Real Wedding Saturday: Laurel & Jedd

You may remember Laurel from her sweet bridal shower a few months back, or maybe you know her from her jewelry line, Laurel Denise. It's so fun to have her back on Snippet & Ink, this time sharing her wedding! I also thought I'd let Laurel share a little about how she and Jedd saved money in some places: Cut corners in some obvious places. I did my own makeup, after watching hours of You Tube tutorials and visiting the closest MAC store for some expert advice. My maid of honor is really great at makeup and I had a friend come and join us who's also great at it - they helped the bridesmaids while I did my own makeup. This is something some brides pay hundreds for and I was happy to save on this. I also swapped services with a friend of mine who is an amazing event coordinator (I designed all of the print materials for her wedding and she made my day happen without a hitch, at least not one that I knew about!). I also found a caterer who let me supply my own alcohol - I can't tell you how much this saved! There are many caterers out there who will do this, you jut have to ask!

And now, on to the photos!


Laurel and Jedd held their October wedding at the Oak Ridge Estate in Arrington, Virginia, and they couldn't stop raving about it - the beautiful scenery and the service were all they could have hoped for. Laurel suggests extending the cocktail hour to give guests more time to wander around the venue if it is especially beautiful - her guests couldn't stop raving about it!


Jedd surprised Laural with a pair of diamond earrings before the ceremony. Not only was the gift itself a beautiful surprise, but he wrapped it in keeping with the style of the day - with kraft paper and twine.


Laurel found two dresses that she liked, so she worked closely with the bridal shop to create a one-of-a-kind hybrid of the two, starting with a dress by Casa Blanca.




All of the flowers were arranged by Blue Ridge Floral Design.


Lemonade, iced tea, and bottled water were available for guests to cool down before the ceremony.




Laurel cross-stitched all of the signs herself, including the table numbers. Here are her thoughts on the projects she took on for the wedding: Everyone always says don't try to do everything, just take it easy and don't stress yourself out before your wedding. I do agree with that, but I also think that if you can plan wisely and not procrastinate on the small touches, then you should really try to do everything you can! For instance, I cross-stitched the table numbers and the reserved signs that were used in my reception and ceremony. People thought I was insane and maybe they were right, but if I hadn't done things like that (designing the invitations, hand-tying them all together, hand-stamping the seating cards, etc...), I would have been disappointed. Those creative things define me and I knew that they were important to me, so I started creating the table numbers 9 months before the actual wedding day! That way, I wasn't losing any sleep the week before and I could really get everything done without too many last minute break downs. I assigned myself something each day to do for the wedding and it really paid off.












Laurel designed all of the paper goods for the wedding, as well as cross-stitched all of the table numbers.




A caramel apple was placed at each guest's seat. The cake, by Hot Cakes, was chocolate with raspberry cream filling and piled high with fresh berries. (Laurel says she wishes that she and Jedd had practice cake cutting before the actually wedding!)




The reception was catered by Harvest Moon Catering, who really brought Laurel and Jedd's vision to life - fun food that was just a little dressed up, but not fussy.


DJ Derek Tobler kept guests dancing all night and was incredibly in tune to the mood of the party.

Thank you so much Laurel and Jedd for sharing your lovely day with us! And thank you to Meg Runion of Rob Garland Photographers for sharing these images (Laurel said that she's known since high school that she wanted to use Rob Garland Photographers for her wedding, and even changed the date of the wedding so that she could!). Oh, and also, right now Laurel is offering Snippet & Ink readers 30% off her jewelry line. Just enter coupon code laurel30 at checkout.