Candie and Tim’s Whimsical Winery Wedding

 

All Photos by: Aubrey – The Three

The Glö-Couple:

Candie, a graphic designer & Tim, and accountant

Celebration Date & Location:

March 17, 2012
Cross Timbers Winery
Grapevine, TX USA

Tell us how you got engaged:

I knew from our first date that I had met the man of my dreams, but it wasn’t until I saw him with his daughter for the first time that I realized he was the man I was going to marry. Just as the two of us were falling head over heels in love; I fell in love all over again, as I became a part of his daughters life too. A year of laughter, love, and togetherness made us realize the three of us were meant to be. When his daughter wrote my name on her family tree in pre-school, we knew it was time. (And he let me pick out the ring, smooth move!)

What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you were aiming for with your celebration:

We wanted our ceremony and celebration to be an extension of the way we live our lives; so we focused on the simple pleasures that make us happiest. Good food, Good wine, Good music; and of course our dearest family and friends. We kept the guest list to 50 (much harder than it sounds!) and we are SO glad we did. Because I’m a graphic designer, also I wanted the wedding to reflect my work – so we mixed old fashioned elements with pops of bright color everywhere.

I did all of the invitations, website, programs, decorations, signs, and flowers myself. In addition to their amazing support throughout our planning process, our entire family went above and beyond; each creating something for us using their talents. Tim’s mom sewed the tablecloths and made the flower girl dress. My mom made the cake and did the candy table. Tim’s dad constructed the photo booth wall and made the wooden arrow signs. And my brother spent an entire year home brewing 5 different kinds of beer, and apple wine for our toast. The wedding day was a culmination of a solid year of hard work and creativity from our whole family; which brought us together in a way we couldn’t have imagined!

Did you add any fun twists on tradition:

Well, due to scheduling we ended up getting married on Saint Patrick’s Day. At first I was averse to acknowledging this at all since I didn’t really see it as going along with our theme. But the closer we got to the wedding, the more I started embracing it. I ended up finding some wonderful traditional Irish quotes about happiness and marriage, and some cool line drawings of four leaf clovers that I used in different places. I also decided that everyone needed to wear at least something green, so I made tiny felt four leaf clovers for everyone to wear, pinned to a small card that read “A bit of green for you to wear, on our wedding day. Good health, good luck, and happiness, Today and every day!”

Saint Patrick’s Day never meant much to us before, but now it will always be special to us and our family! I also ended up designing a poster to use as our guest book at the last minute. This ended up being one of my favorite things – because now its hanging on our living room wall and we can look at the beautiful things our family and friends wrote every day! Also, my brother walked me down the aisle – and it was perfect.

What was the inspiration for your Glövite and Glösite design? If you made them yourself, tell us how you did it.

Since our theme was all about love and family, I decided to use vintage valentines day cards as an inspiration for the website. I also used the floral elements from our invitations on the side to bring everything together. Turquoise and Red were our main colors, which worked perfectly with the antique cards. They brought such a sense of whimsy and charm to the website, and really made it feel warm – even though it was on screen and not on paper.

Since paper is my favorite medium, I just couldn’t live without the paper invitations. I created those first, and then used the design as a springboard for the website (and the entire wedding, for that matter). But the website gave me the ability to do so much more, and it really took on a life of it’s own once I got started. Most of the design work was just creative placement of images for the background, header, and photos. I really had fun when I was able to design the glovites to my bridal shower and bachelorette party; because I used vintage pin-up girl images and they turned out so adorable! I also gave people the option to RSVP online to the wedding if they wanted, and set up a dedicated URL which I then forwarded straight to our website. We printed the URL onto the paper invitations so everyone had the choice to send it back or reply online. I kept all the RSVP info for everyone on the glosite; even those who replied via post.

Now show us your Glövites and Glösite

Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?

DONT try to do everything yourself. Even if you are a perfectionist (like me) you have to let some things go or you will go insane. Make a priority list early on, and decide what you can and can’t live without. This will help you prioritize your time AND your budget. We knew we wanted amazing photographs, so a big portion of our budget went toward our photographer. But that meant we had to let some other things go (a videographer, a rented get a way car). We were okay with this because we knew starting out what was most important. A wise person once told me “To make something happen, you either have to spend time or money. Use your resources wisely.” So true! If you can’t afford something, realize that doing it yourself will take up ALOT of your time, which is not a disposable resource! Even if doing it yourself is “free” you’re still paying for it in your own manual labor. Decide what you can live without, and cross it off your list. On your worst days, as cliche as it sounds, remind yourself that the most important thing is marrying the person you love. All you really need is you, your partner, an officiant, a witness, and some rings. Everything else is just frosting :)

What is your favorite moment or memory from the celebration?

My first favorite moment of the day was when my mom handed me a small box while I was getting ready. Inside I found 2 heirloom pins; one that had belonged to my grandmother, and one that had belonged to my great great grandmother. I had never seen either of these before, because my grandfather had tucked them away in a safe deposit box years ago. When my mom asked if she could go through it to find something for me to wear as my “something old” she couldn’t believe what she found. I was shocked- the first pin was an old Saint Patrick’s Day elf that my grandmother pinned to her dress when she was a little girl. It was like the universe meant for it to happen; what were the chances we would still have something like that, and it would be so appropriate for the day of my wedding? The second pin was in the shape of a very small metal pin; which looks very much like the tattoo I have of a vintage key on my back. Of course I started crying immediately (the first of many tears that day). I pinned the little elf on my new daughter for her flower girl dress, and my mom pinned the key onto my wedding gown. It was such a special moment between the three of us; I will never forget it. It was like 5 generations of women in my family (including my brand new daughter) were there together with me.

What’s the biggest “say what?”  moment or funny story that’s happened since you started planning?

While my dear bridesmaids and Mom were trying to get me into my lace-up gown, none of us noticed the panel that was supposed to go behind the lacing to hide my whole backside from being exposed. They laced up the entire dress (I’m pretty sure they were all scared I had grown 6 inches across since the last time I put the dress on) and when I turned around you could see everything! We unlaced it, after my insisting that “it didn’t look like that at my fitting!” and we discovered the missing panel. We were already late, so it was definitely an ‘oh sh*t moment! NOT funny at the time, but pretty hilarious now! My guests would have gotten to see more of me than they had bargained for!

Who helped to bring your celebration to life?

Photographer, Aubrey – The Three
Musician, Joseph Veazie
Minister, Reverend Aaron White – First Unitarian Church of Dallas
Hair & Make-up, Katie Beggs & Sheri Davis – Ingenue Hair Artsitry