We designed and created every bit of this wedding ourselves: from the save the dates, to invitations and ceremony programs and wedding favors (homemade apple butter, peach rosemary jam and herbal tea). I absolutely love gardening and growing flowers, so I knew that flowers were important in the wedding. We chose sage green and orange as the color inspiration, as wanted something "fall" but also fun and cheerful. Because I love fresh flowers, I decided to do most of the flower arrangements myself. My mother and best friend helped me to make the centerpieces and all other arrangements. We ordered flowers from Fifty Flowers (after comparing many online floral wholesalers and having a good plan of how we wanted them to look) and they arrived just a few days before the wedding - then we set to work! Many of the other details were local, handmade or family heirlooms. A local, amazingly creative florist made my bouquet, boutonnieres and corsages. She wrapped my bouquet in the baby bonnet I wore when I was baptized. Instead of a traditional guestbook, William and I decided to make a time capsule. He built a dove-tail wooden box and our guests wrote letters for us to open on our 5th anniversary. We also wrote notes to each other, and bought a bottle of wine on our honeymoon in New Zealand to keep until that anniversary. We worked with an excellent caterer to have a local and seasonally inspired menu. Wearing family heirlooms on my wedding day was very important to me, so I wore my mother's veil (that she wore on her wedding day 35 years ago), my grandmother's diamond bracelet and earrings and my other grandmother's shawl (hand knit by her aunt). It was such a beautiful, unique, memorable day!
