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A Romantic Fall Wedding in a Rustic Barn: Brooke & Dakota
All of the DIY details in today’s wedding are so cute! With the help of family and friends Brooke and Dakota had lots of special handmade touches throughout the wedding day. My favourites have to be pallet signs made by Brookes father. I also loved how the couple embraced social media into their day and even created an Instagram hashtag.
Brookes pretty bright orange bouquet looked divine against her white lace dress and the bridesmaids deep red dresses were the perfect way to incorporate fall colours into the day.
It is refreshing to hear Brooke speak so openly about her worries for her wedding, even though everything turned out alright in the end it is easy to see how you can lose sight of what your wedding really symbolises. I think Brookes final words of advice are something everyone should keep in mind when planning a wedding…
“Dakota and I thought a barn wedding would be perfect for us so we looked all over for the ideal venue. We were about to give up when we found the Dhaseleer Events Barn in Charlevoix, which was great because I grew up vacationing there with my family every summer. Our wedding turned out to be like a mini vacation for our guests because our families are from east and west Michigan. It was supposed to be awful weather on our day but it cleared up early in the morning and the weather was PERFECT! We couldn’t believe it. It was the most wonderful day!
Our theme for the wedding centered around Fall colours, we wanted it to look quite vintage and romantic with rustic touches. We had a lot of DIY projects and so many people helped us with them, it made the day feel extra special and it was so fun! For the reception, my dad built signs out of pallet wood and I painted on them “You have my whole heart for my whole life” to be hung behind the head table at the reception. I also made a similar sign for the lemonade stand that said “Ice cold lemonade” and we made one more with our Instagram hashtag. Another project we did was painting Mason jars with glue on the inside and shaking gold glitter inside for gold glittery candle holders. For the centerpieces, we used glue and glitter on frames and printed numbers for table numbers; we ordered white daisies and baby’s breath from Costco and put them in big old fashioned-looking milk jars from Ikea for centerpieces with lace doilies underneath and all of it was on rustic thick wood slabs in the middle of each table. For favors, we ordered orange rock candy and made little labels with “Love is sweet” and “B+D” tied with a little white ribbon on them.
My mom made white table cloths for the small tables that were all around my grandma made huge drapes to be hung on the barn entrance for a romantic feel! My sister made white fabric bunting sewn on twine that we hung in the barn and my mom made a garland with red fabric hearts sewn on twine that was hung behind the head table. We used pine cones as place cardholders and had our guests write on Jenga pieces as a guest book. We ordered 10 white flower balls and tied them to twine and had them hanging in a staggered line in the barn entryway.
For the ceremony, the scenery was so gorgeous that we didn’t need much in the way of decor so we drilled holes in large aluminum cans and hung with twine from the apple tree that we stood under during the ceremony with a bundle of baby’s breath in each can. For my something borrowed, I used the pin my sister gave us to wear in her wedding and borrowed my cousin’s who was also in my sister’s wedding and pinned them to my white satin flats. They were so pretty and sentimental!
If I could give any advice to other couples planning their wedding it would be to not wait until the last minute with any big details! I procrastinated with a lot of things and ended up very stressed and I think I missed out on some of the joy of wedding planning because I was so worried! Also, try not to sweat the small stuff and enjoy every second of the day because it goes so fast!
I was really stressed about something going wrong or not getting done in time, and some people told me something WILL go wrong, it always does just roll with it and let it go! So I kept thinking oh boy, what’s it going to be! It turned out that nothing went wrong and everything was absolutely perfect! But even if it had, it still would have been the most perfect day of my life because I got to marry my soulmate and best friend and celebrate with all the people we love the most in the world!!”
Super Suppliers – Photographer: Stephanie N. Baker Photography & Graphic Design//Floral Designer: A.R. Pontius Flower Shop//Dress Store: Becker’s Bridal//Reception Venue: Dhaseleer Events Barn//Dress Store: Le Salon Bridal//Caterer:Pigs Eatin’ Ribs//Bridesmaids dresses: Le Salon Bridal Boutique// Grooms Suit: Men’s Wearhouse// Table & Chair Hire: Charlevoix Tent Company// Submitted via Two Bright Lights//
The photo of Brooke stood on the jetty is breathtaking and its nice to see a picture of the groom having fun with his groomsmen. Did you also see them planting their own tree? I would love to do that at my wedding, the idea of having a memory from the day that continues to grow along with your marriage, perfect!
Much Bespoke Love
Emily x
I loved your story on Brooke and Dakota! I loved their barn wedding, all the homemade touches, how the whole family and friends pitched in to make sure everything got done and on time! The pallet idea is BRILLIANT!! I’ve been married for over 18 years and had a very small wedding. If I were ever to do it over again, this would be perfect!!
P.S. I don’t “know” Brooke, I saw her once when she was a little girl. I know Brooke’s Mom just a little bit as she’s my Best Friends Cousin. It was so sweet to read this, look at the pix and realize I recognized some people in the pictures! I asked my BFF if this was “her” Brooke’s wedding and yes, it was. Beautifully Done <3