Alicia and Joe, who met as teenagers, had their whimsical wedding ceremony in a beautiful green valley framed by willow trees on a private farm in New Jersey – the same farm where Joe proposed. They added to their gorgeous natural surroundings with simple, rustic details such as tree stumps with wildflowers marking their outdoor aisle, highly textured wildflower bouquets in shades of blush, fuchsia, and minty green which complimented the navy bridesmaids’ dresses, and a woodsy crown of leaves for Alicia. Boutonnieres for the groomsmen were blue thistles and viburnum berries to match the maids’ bouquets. From their romantic first look that morning to a show of fireworks over the countryside at night, their day was full of memorable moments. Read more details from the bride below and thank you to The Botanical Box and Anastasia Romanova Photography for sharing these lovely images! Plus, you have to see Alicia and Joe’s awesome wedding video here!
From the Bride…
Before the Ring:
Joe and I met when I was 14 and he was 15 at a youth group event our church was hosting. We became really close friends for years, and then we started dating. I definitely liked him first, and it took him a while to catch up, lol!
The Proposal:
We both work in the creative field and one of our common interests is in photography. In February, I asked Joe what he wanted to do for Valentine’s Day. He said he wanted to do a couples photo shoot on our friend’s farm, which didn’t seem out of the ordinary since we’ve done other random photo shoots together. So on the day, we dressed up and coordinated our outfits and headed out to the farm on what was probably the coldest day in February. Joe set up the shots and our dear (and patient) friend, Vinny, snapped the photos. It was very cold and after a half hour, when I started to not feel my fingers or toes, I wondered why we ever decided to do this in such cold weather. But during the last couple shots, while in front of these big, red farm doors, he tells me he has one more prop for this photo shoot. He pulls out the ring from his pocket, gets down on one knee and then asks me to marry him while putting the ring on my frozen finger. I forgot I was freezing though, because my heart was so warm. And we got it all on camera!
Wedding Day Inspiration:
From the start, we both wanted the wedding to be outdoors, and we actually got married on the same farm where Joe proposed, which was really cool. We’ve been to two outdoor weddings together last year, and after seeing the beauty of them, tons of natural light and background greenery, we knew we wanted that too. I wanted the wedding to be rustic and a little whimsical, and of course Pinterest gave me tons of ideas.
Details of the Day:
The girls wore navy dresses and blush shoes. The guys wore white button-ups with grey textured pants, navy suspenders and bow ties, and navy converse shoes. Joe had a lighter blue colored bow tie and white converse shoes. I actually wore white converse shoes too to match him, but the girly ballet flat version of them. The bouquets were colorful and textured with many different rustic flowers. The girls and I loved them. Joe had a succulent boutonniere and matched my bouquets which had succulents in it. Instead of a veil, I wore a flower crown, which was actually Joe’s idea.
Before the ceremony, we did a reveal on the Monmouth County College campus. Such a pretty place for photos! On the farm, the ceremony took place between two big trees, a flowery arbor directly in the middle. The aisle was lined with tree stumps and round vases of wild flowers on each stump. The reception was under a tent about a hundred feet away from the ceremony area and it was lined with bistro lights and Chinese lanterns. All of the tables had mismatched china/silverware/glassware that I had found at thrift stores over several months (probably the most time consuming project, but well worth it). The centerpieces were composed of tree slices, gold picture frames, candles and flowers. In the gold frames we had movie loves quotes chosen by the groomsmen and bridesmaids, two different ones for every table. The favors were mason jars (which were everyone’s drinking glasses too) and they had wood burned tags tied around it with our initials and wedding date. We also thrifted vintage couches and chairs right outside the tent for guests to lounge on during the reception, close to a fire pit area, in which there was a fire blazing at the end of the night.
Most Memorable Moment/s:
My most memorable moment of the day was the ceremony. Walking down the aisle with my dad, and seeing Joe at the end of it, was a very surreal feeling. We spoke our own vows to each other and I treasure every second of that. Another cool moment was towards the end of the night, my father-in-law and our friend, who owns the land, set off a bunch of fireworks in the field. Everyone watched in awe and the DJ played Firework by Katie Perry, it was a hit.
Advice to Couples in the Planning Process:
Don’t bite off more than you can chew and think everything through. Although having the mismatched china was beautiful and everyone loved it, it was a lot of work. It was very time consuming to collect and wash the dishes and coordinate them to each table. And the washing afterwards was the worst. It was worth it, don’t get me wrong, but it took time from other projects I may have wanted to do. But at the end of the day, I married my best friend, so all the shoulda, coulda, wouldas don’t matter anymore. And that’s my other piece of advice: no matter what happens the day of, you’re marrying your best friend, so just go with it.
Photographer: Anastasia Romanova Photography / Wedding Gown and Bridesmaid’s Dresses: David’s Bridal / Flower Crown: Unicorn Princess Designs / Bride’s Jewelry: Charming Charlie / Make-up Artist + Hair: Bethany Petersen / Nails: Melissa Pietrone / Bride, Groom, Groomsmen Shoes: Converse / Groom + Groomsmen Attire: JCPenny (shirt & pants), Nordstrom (suspenders), The Little Foxes (bow ties) / Ceremony + Reception Venue: Private Farm in Jackson, NJ / Flowers: The Botanical Box / Videography: Mason Beckman / Video Editing: Next Adventure / Catering: Linda’s Pizza and Ristorante / DJ: Over the Top Entertainment / Rentals: Richard’s Rentals / Luxury Bathroom Trailer Rental: VIP to Go / Cake: Andrea Ferrara / Lighting: Hometown Evolution Inc (lanterns), Target (bistro lights)
It was the very best wedding to attend.
A beautiful rustic wedding!