Meet Ashley and Ryan…

How adorable are they?! We are honored to share their special day here on The Little Canopy! Ashley, the bride, told us their story and it just swept us off our feet. Take it away, Ashley!

Ryan proposed mid-January and we knew from the start we wanted a short engagement. We started looking at venues, picking out the bridal party, contacting the vendors,… and we quickly realized it was going to be a daunting and expensive task.

Neither of us liked the idea of spending a lot of money on our wedding, while also exhausting us in the process. Ryan is also not the biggest fan of weddings. We decided (pretty easily) that a traditional wedding just wasn’t for us. Fortunately, we had already met Hannah, our awesome photographer, and taken some engagement photos. We decided to simply just get married in the park with only our immediate family.

We were married in Breckenridge Park in Richardson, Texas, a location that Hannah found herself. We sent her some pictures of what we liked, and she said, “I know the perfect spot!” We trusted her so much, we never visited the location before the wedding itself.

Ryan knew he wanted to be non-traditional in his attire, so he decided to wear jeans with a vest. He did invest in a nice pair of jeans from Nordstroms, as well as a nice vest and new white shirt. I was happy to let him wear whatever he wanted, and he loved his look.

The flowers were put together by an awesome florist at Whole Foods in Addison. We simply told them to throw something together for the bride and the maid of honor, and be as creative as you’d like. Way to go, Rodney! They were so beautiful, smelled perfect, and looked amazing.

My brother-in-law officiated the ceremony, which was another amazing part of our wedding. Michael wrote a great speech and was able to speak into what he had witnessed in our relationship. Our family came around us at the end and laid hands on us, and prayed for our new marriage. It was the perfect, small, intimate wedding we had pictured for ourselves.

My advice to brides is that all weddings are beautiful, but don’t let the world tell you what kind of wedding to have. If you want 500 people at your wedding, do it. If you want 5 people at your wedding, do it. I can tell you that my stress went down, and my joy went up when we decided to cut the guest list and focus on our families. You can be more creative when you have an intimate wedding. The “traditional” goes out the window, and you will be able to create something completely unique for you and your groom. I did not get “wedding-ed,” I got married to the man of my dreams, and it is so much more important that we focus on what our marriage looks like, over what our wedding looks like. Your wedding day will come and go, and you will hardly remember it. Take the time to focus on the months and years that lie ahead, and let that be your focus.

Ryan and I are both committed Christians, and we wanted our wedding and marriage to reflect Christ. We wanted our ceremony and the cost of our wedding to also reflect Christ, in that we are good stewards with the money He has given to us, and that our ceremony was constantly pointing to Him.

We love that Ashley + Ryan took the route that was right for them! It’s so refreshing to hear a story that encourages us to remember that the wedding is just one day, but the love you share in marriage is a lifetime. Congratulations, Ashley and Ryan!

Thank you for sharing with us!

Photography Cottonwood Road Photography / Venue Breckenridge Park, Richardson TX / Dress Watters / Flowers Whole Foods

Pink and green wedding theme is such a sweet and delicious combination! The trick is to keep one color more dominant than the other. As in this board, you can have mostly green decor with hints of pink! Loving the marbling in the invitation and cake! Enjoy.

vintage getaway pickup truck / floral archway / floral wreath / bridesmaid dress + bouquet / hanging mason jar chandelier / marbled menu in frame / photo garland on tree / marbled invitation suite / marbled succulent wedding cake

What a cute and simple diy project! What’s an outdoor wedding without a pretty table runner of twigs? This tutorial uses glue but if you have some time, try tying them together with a pretty twine to give it an extra little something! Enjoy!

Rustic Twig Table Runner Tutorial

How pretty are these delicate lace wraps for your feet? These are perfect footwear for beach weddings or meadow/garden weddings … fairy themed weddings! So many ways these handmade pretties can replace the typical heels – or wear them with your heels if you have a short wedding dress! Swoon.

Handmade Lace Bridal Beach Sandals by TheWorldofBrides

A great wedding decor idea – and a great diy project at that! Gold painted books can be used as decoration along your tables, as a part of your centerpieces, or to levitate your cake like in this photo! Gather your favorite books that hold meaning to you and spray paint the covers in gold! Pretty!

Source.

For those who are lucky with attics and closets full of vintage goodies, here’s an inspiration board that will take you back to the 1920’s! With lace, feathers, and gold everywhere, this board is sure to give you some ideas for a spectacular 1920’s theme wedding! Enjoy!

bride + groom / art deco gray invitation / save me a waltz sign / pale roses + feathers bouquet / gold doves wedding cake / vintage flower lace gloves / vintage champagne flutes / vintage lantern centerpiece

Time for another awesome DIY tutorial from our friends Evan & Katelyn! If you haven’t seen our post from last year featuring their beautiful DIY marquee letters, do it — right after you see this one! This time, they show us the journey they took to constructing a chandelier of paper lanterns! Personally, I totally love the warped version they made before ‘fixing’ it.

DIY Paper Lanter Chandelier Tutorial

Simple, yet cute! This cake topper is a great way to decorate any cake for any occasion!

Pom Pom Garland Cake Topper by Team Bee 

^ Lana’s Shop Invitations

Fresh, bright, and sweet – this watercolor apple pattern is just too cute! Don’t be afraid to explore with pushing the design for your invitations, whether it be wedding invitations, bridal shower invitations, or engagement party invitations!

Day dreaming of a wedding down by the sea… by the beautiful sea. Enjoy!

bride on the beach / seafoam paper flower garland / wedding cake / message in a bottle + binoculars / sea shell garland / dusty ivory gown / starfish escort cards / rustic sea blue chalkboards

:: title lettering graphic by Kelly ::