Real Wedding: Clifford + Stephanie

Warning: The following pictures are going to make you hungry.

Melissa Murphy (aka Missy Photography) sent over these pics of this amazing backyard-styled Pennsylvania real wedding. The venue is actually Earlystown Manor in Pennsylvania and HOW CUTE is this shindig? Gimme a break, who doesn't want fizzy drinks and delish cookies at a wedding? I do!

Let's get personal here for a moment. Here's the thing: I love cookies. Yes, I do. And I don't discriminate against any cookie actually. I love them all. Equally. (Thank goodness someone invented spin class) Thanks for listening.

Ok. Back to this wedding: I can't get enough of the cute little picnic details! Stephanie, the bride gave us the inside scoop on her wedding day:

My color palate was navy blue and lime green. We tried to go with the theme of a Classy Picnic (our invitations said picnic and dancing to follow). While our wedding may not fit into the category of a picnic wedding having that in my head helped me make decisions. Since we are from the same town we wanted it to be very local and give all of our New York friends (a whole bus load) a sense of Central Pennsylvania. Most of all I wanted the guests to have fun and feel comfortable. It was a casual wedding.


My dress was designed by Allure and I got it at a small local bridal store, Simply Elegant Gowns, in State College. I ordered my shoes online from Nina (everyone told me to go with flats because my heels would sink in the grass but I didn't listen, my dress deserved a pair of great heels). My jewlery and all of my bridesmaids jewlery was custom made by Staci of Contempo Jewelry Designs. My hair and all the girls hair was done by Cliff's Aunt Claire and my makeup was done by one of my best friends and bridesmaid Laurel. Cliff got his suit at Banana Republic and his shoes (which he adores) he got at Top Man.

DIY Elements: I put the invitations together, made the fans, and had friends stick personalized stickers on everything from water bottles, to the cups for the Rita's Italian Ice, and the favor bags. I LOVED the signs that my dad put together and a few friends painted. We had a welcome sign in an old frame that my mom found on the side of the road, a "Life is short, eat cookies!" sign by the favors and a sign pointing to New York, Cancun, the ceremony, and the reception. And one of my favorite little touches was that I had used tiny little rubber stamps to stamp on the spoons used for the Rita's Italian Ice and for the handles of the fans.



One of my favorite elements of my wedding was the graphic design work. My dear friend and talented designer Julia Pane Bowman did all of the work. She hand drew the little birds that appeared on everything and was so great about all the little things I wanted to make. The flowers came from Woodring Flowers in State College and my mom has a great relationship with them so they let her go in and help. My mom made my bouquet and the all the girls bouqets which was so special to me. Tommy Wareham and his band (a local favorite) was the entertainment for the evening, the food was catered by Aaron Hart, and my Aunt Holly made my cakes. All the cookies for the favor were made by aunts and friends and were of course paired with the best milk in the world from Myers Dairy, where they sell local fresh milk in glass bottles and it is one of my favorite things in the whole world!


I hope my guests left on a sugar high because we gave them a ton of sweets. We knew it would be hot so we arranged to serve them Rita's Italian Ice before the ceremony, after dinner we served Penn State Creamery ice cream, sent them away with cookies and milk, and don't forget about the massive cakes. That was something that was very much me :) I never turn down a cookie and am always asking for ice cream.

The sparkler send off was such a last minute decision but it was such a rush to drive down the long driveway seeing all the faces of the people I love the most lit up by sparklers. Once we turned out of the driveway Cliff and I just started screaming and laughing out of pure joy. It was the best day of my life!"

Sigh. She's cute. Thanks Stephanie! LOVED how you styled your day! And special thanks to the ever-so-talented Melissa Murphy for once again delighting us with her incredible photography!