real wedding: mike and cara’s diy wedding

This weekend I was lucky enough to head up to Lutsen, Minnesota, off the shores of Lake Superior for the wedding of my friends, Mike and Cara. Cara is a DIY queen — visit her Etsy shop, Mary Marie, for her vintage finds and incredible knitted products — so I knew she’d have a bazillion DIY wedding ideas for me to share with you. She certainly didn’t disappoint!

Above, you’ll see the arbor Cara had decorated with tissue paper flowers. She used Martha Stewart’s tutorial to make about two dozen pom-poms.

How to:

Clockwise from top left:

• Cara knitted every guest (every single guest!) a sleeve for coffee cups, to replace the cardboard ones you usually get at coffee shops. What a waste, right? These are much more sustainable, and super cute to boot. She tied on tags made of birch bark, a nod to our North Shore location, and left them in our rooms with a goodie bag of snacks, itineraries and to-dos.
• I loved their table numbers: pictures of the couple’s dogs, Reggie and Sadie. They’re part of the party, too, after all!
• This might be my favorite idea: For the cake toppers, Cara painted herself, Mike and their two dogs on wooden you-paint-them dolls from Etsy. If you’re not crafty enough to do this yourself, enlist a friend who is.
• For simple centerpieces, Cara placed mini tissue paper flowers in blue mason jars that she and her antiquing mom spent months collecting.

Clockwise from top left:

• Mike and Cara are both amazing cooks and bakers (Mike’s known for his amazing bread baking)  so they each baked their own cakes — Mike’s was chocolate stout and Cara’s was buttermilk. They were both exceptional, and their homemade touch added to the personality of the day.
• At the reception, the bride and groom threw down huge oversized balloons from an upstairs balcony to get the dance party going. It worked! We danced the night away.
• At the end of the night, we took advantage of the location and had a gigantic bonfire on the shores of Lake Superior. Although not every one can take away this idea for their wedding, I loved the idea of changing into comfy clothes and relaxing with the bride and groom after a night of dancing and celebrating.
• Rather than a guest book, guests were asked to write a piece of advice on slips of paper and hang them on clothesline.

Cara had her photographer set up a photo booth with props like chalkboards, more tissue paper flowers and balloons.

Luckily, Cara didn’t really have to do a lot to the ceremony site — the location provided enough amazing scenery. Any extra flowers or candles may have taken away from the beautiful setting, and it was way too windy for open flames.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

What did you — or what would you — DIY at your wedding?