually spray painted them all herself). We also let guests and family members take the animals home with them, and I have a ton scattered around our apartment. It’s a fun reminder of the wedding, but also a unique accent piece.

Brianna's advice for other brides:

Nothing went "right" on our wedding day. A downpour started before the ceremony, so we had to move most of the décor inside and had to rush to take photos when it cleared up for a few minutes. Thankfully, it didn’t rain again that night. So many people say that their wedding day was “the perfect day” or “the best day of their life.” Brad and I both agree that our wedding wasn’t perfect. But it was a great day because we got married and we spent time with our loved ones.

For a perfectionist like me, it can be hard to look past all the things that didn’t go right and focus on what did. But when it comes to your wedding, that’s what you have to do (or you’ll go crazy). Nothing is ever going to be Pinterest perfect unfortunately. Thankfully, I had my lovely sister and her husband working in the background, holding the whole event together. Without their help, I have no idea how anything would have gotten done. I suggest that every bride have a wedding planner, it’s essential that someone else has the responsibility besides you.

Guest Count: 90
Ceremony and Reception Venue: Heritage Farmstead Museum
Photographer: Evan Godwin Photography (Charlie Roch)
Planner: Megan Scurlock, Locklane Weddings & Events
Pianist: Sister of the groom
Florals - Bouquets: We + You
Florals - Centerpieces: Mother of the bride
Baker: Bake Rejoice
Pies: Angela's At the Crosswalk
DJ: Friend of couple
Hair & Makeup: Amanda Teel
Officiant: Kelly Nicolello and parents of the bride
Catering: Spring Creek Barbeque
Dress: Moonlight from The Blushing Bride Boutique
Linen Rental: AM Linen
Chair Rental: Hunt County/Lakeside Party Rentals