Happy Wedding Wednesday! This real wedding at Beaches Negril Resort and Spa is one of the sweetest weddings we’ve seen for two reasons. First, the bride was a total DIY queen, making everything from her save-the-dates to wedding accents to compliment her WeddingMoon décor. Second, her wedding was perfectly captured almost completely on Instagram and the photos are all gorgeous! How could it not be at this stunning destination wedding on the 7-Mile Beach in Negril, Jamaica?
We caught up with crafty bride, Ann Chanco-Bulak, to ask her about her DIY inspiration, following her wedding on Instagram every step of the way and how much she loved her Beaches Resort wedding! We’ve also put together a few tips on how to use Instagram to successfully capture your wedding details every step of the way.
We asked Ann what her DIY inspiration was.
“I really wanted the coral and aqua with the sea and earth tones (burlap) and really, just pure imagination!”
Ann chose a beautiful beginnings wedding with the simple yet elegant white flowers to compliment her beach-bum themed vision. The burlap wedding details and chevron table accents were her way of customizing her destination wedding.
Ann also brought a DIY “XOXO” sign for her sweetheart table and a canvas of her and her groom, Joe for her guests to sign. It was important to the couple to make their wedding as near and dear to them as possible and we say: Mission Accomplished.
Even Ann’s dad (who flew in from the Philippines to walk his little girl down the aisle) and her soon-to- be husband fit the wedding theme!
We think our favorite item from Ann’s arsenal of DIY items were the bobble head cake toppers designed to look like Ann and Joe on the beach. Seriously, this is super cute!
As far as travelling with her designer items, and setting them up Anne said:
“We just packed them all in our suitcase with our clothes! I also loved that there were off-site and onsite wedding coordinators and we couldn’t have been happier with Treshana’s [wedding coordinator] help. “
Ann and Joe had a warm and loving family destination wedding at Beaches Negril in Jamaica with guests travelling near and far to celebrate with them.
“…After we finished our first dance the clouds parted and lo and behold; the most gorgeous sunset we could have hoped for to celebrate with our 40 family and friends that came together from all over the world to celebrate with us(France, Brazil, USA and The Philippines).” – Ann and Joe.
6 Tips on How to Instagram Your Wedding Successfully Like Ann and Joe
- Create a hashtag and share it with your friends and family. This way when you’re looking for your photos after the big day, you can simply search the hashtag to pull all of your photos together. Try to keep your hashtag simple enough to remember, yet unique enough to you to avoid accidentally copying someone else’s. Anne and Joe’s wedding hashtag was #anneandjoe; simple yet personal!
- Have a friend or bridesmaid’ snap shots of your time before the wedding that may be sentimental to you – you can always ask him or her to capture details that you spot.
- Before you walk down the aisle, hand your phone off to a trusted guest who would be happy to catch a few amateur (yet artistic) shots for you where you’d like them to. Have the conversation beforehand and ask him or her to capture photos from your phone’s camera first and not the actual Instagram app. This way you have them saved to your phone where the pictures can be printed if you wanted to have them framed. You can always look through them and Instagram them later after the wedding. You will want to remind guests not to get in the way of your professional wedding photographer.
- For the bride and groom, your smartphone is officially off limits once your wedding begins (that’s right, you heard us)! We think it’s safe to say the one day in your entire lifetime that you won’t need your phone glued to your fingers is your wedding day. Laugh, smile, cry, eat, drink and be merry; leave your cell with someone you trust. Your wedding day can go by faster than you think so enjoy it!
- We know we’ve said it before but we’re sure it’s worth repeating; remind your guest to NOT get in the way of your professional photographer/videographer that you’ve hired. We understand the craziness of trying to get that perfect shot at the perfect time with your iPhone but everyone should respect the person whose actual job it is to capture perfect moments during the wedding.
- The best time to have cell phones out and about is definitely the moment everyone hits the dance floor. No doubt the best photos are taken while everyone is cutting a rug after one (or two or three or four) drinks. We think at this point, it’s safe for the bride and groom to reclaim their phones for a quick selfie!
*Ann and Joe did have a professional photographer who captured their wedding and provided them with professional shots for their wedding album. If you do happen to see a photo or two that was Instagrammed that you would love to see in a picture frame next to your bed, you can try websites and apps like this one, that print your Instagram photos.
Many thanks to Ann and Joe who shared their charming DIY wedding and Instagram photos with us!
All photo credits: annerz16, asotira_pete and beachbumjrgrl62 Instagram accounts.