Jill & Matthew's Rustic Rock Fall Wedding!

How They Met: These adorable darlings met when Jill posted an extra ticket to Ryan Adams on Craigslist. Matthew was the first one to respond that he wanted it, and they ended up sitting next to each and chatting through the concert. They exchanged numbers after the show and couldn't stop chatting that night. The rest, as they say, is history.

Their Theme: They chose fall colors for their September wedding and labeled each table after a concert they had been to together. It fit perfectly with the rock-club venue of the Bottom Lounge, in the West Loop of Chicago.

Thanks: These guys were super mellow and very crafty (they made all the candle holders out of wine bottles! All of them!!). We are so happy to have worked with them on their incredibly special day. Love you guys!

Fruit Centerpieces

A simple, cute and affordable way to create your own centerpieces is through using fruit and flowers.

To make one, you will need:

- a clear vase

- fruit of your choice (citrus fruit are a popular option, though grapes can work really well for holding flowers straight, and more exotic fruits like kiwi are fun and unexpected)

- flowers (silk or real - depends how much time you have on the day of to make these)

If you're using tall, long-stemmed flowers you will want to leave your fruit intact (i.e. use whole lemons instead of slicing them) in order to give the flowers a base to stand within. If you're using full heads of flowers (like peonies or sunflowers) you can remove the majority of the stem and slice your fruit to float within the vase.

NOTE: If you are using water (as you will need to if using fresh flowers and/or sliced fruit), beware of the floating to the top issue. With full-headed flowers, the floating will look nice as it will fill the top of the vase. However, make sure you are slicing your fruit different thicknesses so they don't all float to the same place in the vase.

If you want to avoid the floating issue, use silk flowers and whole fruits. Craft stores sell some great silk flowers that will look great both at a distance and up close, and the fruit will allow for a fun contrast if you're trying to work in several colors.

Floral Chairs

A beautiful touch to rustic or garden themed ceremonies is tying flowers and fabric around the ceremony chairs.

While tulle tends to work best (it's structural and wide - as well as being affordable), any ribbon or fabric can work.

Assuming you only need to cover a few chairs (say, for parents or honored guests), get 5 yards of tulle.

- Cut the 5 yard piece into 3 sections - this will be enough for 3 tiebacks that drape a bit down the chair. (If you want shorter tiebacks, this will be enough for 4.)

- Wrap the tulle around the chair and bring the end pieces together in the back to tie a knot.

- Fan the tulle out to cover the chair back and tuck the flowers into the knot of the fabric.

Fresh, dried, or silk flowers can all work well for this decor. You can also use non-floral items like balloons or tucking programs into the ribbon. If you do choose fresh flowers, you may want to put each bunch in a water tube to keep them fresh.

The Wedding

It happened! And, thankfully, no major disasters. Only 2 minor ones to speak of:

1. My 68-year-old aunt ate nothing but ice cream before the wedding, then began double-fisting on caipirinhas (a Brazilian drink which disguises a glass full of sugar-cane rum with a tsp of sugar and a few drops of lime) in the heat. I love that even in your 60s you can still make amateur drinking mistakes. She fainted into the arms of a friend and had to be rushed back to the hotel where some A/C and water awaited.

2. My husband left our rings at the hotel. Thankfully, his best man got to be the hero and loaned his and his wife's rings as our placeholders. But the upside was that his best man was also his brother and his brother's wife had the family heirloom ring. I got to wear it (at least for a few hours) as my ring too!

Hope you enjoy the photos and they help inspire any black & white wedding dreams of yours!