Douglas Pettway Photography has been killing it lately! Sending me some of the most awesome, personalized, and moving real weddings. This one, Liza & Mike’s, is no different. The couple both grew up in Virginia, so they knew they wanted something laid-back, and natural when it came to their wedding. They came across a barn in Southern MD at Jefferson Patterson Park and just fell in LOVE. They loved the casual barn and knew the natural setting would make for some killer portraits (they were right!). They hired their family & friends to come together to make this wedding possible, and it’s so apparent just how much love was involved in this wedding day. Take it away Liza & Mike!
Liza & Mike’s Personalized, DIY Jefferson Patterson Park Wedding in Maryland
Vendors:
Photographer: Douglas Pettway | Venue: Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum | Wedding Coordinator: Erica – friend of bride | Desserts: Cakes and Confections – no wedding cake only bite size desserts | DJ: Rich Barreto | Caterer: Whitman’s Catering | Flowers: DIY – assembled by friends and family | Hair: Platinum Hair Salon
We loved the casual barn setting with simple decorations. This was a DIY wedding so we didn’t want to go overboard with the decorations since we were in charge of taking it all down and being cleaned up by 10 pm. The natural setting was beautiful so we didn’t need to do too much. We bought lace runners and used juice glasses to do simple flower arrangements.
A coworker had told me about the venue. We had looked at a ton of places in VA. Since we both grew up in VA I assumed that’s where we would get married, but we fell in love with this venue in Southern MD. The water and beach was a great background for our couple pictures.
Click inside for the rest of Liza & Mike’s gorgeous, handmade Maryland barn wedding.
It takes a village …
Family and friends did everything. My best friend was the day of coordinator, she kept everything moving on time adn helped us set up the barn. My sister had a crew of friends who arrived at 11 am to set up all the tables and arrange the flowers. My sister also made my bouquet, which turned out beautifully, and she made all the boutonnieres. My husband arrived to the site at 9 am with his brother and good friends to set up the benches for the ceremony, chairs, move tables, and place the barrels around for the cocktail hour. Everyone helped us clean up at 9 pm in order completed by 10 pm and reconvening at the hotel lounge.
We were married by an old family friend, my cousin sang an Irish blessing, and both our mothers spoke during the ceremony. We had a secular ceremony and my husband and I wrote our own vows.
Our family friend who married us is also a professor of Conflict Resolution and Analysis at GMU. He did a wonderful job speaking about community and why we choose to get married with family and friends present and make this private act public.
We didn’t have a large wedding party; my sister was the maid of honor and my husband’s brother was his best man. I walked down the aisle to Paul Simon’s “Homeless,” the extended version that has a long orchestra intro. After officially getting married we walked down the aisle to Dr. John’s “Dorothy.”
^I just had to keep that image in the set…. ;)
All their DIY, handmade details:
The hot sauce, flower arrangements, boutonnieres, bouquet, and the desserts. My mother, aunt, and family friends baked cookies, brownies, and almond bars for the dessert buffet. My husband and I contributed homemade hot sauce as a favor since we both love this condiment and eat it with every meal.
Congratulations Liza & Mike! Thank you for sharing your wedding day and all your rustic, DIY wedding details with us. A special thanks again to Douglas Pettway Photography for sharing his images of this gorgeous Maryland wedding.
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1 comment
AWESOME Photography; Love them all !