Romantic Vintage Forest Wedding with String Lights | Candace & Ian

Bride and groom sharing a tender moment at their wedding

Romance abounds in this beautifully transformed vintage forest wedding. Hundreds of string lights sparkled above Candace and Ian, as they shared their, "I do's!"
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Elegant wedding dress and glitter shoes in forest setting

Woman in white dress near a tree with decorative mirror

Finding The Perfect Dress

From the Bride:
I actually first saw my dress before I even met Ian! My friend, and wedding photographer, Liz of Lizard Nickel Photography had previously worked at BHLDN, and so I became interested in BHLDN dresses. I would browse online every now and then, and one day, I saw…THE DRESS! Made by designers, fancy, this dress was all I wanted. I don’t know why— it was nothing I planned on loving, but I loved it. I waited to purchase it until I was engaged, and it was almost too late! I literally ordered the last one, and it came, and I loved it even more! This dress was made for me.

Pink snapdragons in a vase with gold bows outdoors

Bride and bridesmaids with floral bouquets outdoors

Micro Flower Budget

Wanting to save money, I decided not to order flowers in advance. Instead, my dear friend, Judith, and I got up at 8 AM on the wedding day, and went to the local grocery store in Loomis, and purchased their best looking flowers.

This might seem crazy because this meant that I was unable to choose exactly which flowers were going to be at my wedding in advance, but I was willing to let go of that control to save some money. We ended up with pink snap dragons for the bridesmaids, wild spring flowers for me, a single lily for Ian’s boutonniere, and the hydrangeas and wild spring flowers for the 2 table arrangements. The total: less than $40!

romantic forest ceremony complete with twinkle lights

Love Lineage Dress Display

I had my grandmother’s, mother’s, and mother’s-in-law wedding dresses displayed on borrowed dress forms. For the grandmothers that did not have wedding dresses, I displayed pictures of them with their husbands from their younger days. Each dress/picture had a chalkboard tag displaying the years that they were married, and from which side of the wedding party the family member was from.

Framed wedding photo with 56 years until death tag

Wedding dresses display with anniversary pictures outdoors

Advice On Compromise

Brides, compromises are not a bad thing! Sometimes you will be surprised at what you can come up with when you cannot get your way! I cannot imagine liking my original plan of solid wood tables any more than I liked my fold up tables with the linens and runners! 

Don’t sweat the small stuff…actually don’t even sweat the big stuff! Seriously none of it is that big of a deal. Let me tell you, the day before the wedding, the cleaners that pressed my dress put a stain and a hole in my dress…oh well! Life goes on! And guess what…I got married anyhow! Plus, no one even noticed the stain or the hole.

Rustic wedding guest book table in a forest setting