Romantic Rustic Grant Park Wedding
Ben & Kate got married under a willow tree in Grant Park, celebrating their minimalist, green, welcoming personalities with their loved ones. You can feel so much energy and love through Ben & Kates simple ceremony. I’m loving every detail of their wedding, from the succulents, the beautiful wedding dress, eco friendly utensils, gorgeous rings, the bridal party’s attire, down to the choice of ceremony location. What a perfect willow tree they have chosen to start their new life together. It shouts humble, kind, green, natural, and free in spirit. I just love everything about this wedding. And to capture everything about Ben & Kate, they couldn’t have gone with a better photographer than Kendra Elise Photography. It’s like the perfect harmony of their personalities.
Ceremony: Under a beautiful willow tree in Grant Park & performed by pastor Kris McDaniel
Reception: Held at the pavilion in Grant Park, Atlanta Ga
Caterer: Home Grown
Flowers: Dekalb Farmer’s Market, arranged by me and Ben the day before the wedding. But to give credit where it’s due, so much of the vision for the bouquets and centerpieces was him. He insisted we grab the dinosaur kale and broccolini. That creative man… Oh, and the succulents hail from IKEA.
Cake: Friend of the family made them.
Wedding Planner: None
Photography: Kendra Elise Photography
Dress: BHLDN
Shoes:Urban Outfitters
Our vision was this: thrifty, simple, peaceful, thoughtful, come as you are, DIY, eco-friendly. These are words that we wrote down when brainstorming all the important elements of our day. We didn’t want to mindlessly follow the traditional path of weddings, which to us tended to create lots of unnecessary stress, waste, and awkward moments. We wanted our wedding to be welcoming & joyous, but simultaneously conscious of its economic & environmental impact (hence the local catering, compostable tableware, natural elements, etc). It was important to us that our wedding did not add much if anything to landfills, nor support business that rely upon sweatshop labor. Additionally, we told our bridesmaids to wear any gray dress, and our groomsmen to wear any gray pants and white shirt- all because we didn’t want our union to necessitate spending money on a one-time outfit. Our hope is that on May 11th the focus was on our love and joy, and not on any material thing. OK, but besides all that political hoopla, we wanted our personalities to come through to create a warm and thoughtful environment, thus the Bob Dylan tune, Cat Power tune, 1950s/60s style dress, hand-drawn invitations and flyer, outdoor park wedding, yada yada. We wanted it to feel fun- we had attended one too many stifling weddings and didn’t want that for our beloved guests
Ben and I met at a church when we struck up a conversation about yoga. Soon thereafter we became fast friends. Our beginnings in a nutshell: Ben gave me drum lessons, we’d go thrifting together, attended the same community college at the time, loved to ride our bikes around the park, and became super involved with the community at our friend’s “hippie” Bible study. We were nothing more than best buds for about 6 months before dating, and then spent the first year and a half of our relationship long-distance while Ben attended MTSU in Tennessee.
We would recommend Kendra Elise Photography to anyone and everyone! Not only are Kendra and Kate two super great girls, they are incredibly talented photographers. We couldn’t be happier with them! They were wonderful to work with in every way- professional, trustworthy, flexible, punctual, and calm. Both of them have a great eye for photographs that are unique and smart. They captured our day so well. Kendra Elise Photography rules!
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