Welcome to the fourth installment of Wedding Wednesdays. On the first and third Wednesday of each month, we will share a lovely handmade wedding with you. Check out our previous installments here, and if you know of a wedding that we simply need to feature, please email us!

With Christannia at the helm, she planned her and Stephen's Love Ceremony in only six weeks. The Brooklyn-based couple knew they wanted a space they didn't have to gussy up, but also didn't want the hefty price tag of settings like Central Park or the Botanical Gardens. "I was not someone who always thought about their wedding as a girl. So in attempting to picture what I would like for a ceremony, all I could think of was that I wanted nature, outside, beautiful. I didn't want pesticide-laced flowers, and to keep costs down, it's great to work with already beautiful natural surroundings," Christannia says. Her grandmother, Dorthey Betonte, and her friends began to look at venues in West Virginia. When they stumbled upon Adaland Historic Mansion and Musuem, a venue complete with spaces for the ceremony and reception, a brick dance floor, a post-civil war museum, use of their tables, tents, place settings, and tablecloths all for a grand total of $1,500, Christannia was sold on the location in Phillipi. 

Christannia's sister, Lisa Smith, holds her daughter Aloe-Maria, a flower girl sporting a dress from Sears complete with a matching doll. Her three bridesmaids, Alyssa Pinsker, Alexa Pinsker, and Darcy Whitmoore, wore H&M dresses embellished with pearl beads, handmade silk poof flowers, and peach sashes sewn by Christannia's grandmother. Sylvanna Swallow (a flower girl) and Julia Buraka Swallow (the ever-important train attendant) round out the beautiful bridal party. "The little girls recently moved from Nairobi, Kenya, to Canada. They were adopted by my other sister Kimberly and were so excited because they had never been to a wedding before!"

Oliverios, a local florist, made the bouquets for Christannia and her bridesmaids. Being the only bought flowers in the entire ceremony, she wanted to make them even more special. "I found the cameo at the Brooklyn Flea Market, and I placed a picture of my deceased grandparents in it so they could be with me during the ceremony," Christannia says. "I think asking my mother and grandmother to pick out the pictures I used made it that much more moving."

"Agave Smith-Frankenburger and Bryce Swallow were our ring bearers. Agave saw what Bryce was doing and wanted to do it, too, so we made two ring pillows (even though Bryce actually carried the rings)." 

About 70 people from all over the states and Canada came to celebrate with Stephen and Christannia. Even though they had the ceremony outside, the couple did have an alternate plan that involved the incredible staircase inside; it's much better to have a plan even if you don't have to use it.

Stephen's groomsmen: Phillip Swallow (nephew) usher, Abel Barbour, Robert Murphy, James Barbour, and Brent Swallow (usher) wear understated seersucker pants and peach ties the groom bought in bulk online. Christannia's sister made the boutonnieres from wildflowers, wrapped them in florist tape and secured with a pin. "I felt the background needed a bit of color, since it was all white and we were in light colors. So I made the panels in the background from mat board, peach paper for the outside of the sign, and a magnum black sharpie from the only local art supply store, AC Moore. I put LOVE on one side and XOXO on the opposing side: the LOVE showed throughout the ceremony, and then when we kissed, I asked two bridesmaids on the left side and two groomsmen on the right to flip the signs. I like a bit of the theatrical!"

The strings to the left held the seating assignments for the reception, labeled with a fruit that corresponded to the table centerpiece. And the head wreaths the bridal party wore were actually copied from the ones Christannia made for the flowers girls and train attendant! From one wreath of twine and white berries (originally purpose: decoration around a candle), she made three different hair pieces for only $5. The bridesmaids like them so much, they followed suit and added fresh flowers with a glue gun the day of the ceremony.

"I really wanted to emphasize the nature element, so I decided to use fruit in order to designate tables. I used an online program called Fotoflexer, where I uploaded pictures I found from searching "botanical fruit art" and then placed colored frames and cursive writing on the images," Christannia says. "I am an art therapist and really wanted these details to make it my own. Also I like the museum style of the venue, combined with my old Italian style dress and the vintage signs."

Even the food had handmade touches! Christannia's grandmother and her friend made 70 cupcakes, while her bridesmaids decorated them in various shades of peach. Since Stephen is a huge record collector, it made sense for the groom's cake to resemble his favorite format. For the wedding cake, Christannia spruced up the white cake with small fruits and champagne grapes from a grocery store. "We made the lollipop trees from styrofoam cones covered in silk (thanks Martha Stewart!) that were hot-glued to a circular wooden base to add some weight. After gluing on various ribbons, we inserted homemade candy lollipops into the foam. To make the lollipops, we bought white, red, and orange vanilla chocolate and mixed them into various pinks and peaches and then poured the mixture into candy molds of diamond rings, flowers, and butterflies."

Christannia's grandmother, Dorthey, and her friend Jean Turner. The two canned strawberry, rhubarb, and blackberry jam for the wedding favors, decorated with homemade labels and ribbon.

Stephen made mixed CDs to keep the reception dancing, and used a rented soundsystem (the only thing they had to supply themselves at the venue). "Several people DJed throughout the reception, even my 16 year old nephew learned a bit that evening and said it was his favorite part!"

Thank you so much to Christannia and Stephen for sharing their beautifully natural tea time ceremony with us! The little handmade touches bring so much lift to a venue, and we hope that you can take away some inspiration from the couple's lovely details throughout.

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