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My Simple Wild

a motherhood & simple living blog

October 24, 2019 / Parties

Intimate Boho Ceremony In The Woods

It’s hard to believe that it’s only been about six weeks since we got married in our backyard. It was a very warm and sunny day that went by in a blur. Now I am sitting here looking out my window with a dusting of snow on the ground and a pumpkin spice candle burning on my table. How fast time flies by!

Every time I flip through our wedding photos I am filled with emotion. I am happy and sad all at once! It was the most beautiful day, but we were missing some very important people there. My only true regret is that we couldn’t afford to hire a videographer and forgot to ask one of our friends to record the ceremony for both our Grandmother’s who were unable to travel to Montana for the wedding. But I am grateful I have amazing photos to look through that were captured by my beautiful friend Jaci Vigil.

I was, of course, a DIY bride and wanted every little detail to be perfect but was on a very tight budget. It made for a chaotic few days, especially since my groom broke his leg a WEEK before our wedding!! Yep. He was in a boot and on crutches for our wedding! But I am so happy with how it all turned out, I think the multiple meltdowns I had that weekend was worth it. Hopefully.

It was the most perfect dreamy ceremony. My absolute favorite part of the day! I was shaking and giddy and about ran down that aisle to get to Nate.

We made wood signs to direct our guests to the ceremony site

We had our ceremony in the woods behind our house and it was everything I have ever wished for! It all came together with the help of our amazing friends and family. It was about a 5 minute walk from our house to the ceremony site, so halfway there I set up a drink station with huckleberry lemonade.

I used my vintage glassware I already had and rented this adorable chalkboard vanity from Empress Tents & Events.
Nate cut these wood arrows, I stained them, and my friend and coworker Alishia did the beautiful hand lettering for me!

The ceremony location was definitely a labor of love. This entire area was completely covered in brush and bushes and weeds and stumps. Nathan and I spent HOURS out there clearing the space, with just rakes and shovels, to make just enough room to set up the teepee and chairs. I think it was worth the hard work!

The groomsmen built this teepee for us a few days before the wedding. Nate and I had been collecting these long branches for a few weeks while out walking around back there.
Being a new floral designer, I was at first intimated by larger pieces and installations. But these pampas statement pieces in front of the teepee were by far the easiest any my most favorite floral pieces of the whole wedding! We used foam cages and basically just stuck the stems in, starting from the back and layering tallest to shortest.
I designed the ceremony programs and had my favorite local printer print them out on a really gorgeous gold paper.
The perks of working at a flower shop that is also a wedding and event planning company… all the amazing lanterns I got to borrow !
I bought these smaller throw rugs from Home Goods- All of them came to about $100!
For our immediate family, we used small chalkboard easels from Hobby Lobby to reserve their seats

Our dear friend Mike played guitar for our ceremony and it was just magical! You can check out his music he writes and produces here.

I walked down the aisle to Harvest Moon by Neil Young and it took everything in me to not start crying as SOON as I heard the song playing.

My handsome groom on his crutches.

He balanced on ONE FOOT the entire ceremony!!! A lifetime of skateboarding and snowboarding made his balance obsolete I suppose!
intimate boho ceremony in the woods
My son decided to toss his bow-tie and throw on these shades exactly 2 seconds before walking down the aisle. haha!
THE cutest flower girls ever!!

I walked down the aisle with both my mother and father.

Then my sweet Dad MARRIED US! It was the most special amazing thing ever. I am so happy he got to marry us and was up there shaking right along with him. He isn’t a fan of public speaking but he did it anyways, and totally rocked it.

We did a handfasting ceremony and keep our knotted rope above our fireplace.

I placed these ribbon bell wands on every other seat in place of rice or bubbles. I got them from Hobby Lobby half off!

After Nate stood there balancing on one foot through the entire ceremony, we hopped on our lawn mower to ride off on! I was DYING, you guys. Laughing so hard about our hillbilly send-off so hard I had stomach cramps. Drink in hand, I balanced on Nate’s lap and road through our neighbors yard to get to the reception tent.

intimate boho ceremony in the woods
intimate boho ceremony in the woods

It was the best and craziest day of my life!

intimate boho ceremony in the woods

All images capture by J. Vigil Photography

Bride’s Dress- Lulu’s

Groom’s attire: Dillards

Bridesmaids dresses: David’s Bridal and JJ’s House

Florals: My bouquet was done by my insanely talented co-worker Tyler from Mum’s. Floral crown was done by Tumbleweed Floral Truck and I designed the bridesmaids bouquets with help from my bridesmaids!

