David + Ashley: An Intimate Mast Farm Inn Wedding

“Marry meToday and every dayMarry meIf I ever get the nerve to say "Hello" in this cafeSay you willMm-hmmSay you willMm-hmm”-From “Marry Me” by Train

It was truly an honor to spend time with David + Ashley on their big day. Yes, it was a rainy day (a flooding day actually :) in Valle Crucis, NC at The Mast Farm Inn, but these guys were prepared with their aDORable rain boots! Just wait until you hear more from their touching story. Here are a few highlights from their beautiful day…

Rain Boots Weddings at The Mast Farm Inn Photography by Revival Photography Photo

Ceremony took place at The Mast Farm Inn in Valle Crucis, NC.

“The Mast Farm Inn is a world renowned historic country inn and restaurant in the Valle Crucis Historical District of Watauga County, North Carolina, which has been welcoming guests since the 1800s.” – The Mast Farm Inn

Weddings at The Mast Farm Inn Photography by Revival Photography Photo

Loved David + Ashley’s color choices! Robin’s Egg blue and Lavender were perfect colors for a Spring rustic chic wedding...but there is a deeper meaning to these colors, and you will find out why in just a minute. Check out the personalized bracelets Ashley created for herself and her Mom. Get ready for a tissue...

"The bracelets were worn by me and my Mom. The one with silver accents one was mine; Mom wore the antique bronze accents. I designed/made them myself at a bead store in Mooresville called Ain't Miss Bead Haven.We wore them in remembrance of my Dad, who passed away last year. We wore them in place of the silicone awareness bands we usually wear. (Dad was mentally ill: he suffered deep depression; he took his own life on January 15, 2012 [to read more, go HERE). Mom asked me a couple months before the wedding if I thought we should wear our silicone bracelets during the wedding in honor of Dad; I told her as much as I liked the idea, I was afraid they might look out of place in the photos. (Dad always believed in doing things the right way!) I told her instead I might look for a couple of nice beaded bracelets in the colors of Suicide Prevention Awareness (purple and teal), which coincidentally also happen to be my favorite colors, and also obviously the colors for the wedding.After looking EVERYWHERE: jewelry stores, the mall, Etsy, our local crafts co-op (I even looked at having someone there custom-make them for me), David and I were on a date, walking in downtown Mooresville, when we spontaneously decided to walk into the new bead store. After describing what I was looking for, the lady showed me some Czech crystal beads, which were PERFECT. I then picked out antique bronze accents for Mom, because she's very old-fashioned, and I picked out sterling silver for mine, because it looked a little more fancy, and bride-ish? I'm not sure that's a word! Mom's has an anchor charm, because Dad was in the navy, and a second charm that says "made with love". Mine has a single silver heart charm." - Ashley

Personalized wedding details Weddings at The Mast Farm Inn Photography by Revival Photography Photo

"The flowers and boutonnieres were done by "Pearl's Garden", in Boone. She used my favorite flowers: Hydrangeas, Delphiniums, and Bells of Ireland. The large blue mason jars are antiques that belonged to my Dad; no idea where he got them, but finding them in our garage was LITERALLY like a gift from heaven! (I know you've seen posts on Pinterest about ways to make/fake them, because they can be expensive and hard to find." - Ashley

Loved this adorable burlap ring pillow, personalized with David + Ashley’s initials they found on Etsy!

Weddings at The Mast Farm Inn Photography by Revival Photography Photo

Ashley chose a non-traditional satin empire ball-gown with an illusion halter in "Champagne from David’s Bridal matched with a vintage-inspired flower hair clip, (the “something old”, which is made of vintage lace, a vintage doily, and a vintage rhinestone button) with a 12” double birdcage veil in Champagne. So vintage-chic!

Check out that awesome ring-bearer badge from Etsy! Bowtie from by Etsy seller “TwoSistersOriginals”. And we are in LOVE with these vintage inspired gloves worn by the Matron of Honor!

Weddings at The Mast Farm Inn Photography by Revival Photography Photo

Smile

Beautiful décor for a Springtime rustic wedding! “Thanks Ya’ll” Banner by Windrosie on Etsy! And let me just say, that these homemade cookies are AMAZING (this awesomely awesome bride and groom gave us a cookie and let’s just say the cookie didn’t last long they are made by October House Bakery in Rockwell, NC. Ashley designed the packaging/labels herself!

An outstanding menu put together by Simplicity at The Mast Farm Inn.

"The menu was my DREAM wedding menu! (David is so easy to get along with, he eats anything I like: just another reason why we're a perfect pair, because I'm a bit of a food snob! ) We served:
Crispy vegetable springs rolls
Mediterranean couscous stuffed mushrooms
Cornmeal cracker w/ roasted tomato, chevre and baby basil
Crab cake w/ mustard seed tartar
Smoked shrimp w/ mango relish and coconut aioli
Salmon gravlax w/ herbed crème fraiche and local caviar
Cornbread w/ house-cured pork belly, greens and molasses
"We selected everything straight off Simplicity's spring catering menu: no tasting/negotiations at all! That was one of the reasons we knew MFI was our dream destination: I saw a sample Simplicity menu online, and knew instantly they understood the kind of food we [= me] like! " - AshleyThe dessert buffet for the guests included:
Drunken Fruit Poundcake
Mixed Berry Cobbler
Hummingbird Cake

