A Sweet and Simple DIY Wedding at a Private Vacation House in Annapolis, Maryland

Jessica (27 and a social worker) and Drew (30 and also a social worker) met in graduate school at the University of Maryland. Their relationship progressed slowly from a close friendship until Jessica called Drew out for regularly driving the long distance from Arlington to Baltimore just to visit her. After dating for four years, they started to talk seriously about marriage and even picked out a sapphire engagement ring, but Jessica still wanted to be surprised by the proposal. Drew took her on a date to an orchard to go apple picking, but because it was the end of the season, there weren't many apples left to find. Drew called her over claiming to have found something, and when she turned, he was down on one knee. They got married in the backyard of a private vacation house in Annapolis, Maryland so that their families from California and New Mexico had a place to stay after the reception. Jessica and Drew implemented a color scheme of dark green and sapphire blue (to match Jessica's engagement ring) with pops of magenta in the locally-grown flowers. They also made sure to include sage and eucalyptus, which are native to Drew's hometown in Southern California. Almost all of the decor was handmade, including the lace tablecloths, a wooden card box, and the personalized wine charm gift favors. For a personal touch, Jessica wore her mother's wedding dress after some slight alterations and had two of her grandmother's reception vases on display at her own reception. Jessica's grandmother also made several appetizers to serve before the catered dinner and dessert, a simple chocolate cake with raspberry filling from Whole Foods. The couple's sister-in-law decorated the cake with some of the wedding flowers and a homemade moose cake topper. Since Jessica and Drew only had 23 wedding guests, they were able to successfully work within their $5000 budget to create a simple, intimate, and personal celebration with very little stress, saying, "I think all of our guests felt special because it was such a small group there to celebrate. We loved it! And we are so happy that we could do our day in our own way."