Today’s beautiful wedding at the Antrim 1844 Country House Hotel is brought to you by Rachel Smith Photography. We loved this sweet couple and the bride wrote some lovely words for us about her wedding (which we’ve included throughout the post)… so we’ll let her take it from here!

From Katharine: “Max and I met at work, and very early into the relationship knew that we had found, “the one.” We had only been dating for a year and a half when we got engaged, so we knew we wanted to take our time in planning our perfect wedding. By giving ourselves almost two years to plan, we were able to ensure that all of our top vendors were available, and more or less, had a stress free planning process.”

“My experience as an Event Manager definitely helped in that I early on came up with a clear vision. Our theme was “rustic elegance,” and I was all about vintage lace, lush garden flowers, bluegrass music and a rustic barn. Problem was, as much as I love a good barn wedding, Max and I lean more towards the high-maintenance side rather than the rustic side. I was going to wear a great pair of heels, and wanted the girls in long dresses and the guys in tuxes. Max was insistent on AC, plumbing, and close proximity to a Starbucks. Not to mention the added stress of literally having to find a vendor for every aspect of the wedding. We quickly realized that more of a one stop shop venue was going to make life easier.”

“From the moment we arrived at Antrim 1844, we knew right away that it was the perfect place for us. It was 45 minutes away from Baltimore, so the perfect distance to make a little weekend getaway for all of the locals. Max and I have always loved staying in Bed and Breakfasts, and Antrim was stunning. We ended up filling all 40+ of their rooms with our closest friends and family and closed out each night at the very quaint “Pick Wick Pub” that is in the Mansion.

With the venue booked, my wedding vision really came into place, and since we had plenty of time to plan, no detail went unnoticed. It was very important not to have a “cookie-cutter wedding”. If there was something we liked, and wanted to incorporate, we did. All of our guests could see that this was “Katharine and Max’s wedding” and that it fit our personalities to a T!”

“Most of my attention went into all of the little details. I am a very crafty person and love an excuse to get out my hot glue gun. Much to Max’s dismay, our kitchen was deemed, “Craft Corner”, and we are still finding remnants left behind from all the crafting. My “Alpha Bridesmaid” and I we designed the ceremony program, and with the rest of my bridal parties help, we put them together. I had my mother in law constructed the burlap cones that lined the aisle during the ceremony. I didn’t want a guest book, as I knew I would never go back and read it. Instead, my mother in law cut out fabric squares for a sign-in quilt! Each of my guests signed a square, and it was later put together as a quilt. This is one of my favorite items from the wedding. I even used the scrap fabric for the table numbers.”

“Planning the wedding also introduced me to Etsy – which I used for everything from bridal accessories to sparklers! I ordered my wedding veil, bridal sash, hair brooch and bracelets from different vendors. For our parents, we had handkerchief’s hand embroidered with lovely notes, and to help with all the tears. The custom made cornhole set, in addition to the wedding location signs, our monogrammed burlap runner, escort cards, all of the items from the photo booth, all came from Etsy! I owe a lot of ideas and inspiration to the amazing vendors on the website.”

For all future brides out there planning their weddings, here are a few words of advice:

1. Plan a wedding that YOU want to have and don’t worry about what others may think. If you stick to this, your wedding will exude love, fun, and your personalities!
2. Be weary of a sparkler exit. While it looks great, and creates fun pictures, putting fire in the hands of your intoxicated friends and family is not the best idea. (We feared our lives for a quick minute.)
3. Take time during the wedding day to notice all of the details. One of my favorite moments from our wedding was when I took a step back with Max and we looked at everything going on.
4. Don’t sweat the small stuff, and enjoy every moment. The wedding day will go by all too quickly.

Bridal Gown: Betsy Robinson’s Bridal Collection
Corn Toss: Style My Corntoss
DJ: Classic Collective DJ’s
Florals: Ann’s Garden
Hair Stylist: Lorrie Seaborg
Makeup Artist: Dante Goodrich
Music: Tim & Savannah Finch with The Eastman String Band
Photography: Rachel Smith Photography
Rentals: Rusty Love Vintage Rentals
Stationery: Betsywhite Stationery
Venue: Antrim 1844 Country House Hotel