I hope you’re in the mood for a barn wedding, because I’ve got this beautiful Ohio one from Two Maries. The bride is a vintage dealer, so of course it is filled with amazing vintage details (including the bride’s dress, which has a great story you’ve got to read!) I love all the handmade details and how the couple really created a family event involving all their loved ones.
Tony and I knew we wanted our wedding to be an authentic reflection of us. We also knew we wanted to exchange our vows surrounded by our closest friends and family in an intimate setting. We wanted to keep the celebration as simple as possible and honor our shared commitment to handcrafted and local goods and while being mindful of the environmental impact. Though we live in the city, we both grew up steeped in rural midwestern values and we wanted to bring our loved ones together in a place that everyone would feel relaxed and comfortable. In our search for the perfect venue, a friend recommended we visit White Star Farm in London, Ohio. The first time we visited the farm with its big red barn, open beams and wide doors open to a view of the rolling cornfields beyond… we knew it was the place for us. We didn’t have to put much thought into decorations because the character of the barn, with its hewn beams and warm light already created the atmosphere we hoped for.
Years before meeting Tony, I was in a local camera shop searching for a couple of used studio lights. The clerk was busy but took a moment to hold his phone call and ask me what I was looking for. He pointed me to a dusty box saying “I just received that box today. I think you’ll find what you’re looking for in there.” I began to look through the box of old equipment and while pulling cords and lights out discovered a ball of fabric that was rust and oil stained as if it was in a garage for decades. As I pulled it from the box, I realized it was an antique dress. After I gathered what I came for, I took the lights and the dress to the counter and asked the clerk what he was going to do with the old garment. He said, “I guess it was meant for you.” As a vintage dealer, I took the dress home with the hopes of restoring it for sale or costume study. After multiple soaks and hand-washings over months, the fabric regained it’s original color. The dress appeared to be a lawn dress from the early 20th century. The dress had fisherman’s net cap sleeves (a very fine sheer handmade mesh that was initially used to create the nets that gave it its name) and hand-tatted lace along the hem and neck that was in remarkable condition. The dress hung neatly in my closet for quite some time and I would pull it out from time to time to mend small holes and secure the old hook and eye closures. At some point it occurred to me the dress was an unusually large size for the era. Most dresses from the period are very small, size zero in today’s modern sizing. I decided to try the dress on. It fit me perfectly. Like it was meant for me. It didn’t need a single alteration. I admired the dress in the mirror and thought, if “If I ever get married, I will wear this dress.” This was my wedding dress. With it I wore an authentic petticoat from the era, my Grandmother’s cameo earrings and Oak Tree Farm’s Veil boots in natural. So, I would like to thank my favorite camera shop, Columbus Camera Group for the dress that they serendipitously placed in my care.
From the start, we were committed to involving our friends in the ceremony and reception. Our friend Allison Chapman, of Igloo Letterpress, worked with us to create a simple one page invitation which was then hand-pressed into cotton paper. Her thoughtful design helped convey what guests could expect from the moment they opened the invitation. Our good friend, poet and author Amy Turn Sharp, performed our ceremony and administered the vows we wrote together. Our friend Fred Baldaro served as DJ, spinning vinyl records in the barn the remainder of the evening and friend Stephen Webster of World Wide Hideout supplied the vintage photo booth which captured all of our guests in a unique way. Donnie Austin of House Wine created a crowd-pleasing wine list and which was accompanied by local handcrafted brews from Columbus Brewing Company.
Angela Rulli of Two Caterers worked with us to create a menu with farm appeal and accommodated our request that all service wear (plates, forks, etc) be compostable. We opted for cupcakes from Pattycake Bakery so we could provide a variety of dessert options for our guests. Their bakery offers vegan, gluten-free, sugar free and nut-free options. Local jewelry designer Anne Holman of The Smithery worked with us to create our wedding bands from reclaimed silver. She was absolutely remarkable to work with from start to finish. We had the great luck of discovery our amazing photographers Brit Lakin and Gilda Keating of Two Maries. I am a photographer myself and I reviewed over a hundred portfolios of work before finding them. I knew instantly they were capable of capturing the “feeling” of the day. They did not disappoint. In photographs, they captured the light, relationships, love, warmth and laughter. When we review our photos, we are instantly taken back to the evening… the way we experienced it. And that, is the highest praise I can give.
We were committed to repurposing or reusing existing goods for our wedding and reception when possible. Since Tony’s last name (and now mine) is Ball, so we decided to repurpose our stash of Ball canning jars as centerpieces and luminaries. The jars were updated with a Cosmichrome finish (an environmentally friendly alternative to chrome plating) by Tony’s design firm Tork, and served as planters for perennials which could be placed in the garden after our wedding. The table number pennants were crafted from old book pages and our cake display was decoupaged with salvaged pages from my Grandmother’s sheet music collection. A quilt made by my Great-Grandmother’s served as the cake table covering. Drawing inspiration from the quilt, Tony and I made the fabric pennants that stretched between the rafters of the barn and served as a backdrop for our ceremony performed at the edge of the cornfield. We used an old ladder and rope to hang escort cards that we hand-stamped. Each guest received a hand-poured candle in a Ball jar as a favor.
Photography | Two Maries | Venue | White Star Farm in London, Ohio | Caterer | Two Caterers | Cake | Pattycake Bakery | Invitations | Igloo Letterpress | Hair | Beth Seitz of Cut Color Style | Makeup | Leigh Ann Ehmann of MakeYou | Wine | House Wine | Beer | Columbus Brewing Company | Photo Booth | World Wide Hideout | Boots | Oak Tree Farm’s | Officiant | Amy Turn Sharp | Rings | The Smithery
