Vintage DIY Wedding by Simply Sweet Snapshots

Holy Moly Batman!! This wedding is take your breath away DIY with some vintage sprinkled in there for good measure.  Now, I have to say that I’ve seen some DIY weddings that were not good at all and that’s the thing with DIY, it can either go really good or really bad.  But this wedding is definitely airing on the side of fabulous.  I love that all things were created by the couple and their friends and family.  I also love the little vintage touches, like the cameo pin on the wedding dress, stunning.

Catherine and Paul

Bride’s full maiden name: Catherine Ann Eddleman

Groom’s full name: Paul Vincent Murzyn

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Wedding Date: 10/06/2012

Wedding Location, Number of guests: Ansonia, CT; 65 guests. We only wanted family and a few friends to keep it small and intimate.

Wedding Colors: We chose fall colors (reds, yellows, oranges, som plum, and green)

Occupations: Catherine – Accountant; Paul – Cabinet Maker/Custom Design Furniture

How did the two of you meet? Paul and I met on Match.com… not an actual “match”, but he found me and that was all she wrote…

Describe your engagement: SO SO thoughtful! He had my ring made and drove from Connecticut all the way down to southeast Georgia to ask my dad if he could marry me.

The weather on your wedding was: Well it was kind of threatening. They called for rain, lucked out and it didn’t poor, and it turned quite cold. But a good day none the less.

Describe your wedding flowers {color, blooms, style}: We used orange and red Gerbera Daisies, green and purple button mums, red and orange roses, baby’s breath and lemon leaf.

Bride’s Attire: I wore a relatively simple gown by David’s Bridal. It was ivory colored, a-line with a gathered bodice, chapel length train, with a sprinkle of beading and crystals on one side. My veil was finger length with crystals and beading along the edge. I started off in a pair of Ann Klein heels that matched the dress perfectly and ended up in a pair of gray and orange Converse sneakers.

Where did you get the bridal attire? David’s Bridal

Bridesmaids Attire: I let the girls pick out there own dresses. I told them a black dress, nothing too short, fall colors for shoes (they all chose red) and I made their jewelry. The necklace was made of pewter colored Swarovski pearls and two rose cabochons, one red and one orange. Two bracelets made of the same pearls and simple silver earrings with red rose cabochons.

Groom’s Attire: This another of my favorite things of the entire wedding. Paul’s suit was handmade by our very close friend Jason Llamar Wright. We were going for a DIY-vintage-romantic feel to our wedding and Paul fell in love with a Napoleon-ish uniform. Jason used ideas from this time period as well as the late 1800’s to design the suite he made Paul. Jacket and pants were made out of a wool-cotton blend with black velvet trim and vintage inspired buttons. White dress shirt. And the vest and ascot were made of ivory satin along with the same buttons.

Groomsmen Attire: The boys wore black tuxes with tails, white dress shirts and silver vests and bow ties all from Men’s Warehouse.

Describe your DIY décor, if any: The back drop that we got married in front of was made by Paul and I. Just three simple wood frames that we attached a bronze-colored taffeta too. The “flowers” that were attached to this were made of paper and paper doilies. (again, lots of burnt fingers! hahahaha)

The thing that we would have done differently is?  I don’t think I would change anything other than I wish I had ate and danced more with my hubby. The night went by in a flash! Get a great photographer to capture all those moments. I love our photos, our photographer really captured everything.

If we could have spend our wedding dollars differently, we would have: I think we spent wisely. I wouldn’t change anything here either. Although I will say stick to your guns if something were to come up unexpectedly and you were asked to change something.

Our favorite detail of the wedding was: We made nearly everything in/for our wedding. That was the best feeling!

The most unique element of the day: This is hard… everything about that night was unique. But I guess I have to say that my husband’s and mother-in-laws was quite unique. First they danced to a Ramone’s song and second they got somewhat flash mobbed by his sister, brothers, and other family members. It was quite memorable!

Describe your menu and your favorite part: The menu consisted of several types of hor d’oeuvres. We had crudite, a pasta station, bacon wrapped scallops, and a few others. I honestly didn’t get a chance to eat, unfortunately, but everyone said the food was delicious!

Describe any unique aspects of the beverages you served: We decided to do an open bar. Nothing too unique about this. We just wanted everyone to feel comfortable and to order what they wanted.

Your first dance song: Our first dance was to Bob Marley’s Is this Love

Three adjectives that describe the day: Fast, hilarious, and unforgettable.

Describe your wedding cake and any other desserts: Our cake was there tiered. It was all carrot cake and with cream cheese frosting with cream cheese frosting in between the layers. Paul made the leaves that decorated the cake out of gum paste that he dyed to match the colors of the weeding.

What has surprised you most during the first few months of marriage? Nothing has changed. We are still the same, but love each other more and more with each passing day. I still have my sweet, goofy, really handy best friend!

Your advice for other plus size brides: Do what makes you and your groom happy. It is YOUR day and remember that you are beautiful!!! Everyone that is there is there to celebrate you and your future hubby!

Vendors who made it possible {aka mostly the couple}

Photographer: We had an amazing, laid back, fun photographer! Her name is Stacey Lopez and she owns Simply Sweet Snapshots. She did our engagement shot as well. Paul and I couldn’t be happier with how all of our pictures came out!

Videographer: No Videographer, although I’m sure a few of our nieces and nephews have some blackmail videos somewhere…

Wedding Planner: We were our own wedding planners. We did have some help from the venue, their staff was great in hanging/setting everything up for us.

Caterer: John J. Sullivan’s

Florist: We did our own flowers, we purchased loose flowers from East Side Greenhouse in Ansonia and arranged them before the wedding. They were placed on the tables and around the venue. The girls and I had handmade button and bead bouquets. These were a labor of love! These took me months and lots of burnt fingers to make and thank goodness I had help! My bridesmaids, mother-in-law, husband, and even one of my nephews helped! The boys wore paper flower-rosette boutonnieres that I also handmade.

Cake: This is fun! We had a baker making our cake and than it fell through. So we decided to do it on our own. Boy was that the best idea ever! I made the cake (carrot cake) and frosting (cream cheese) and Paul assembled and decorated. We ended up with a three tier cake that fit the two us completely. And it actually tasted pretty darn good too!

Invitations & Calligraphy: Invitations were designed and printed by my very talented (a.k.a BEST sister-in-law EVER) maid of honor, Christine Castaldo. A group of us assembled the invitations.

Jewelry:Ahhhh the jewelry! This is one of my favorite parts of the wedding. My wedding rings were designed by my husband and the ever brilliant Ali Perry at American Diamond Exchange, New haven CT. The rings were made of all hand me down diamonds and spare gold. My other jewelry was from my family. My mom gave me a sapphire and diamond bracelet that my father gave to here; my nana gave me a diamond and pearl necklace, earrings, and bracelet that she kept for years for me with out even knowing when I would get married; and last but not least by any means, my dad gave me a cameo (this was pinned to the side of my dress) that belonged to his grandmother. The cameo was a gift from her husband bought with his first paycheck. I am a very lucky and blessed girl to have the history that was given to me that day.

Music/Entertainment: A very good friend of my husband was our DJ.

Rentals and Décor: We didn’t rent anything. The tables, chairs, linens, place settings were all provided by our vendor and the decor was created by us. Everything was handmade.

Officiate/ Minister: One of the owners of John J. Sullivans and a friend of the family, Charlie Sullivan

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Shafonne Myers is a certified wedding and event planner who longed for bridal inspiration that looked like her. She has created a website and magazine that brings bridal inspiration to plus size brides. She does speaking engagements educating the world about plus size brides and self confidence.
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