Ceremony rentals: Empress Tents & Events

Printer for ceremony programs : Top Copy Printing

Next read : 15 Getting Ready Wedding Photos You Should Have

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Comments

  1. Trent Peek says

    October 31, 2019 at 3:06 pm

    Wow! What a lovely wedding you had. That is something out of the ordinary. I too wish I videotaped my wedding due to the fact of relatives being ill and not being able to be there. At least you have your memories in pictures for you to enjoy.

    Reply
  2. Chel says

    October 31, 2019 at 3:08 pm

    Omg.. these are breathtakingly beautiful! Your dress was perfect. I bet it was magical!! Totally get that though with the not hiring or getting someone to film the wedding. I didn’t have a photographer for mine because it was booked so short noticed, but a friend attempted to take a few pictures for us. Was cute, but not to the ideal that I wanted. Oh well..

    Your style is lovely – everything about this was just amazing. How long did you plan?
    Thank you for sharing this lovely day with us.

    Reply
    • Natalie Aubele says

      November 2, 2019 at 12:41 am

      Thank you so so much !! We planned our wedding for about 8 months. It was really chaotic because we moved and bought a house and had our wedding all in the same year! But it all came together, even with Nate’s broken leg! ha ha

      Reply
  3. Chrystal says

    October 31, 2019 at 4:58 pm

    These are such great photos! I love the wedding dress. Beautiful

    Reply
    • Natalie Aubele says

      November 2, 2019 at 12:39 am

      Thank you!! ๐Ÿ˜€

      Reply
  4. Leah says

    October 31, 2019 at 6:17 pm

    This is so beautiful wow I am literally so in love with everything about this ceremony!

    Reply
    • Natalie Aubele says

      November 2, 2019 at 12:39 am

      Thank you so much !!

      Reply
  5. Morgan @ Baby Got Balance says

    October 31, 2019 at 8:30 pm

    What a gorgeous wedding – congrats! I’m cracking up over the lawnmower exit!

    Reply
    • Natalie Aubele says

      November 2, 2019 at 12:39 am

      Thank you!! haha yea it was definitely not in the plan, but it was a memorable way to exit !! lol

      Reply
  6. Nipa says

    October 31, 2019 at 9:39 pm

    What a beautiful wedding; so unique and creative! My husband and I also had a DIY wedding, and what I loved most was that our family came together to help; his dad arranged flowers, my mom sewed table runners, our friends provided the entertainment… so special! xo Nipa | https://fashionipa.com

    Reply
  7. Kileen says

    November 1, 2019 at 4:25 am

    Wow, what a beautiful boho ceremony. Loving the vibes and what a special memory to be captured so beautifully!

    Kileen
    cute & little

    Reply
  8. roxy says

    November 1, 2019 at 12:59 pm

    Oh my goodness this is so lovely!! Congratulations to you both. Having recently gotten married myself I’m feeling extra sappy about all things love, and this wedding is so beautiful it’s making me tear up!!!

    Reply
  9. Tiffany Khyla says

    November 4, 2019 at 11:45 pm

    Your wedding was absolutely gorgeous! I love the intimacy of it, and I’m so impressed with all your DIY pieces. I can’t believe he balanced on one leg for the whole ceremony. That’s so impressive. Congratulations!

    Reply
    • Natalie Aubele says

      November 5, 2019 at 7:54 pm

      Thank you so much!! I know, it was impressive he stood there so long! haha good thing our ceremony was pretty short! ๐Ÿ˜€

      Reply
  10. Bailey says

    November 7, 2019 at 4:12 am

    Your dress is absolutely stunning!!! Love the lace!

    Reply
    • Natalie Aubele says

      November 14, 2019 at 7:10 pm

      Thank you so much! The best part is that it was only $86!

      Reply
  11. Britt says

    November 7, 2019 at 4:16 am

    What a stunning wedding! The beauty and simplicity of it is perfect. And love the drink station on the way in!

    Reply
  12. Rachel Hasson says

    January 14, 2020 at 2:16 pm

    Your wedding looked absolutely STUNNING! Love the boho chic vibe, the personal touches really made it come together and you can tell it was really intimate! I actually got my wedding dress from Lulus as well- I thought I was the only one hahah!

    Thanks so much for sharing- major inspiration!

    Reply

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Welcome! I’m Natalie. I am a western mountain mama who just recently relocated to the coast! Here I share all things motherhood, homemaking, homeschooling, and slow living. I hope you follow along as we share this next chapter of our lives. I am so glad you are here! Grab a cup of coffee and stay awhile

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So we take lots of wiggle and play breaks and it really benefits us all. I get 10 min to clean up or kick my feet up. The boys get to spend quality time together, use their imaginations, run around, and get their wiggles out. 
And I'm trying to get better at setting up mess-free activities and busy work for Theo to keep him occupied for longer. 
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I know that's "normal" for any family's that choose public school, and there's of course nothing wrong with that at all. I'm just glad we all get to spend our days together, even when they're difficult. 

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