Tyler and Lexi’s Heartfelt Western September Wedding at The Urban Cowboy in Nashville, TN
A DIY Dinosaur Wedding – Katherine & Grant
I was so excited when we received Katherine and Grant’s real wedding. I am a huge fan of an unusually themed wedding, especially when the theme, also played such a huge theme in this couples engagement. Their dinosaur theme started with a surprise proposal next to an abandoned life-size Brontosaurus.
Katherine was well aware of the dangers of bringing dinosaurs to her wedding, so handmade lots of the details in order to ensure nothing looked like a five year old boys birthday party (her words not mine!). She transformed her venue into a fun – filled dinosaur friendly zone, complete with christmas crackers! Yes you heard correct!
I love Katherines laid back attitude towards her wedding day, her words of wisdom at the end of this post will be something I am sure many of you will relate to, once you have read it I am sure you will understand why…
Katherine: A dinosaur themed wedding was the obvious choice for us especially after the way in which Grant proposed to me. He blindfolded me and drove us to my favorite spot – a life-sized abandoned statue of a Brontosaurus in Durham, NC. There is a little bit of story behind that Brontosaurus, I would go there whenever I needed cheering up, and a few weeks before the proposal, some no-good kids had stolen my beloved dino’s head! Grant helped in the community fundraising and search to get the head back, so by the time he proposed (unbeknownst to me) it was fixed – having the bronto back in one piece was almost as good a surprise as the proposal itself!
DIY’ing is such a great way to personalize your wedding and save money (there weren’t a lot of ways to buy pre-bought dinosaur stuff without the event looking like a 7 year old boy’s birthday party). You don’t necessarily have to be super-crafty or artistically gifted to do most things (my canvas flags, for example, were extremely easy) BUT my advice would be to make sure you give yourself time to work on them – it too a more time than I originally thought. The last thing you want is to be stressing out over is laminated table numbers or a broken vintage typewriter the week before your wedding (or the day before, as was my case!)
For favors we had British Christmas crackers (my mom found them at a big sale at the Smithsonian warehouse in Louisiana. These crackers have been an important Christmas tradition in my family since I was born, and they were a nice nod to the years I lived in England. Since the crackers come with paper crowns, a small toy, and jokes all the guests had silly hats on most of the night, toys to play with, and really bad jokes to tell – which we loved.
We made so many great memories on our wedding day. On a sentimental scale, watching Grant try not to lose it while giving his vows, and then hugging him when he did lose it and start bawling. On a disaster/fun scale, watching the flaming paper lantern head straight into a tree after weeks of drought, convinced that I was going to burn down my whole wedding venue! Also, the inflatable dinosaur, everyone should have an inflatable dinosaur at their wedding.
If I could give any advice to couples planning their wedding, first I would give this mantra, which was passed to me from an amazingly calm and easy going friend of mine, ask yourself “will this affect me being married by the end of the day?” and if it doesn’t, don’t sweat it! Second I felt like our day went by so fast! I wish I had taken a little more time to just breath, look around and take some mental snapshots.
Super Suppliers – Venue & Catering: Overlook Farm, Clarksville MO// Photographer: Moondance Photography// DJ: Ben Moats// Florist: Custom Floral, Elsberry, MO// Cake: Bride’s mother// Wedding Dress Designer, shoes & veil: BHLDN// Bridesmaid Dresses & Tuxedos: J.Crew// Hair: V. Vegaz//
Some sound advice from Katherine, I know lots of brides that will find that mantra extremely helpful. So who else is having a themed wedding? We would love to know all about it? The crazier the better?
Much Bespoke Love
Emily x
Thank you for featuring this lovely wedding on your blog! I love the layout & the story being included with the photos. Thank you!!!
It was our pleasure Jenny, your photography is absolutely fabulous we just had to share it with everyone 🙂
This wedding is so much fun!