Haley & Nate’s Picture-Perfect & Personal Barn Wedding

From Friends to Fiancés

Nate from Colgate and Haley from Germantown became friends their sophomore year of high school, but they didn’t start dating until the summer after they graduated. They’ve been together ever since! The two got engaged at Lion’s Den Preserve, a park where they’d had one of their first dates. “On our six-year anniversary, Nate asked if we could go for a hike to Lion’s Den, even though it was storming,” Haley says. “He proposed while we were walking along the bluffs.” Nate also secretly planned for Haley’s mom, dad, aunt, and uncle to bump into them at the park. After that came a surprise engagement party. “He thought of everything!”

A Natural Theme

The bride and groom planned an organic-inspired wedding at the Barn at the Bog with neutral tones and a lot of greenery. “We both like very plain and simple things, so we aimed for a more simplistic, less-is-more approach. We used more loose greens and simple candle vases instead of having large centerpieces. We also incorporated geometric shapes throughout the wedding decor.”

Haley’s TiAdora dress, which she found at Miss Ruby Bridal Boutique, matched the softness they were going for throughout their wedding. “My dress was champagne with ivory tulle over the top,” she says. Ivory was also incorporated throughout the ceremony — on ribbons for flower bouquets, ribbons lining the aisles, and fabric on their ceremony arch. The bridesmaids dressed in taupe and the groomsmen donned navy suits with taupe ties.

Flower Power

The arrangements were mostly greens with blooms in shades of white and cream with pops of plum- and wine-colored flowers. Nate and Haley worked with Bank of Flowers for all their arrangements. “We can’t recommend them highly enough. They went above and beyond!” Haley says owner Melissa was especially helpful: “I wanted bouquets that had a lot of texture and dimension. I showed Melissa pictures of what I liked and described things I wanted to change, as well as my overall vision for the wedding. Our arch pieces looked outstanding and I audibly gasped when I saw my gorgeous bouquet.

“She transformed our venue into a space fit for a fairytale wedding and then stayed until our reception began and made our reception space into a Pinterest-worthy dream. We gave her creative liberty with the decorations we had bought and she combined them with the flowers and greenery. Melissa was incredibly sweet, helpful, and a relaxing presence on our wedding day. Our wedding was perfect because of all the amazing work that she did.”

A Personalized Ceremony

Nate and Haley’s ceremony, held at the Barn at the Bog, was so full of personal touches, it’s hard for them to pick a single favorite one. Haley’s uncle officiated the wedding, while another uncle played the guitar and sang. Their ceremony arch was home-built by Nate and his dad. Family members shared readings of their choice: Nate’s sister read a poem and Haley’s aunt chose a reading shared at her own wedding. “We wrote and shared our own vows, too.”

A Day full of DIY

In addition to building the ceremony arch, Nate, Haley, and their families took on a bunch of DIY projects to make their wedding day as special as can be. The bride and groom built a polaroid picture frame stand for the photo booth. Haley made small tic-tac-toe bags for guests to play while seated. Her aunt made the flower girls’ skirts and also sewed Haley’s mother’s veil under the bride’s own veil for a personal touch. Haley made a bracelet for her mother using one of her grandmother’s earrings as a centerpiece.

May I have this Dance?

The wedding dances were one of Haley’s favorite parts of the entire day. She and Nate’s first dance was to Taylor Swift’s “Lover,” a favorite of Haley’s. Haley also danced with her dad to a song he danced to with her mother on their wedding day. The entire night, the dining tables were situated close together so that even in this large barn, the dance floor felt intimate and the entire experience dreamlike.