Weddings at The Mast Farm Inn Photography by Revival Photography Photo

"Mom and I made the Seed Bombs in our kitchen. We used a blender, flower seeds from Lowe's, and cheap aqua copy paper from Staples. I got the directions from an digital download PDF tutorial I found on Etsy. The seller's shop, "Pulp Art" is amazing!The flower seeds all grow in different shades of purple and blue; we even used a couple varieties of purple-flowering herbs. (You can see the varieties HERE) (Purple flowers were Dad's favorite also, which is probably where I get it.) A lot of people don't know this, but many purple flowers are also easy to grow. Most herbs and other Mediterranean plants bloom in purple; Mediterranean plants are tough and easy to grow because they can tolerate heat and drought. (That is if our Southern humidity and acidic North Carolina red clay don't kill them first!)David and I also have a connection to purple flowering perennials. (Perennials are the ones that come back every year.) We met when I worked at the Garden Center at Lowe's about 4 or 5 years ago. Part of my job was to roll the distressed plants out behind the store, and either "doctor them up", or dispose of them. (When I would dispose of the dead perennials in the dumpster, I would always clip off the ripe seed pods from anything that flowered in PURPLE, of course, to bring home and plant!)David also worked in the Garden Center at the time; his job was mainly to drive a forklift and move around pallets of mulch and fertilizer. Every now and then though, he would come out back to where I was deadheading plants; he said our manager told him to "help me". (This basically meant he just distracted me and got in my way: he got on my nerves back then!) I found out years later though, that was a total lie. Not only did our manager NEVER tell him to come help me, the manager even YELLED at him for following me around like a puppy, instead of doing his own work in the Garden Center! Anyway, I packaged the seedbombs myself with tulle, spanish moss, and ribbon. I printed the labels myself on clear Avery printable labels, and put them Martha Stewart Home Office hanging tags I got on clearance at Staples." - Ashley

Celtic folk music during the reception by the Forget-Me-Nots

Okay, how lovely is this cake and cake topper?? Ashley + David used a bit of "vintage", and a bit of rustic in the cake topper/cake stand for that perfect “rustic vintage-chic” mix! Topper from “BetteroffWed” on Etsy.

Vintage Chic Mr and Mrs Wedding Cake Topper

"Our tiny wedding cake was Danielle's mother's special recipe vanilla cake, with cream cheese frosting. (I'm usually more of an "exotic" flavors person: coconut, carrot, raspberry, etc., but David loves plain old vanilla, so I decided to surprise him and order vanilla for the wedding cake: I'm SURE he thought I'd go for coconut!)" - Ashley

Smile

Coffee? Um, yes please

"The coffee mugs, I designed; then David and I painted them ourselves. We have a family membership-discount at a local paint-on-pottery store in Huntersville called "Meg-Art". (That's actually another Dad-related story, for another time: let's just say that although he was never actually able to go to Meg-Art, he loved to paint pottery.) Anyway, I Google-imaged the little stick figures, then printed them out on my home printer. We did pencil rubbings of the outlines onto the raw clay mugs, then painted in the little details ourselves. (I painted the purple sash on mine; David painted the bowtie on his.) We also painted the insides, and I painted our names and the wedding date on the bottoms.We then had the awesome owner of Meg-Art, Sherry George, paint the black stick lines for us. (Usually I'm pretty good at painting fine lines, but we didn't want to take any chances on something so important, so we thought we'd leave the tricky parts to a professional!) Meg-Art then glazed and fired them for us." - Ashley

Smile

A sweet moment between Ashley and Danielle, the fantastic coordinator who helped put all of this together. She does an outstanding job on coordinating and designing the weddings at The Mast Farm Inn. Ashley surprised all of us with heartfelt and personalized gifts and we were all so touched!

"For beverages we went old-fashioned picnic-style: iced tea and lemonade. (No sodas or alcohol, although we did include coffee to go with the dessert.)" - Ashley

Smile

Rainboots for everyone!

Weddings at The Mast Farm Inn Photography by Revival Photography Photo

Smile

David + Ashley’s interpretation of “American Gothic”

The couple standing in front of the Loom House, which is the original cabin from the original Mast settlement.

Weddings at The Mast Farm Inn Photography by Revival Photography Photo

Congrats David + Ashley! Thank you so much for sharing your tips, wisdom, and most of all... your story. Special thanks to Miss Joye Barr for assisting me with this wedding! (As always, she’s a lifesaver!)

Here's a final thought from David + Ashley:

"Keep an open mind about EVERYTHING. It's ok to have visions and dreams, but if you set your sights TOO much on having every little thing a specific way, you are almost sure to be disappointed."
"Case in point: you can plan every second of your wedding down to the last detail, but nothing can prevent an ACT OF GOD (such as flooding in Biblical proportions)! "

xoxo

Heather

www.revivalphotography.com

Behind the Scenes, DIY Projects, FAQ, Fashion Inspiration, Faves, Follow Us, History, Inspiration, Links, Love, Mountain Weddings, Photographers, Photography, Revival Photography, Storytelling, Topics, Vintage Fashion, Vintage Inspiration, Wedding Day Decor, Wedding Resources, Weddings, Weddings by Revival PhotographyJason + Heather BarrMay 31, 2013american gothic inspired photo, bees, customized wedding decor, etsy weddings, farm wedding, heather r- barr, marry me by train, mountain wedding, mr and mrs coffee mugs, north carolina wedding photographers, photographers in valle crucis nc, rain boots at weddings, rainboots, Revival Photography, ring pillow from etsy, robin egg blue and lavender wedding colors, seedbombs for wedding favors, simplicity at the mast farm inn, thanks ya'll wedding banner, the forget me nots, the loom house at the mast farm inn, The Mast Farm Inn, valle crucic weddings, vintage hair pieces for brides, vintage inspired photos, vintage inspired wedding cake, vintage inspired wedding decor, vintage photos, vintage wedding inspiration, wedding photographers in nc, weddings at the mast farm inn, Weddings at The Mast Farm Inn Photography by Revival Photography1 Comment