While everyone was so eager to see Kate Middleton’s (now Princess Catherine) gown, I was more curious to see how the huge Westminister Abbey was decorated. I don’t read news about the royal wedding preps so I have no idea.

And I was not disappointed. There were trees inside the Abbey! I used to wonder if having tall Chinese bamboo instead of ornate flower arrangements to decorate the church aisle is a silly idea. Apparently, it’s not.

The trees were potted English field maples and hornbeams:

The English field maple symbolises humility and reserve, and was used to make loving cups in medieval times, while the hornbeam signifies resilience.

The trees will also evoke Miss Middleton’s home village of Bucklebury, Berks., where the family home lies on an avenue of oaks planted to commemorate a visit to the village by Queen Anne in the 17th century. (Source)

I know it’s nearly impossible for many “modern brides” to personally take care of the wedding from planning down to the event itself. Having a lot in their hands, juggling career, family and graduate school (for some) altogether, they don’t have a choice but to hire a wedding planner/coordinator.

However, there are still couples who do it the old way and do the planning and coordinating themselves. My “oldest” friend Shar (we have been friends since kindergarten!) and her husband Jolly prove that it is possible. Shar is a career woman herself but she managed to pull everything off with the help of (then fiance) Jolly, her supportive family, and her talented friends (yihee!).

The thing that I appreciate the most about DIY weddings is that they feel more intimate and personal because everyone has a part to play in making the event memorable.

Here are Shar’s Tips for a DIY Wedding:

1. Own it! – Consistent with our personalities, we wanted to go for an intimate and personalized wedding celebration.  That’s why we tried, as much as possible, to incorporate a personal touch to the wedding details. If we were to put a name to our theme, it would be quirky DIY + organized chaos. Haha! Our idea was to make everything appear as if we personally made everything. We did not want anything too structured or too formal.  For instance, for the flowers and table setting, we wanted the arrangements to have the hand-picked look, as if we just went out for a walk and picked the flowers from a garden nearby.

2. Small is beautiful. – One of the most challenging parts in planning the wedding was to keep the guest list short. We wanted a small wedding to be consistent with the “personal and intimate” concept. We had only 120 guests so the venue choices—the small chapel at the Archbishop’s Palace for the ceremony and the Valle Verde Clubhouse for the reception—were just perfect.

3.  Be realistic. – We set a limit for our wedding expenses. In spite of this, we managed to include all the features to make the wedding perfect. My point is, you can work within your budget and still achieve great results as long as you know where to save and splurge on and when to be creative.

4.  Get the help of talented friends. – You’ll be surprised that your friends are more than willing to help. We had unconventional, handmade invitations. Our friend Yasmin made the sketches that fill the front of the invites. The ink and watercolor “doodles” were illustrations of the most sentimental items and events in our relationship (images above; know more about them here). Apart from the invitations, we also used Yasmin’s sketches for the thank you cards and table numbers.  It’s quite expensive to have things like these customized. So, if you have creative friends, take advantage!

5. Think out of the box. – We originally wanted a garden wedding but we did not want to worry about rain ruining everything we planned for. So, we decided to go indoors and make design details more, uh… organic, so that the garden feeling is still there.

6.  Be organized. – Call me OC but most of the wedding details were organized in an excel file! This kept me sane during the whole process. On top that, my excel files were particularly helpful when I was delegating “wedding work”. We got the help of our family and friends to do the wedding coordination during the day itself. I simply sent them the “to do” lists complete with schedule and contact persons.

7. Have fun! – In the end, it’s all about you and your partner. So, do not stress over the minor mishaps. Besides, the imperfections do add in making the event more memorable. You have something to laugh about afterwards.

The current trend among couples is to have a concept pre-nup wedding shoot. But for Ken and Jessie, they decided to have a day-after shoot instead.

“Our photographer came up with the idea of the day after shoot. Usually she does bridal shoots like that before the wedding but we opted to do it after, mostly because it was so hectic beforehand,” Ken explained.

The couple chose Downtown Memphis as their location. They casually walked the streets, while their photographer, Annabella of Asian Bees Photography, took candid photos of the couple. They hopped around the historic district, stopping by some famous spots like the Peabody Hotel and Beal Street.

Here are some interesting tidbits about the location [texts via wikipedia]:

Downtown Memphis in Tennessee is located on the Mississippi River and is the oldest part of the city. The area includes the riverfront and the bluffs overlooking the river. The upper riverfront became the site of the river landing where steamboats were loaded with cotton and other goods during the 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

Between 1844 and 1886 the river landing was paved with limestone and granite cobblestones brought in from the upper Midwest. This created what is today the largest intact Mississippi River landing still in existence, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

One famous site here is the Peabody Hotel, a luxury hotel in Downtown Memphis. It is well known for its “Peabody Ducks” that live on the hotel rooftop, but which make daily treks to the hotel’s lobby in a daily “March of Ducks” celebration.

What Downtown Memphis is most known for is its role in the development of music genres particularly blues, jazz, and rock’ n roll. It is the home of Beale Street, world famous for being the “Home of the Blues and the Birthplace of Rock ‘n Roll”. For this reason, the clubs and restaurants that line Beale are major tourist attractions. Popular names such as Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters, Albert King, Memphis Minnie, B. B. King, Rufus Thomas, Rosco Gordon and other blues and jazz legends played on Beale Street and helped develop the style known as Memphis Blues.

Beautiful couple in an equally beautiful setting!

*Photos by Annabella Jackson-Brandon courtesy of Ken & Jessie.

We’re extending the love theme a bit for a few more days!

Last week, we featured three romantic white homes to give you ideas for your space. Now, we move on to romantic events and venues. For this, we have prepared two inspiring wedding features–one from Memphis and the other one from Manila.

Weddings have now become more and more creative. From the theme and venue, down to the décor and even the photography, couples are being very open to unique (and sometimes outrageous) ideas to make the event personal and memorable.

Last December, while watching some wedding videos by Jason Magbanua with a couple of friends, Practical Princess told us about the interesting wedding of her friend, Ken, in Memphis. Instead of the usual hotel ballroom or garden setting, Ken and his wife Jessie decided to have the wedding in the zoo!

“We chose the zoo specifically because of the uniqueness and our love of wildlife,” Ken said when I asked him how they came up with the idea.

The setting is in the Northwest Passage of the Memphis Zoo where the sea lions and the polar bears are viewed. This part of the zoo is a tribute to the culture of the First Nations people and the animals and horticulture of the Pacific Northwest.

Here, the couple exchanged vows by the rocks while their guests stayed at the viewing deck (photo above).  

The place was beautifully decorated to complement the lovely young couple. It came alive with bursts of warm, cheerful colors like orange, fuchsia, yellow, and turquoise from the flowers and candles. Even the food served during the reception followed the summery color palette.

Everything about the wedding feels young, warm and spontaneous! Here are the people who made it all possible:

Catering: Wade and Company

Flowers: L and J

Wedding planner: Southern Event Planners

Photography: Annabella Jackson-Brandon

I’m sure you got several ideas from these adorable photos. But we’re not done yet!  Tomorrow, we’ll share with you part 2, as Ken and Jessie take us on a walk to downtown Memphis.

*Photos by Annabella Jackson-Brandon courtesy of Ken & Jessie