gatesville wedding photographer | cortney + bobby’s fall diy wedding

Cortney & Bobby had a precious outdoor Fall wedding at Ruby Caroline in Gatesville, TX. Here is a note from the bride with details on her vendors and inspiration for the wedding.

When trying to figure out what food we wanted to serve at our wedding, my fiancé and I both knew we wanted something unique and something we both liked. We started to realize our favorite restaurants consisted of delis and so the idea of soups and salads quickly came about. My fiancé absolutely loves my grandmothers Cowboy Stew and that was the only wedding decision he was adamant about. My family worked so hard to make our wedding meal, which consisted of Cowboy Stew or Chicken Tortilla Soup and a mixed veggie salad or a strawberry salad with candied pecans and a fruit waterfall. The drinks were simple though, tea, water and pink lemonade. My family is one of those families that always has way more desserts than actual food at family gathering, so I knew I wanted my wedding to be no different. The thought of having just ONE wedding cake was not appealing to me at all, plus my family knows how to bake and I wanted to utilize those skills! My grandmas, aunts and cousins all made something special from their kitchens and when all put together, created a room full of yummy desserts. It was so fun to be able to share a bunch of tasty family recipes with our guests and give them a big variety outside of plain vanilla and chocolate.

I wanted all of my bridesmaids dresses to be different and express each of their unique personalities, just with a few guidelines. All but two of their dresses were purchased at ModCloth. The groomsmen wore brownstone vested suits by Perry Ellis. Our wedding colors consisted of burnt orange, chambray blue and tan, with accents of brown and ivory.

The centerpieces consisted of potted orange chrysanthemums in a tan tin pot with raffia tied around it, an orange and white pumpkin, burlap and blue yarn balls. I also wanted to tie in mason jars all throughout my wedding and what is better than using them to serve drinks in? So I hand painted hearts on hundreds of  mason jars with chalk paint and asked guests to write their names on their cups and take them home as gifts. I also really wanted to incorporate vintage doors into our outdoors wedding and I was able to get all of the doors we used from my grandparents old house. They both passed away when I was in high school, so it was really sweet to be able to use parts of their home throughout our special day. I made all of the bunting that was hanging up in the dessert room and by the entry table. I used an old window from my great grandparents house to display old wedding pictures of our parents and grandparents at the entry table. My mom and I also took on the task of making most of our vintage cake stands and repainting the antique drawers we used to display the desserts. I made all of the silver platter chalk boards and the dinner menu made from an antique window. I had Bobby and his groomsman etch hearts with mine and Bobby’s initials on several pumpkins and they turned out so great! One of my favorite touches of the entire day though, was the amazing vintage chandeliers that were hanging in the trees. They look beautiful before and after the sun went down! I just remember as soon as I started walking down the isle with my dad and thinking someone dropped me into a fairytale wedding in a magazine, it was beyond beautiful. I was so happy with our handmade wedding, and I wouldn’t change a thing!