The Baker Bride at This Fall Wedding at Historic Shady Lane in Pennsylvania Made Her Own Cake

Callan is a baker and the blogger behind The Cozy Plum so it's no surprise that she took on the task of baking her own cake for her fall wedding to Adam at Historic Shady Lane in Manchester, Pennsylvania. Beyond good food and drink (think: apple cider and doughnuts to welcome guests to the ceremony!), the couple's fall wedding day was filled with a seasonal color palette of rich orange hues and vintage glassware that added a whimsical touch to the autumnal celebration. 

"As soon as we visited our venue, we knew it was the one and built our theme around it," explains Callan. "It was beautifully manicured, yet also untouched. Overgrown ivy, ferns and foliage everywhere...a tucked-away oasis. We immediately wanted to go with a secret-garden, vintage, romantic vibe with touches of fall and some brighter pops of color (which was nice because our day ended up being rather gray)! We went with quite a bit of velvet—bridesmaids' dresses, the flower girl dress, ring bearer bow ties, plus a number of furniture items to tie the theme together."
"We called our floral palette 'autumn citrus' and designed and arranged everything ourselves," explains Callan of the decor and floral arrangements for her fall Pennsylvania wedding. "All of our decor was either DIY or borrowed from my father, who is an antique dealer and auctioneer! And for our flower arrangements, my amazing bridesmaids arrived a few days early and we made a day of assembling. We arranged all bouquets, boutonnieres, two large urns and two slightly smaller arrangements. The ceremony took place in front of large concrete pillars with tall lines of trees. We added the two urns with flowers in front of that section and had some pampas grass and other dried burnt orange foliage in gallon milk jugs going down the aisle."

Callan goes on to share that "for the reception, we repurposed all of the pampas, urns, and bridal bouquets around the entrance and reception area to fill the space. We also ordered a large amount of dark greenery to lay down the center of all tables and had leftover flowers to fill out bud vases on tables. We had a friend upholster some antique chairs with green velvet (for the sweetheart table) to go with the theme. The reception was a blank canvas, an open white tent, so we tried to fill the space as naturally as possible with dark greens, brass candlesticks, flowers and dried foliage to fit with the rest of the property. We also pressed fresh fern leaves to use in frames for table number decor. Finally, our favors were colored antique vintage glassware (most came through my dad's auctions). We set them on a bucket bench shelf and allowed guests to choose their glass, use them for the night, and take them home! They were a total hit and added additional pops of color to all of the tables." 

Beyond customizing the wedding design with DIY decor, it was also important to Callan and Adam that the rest of their wedding, especially the food, feel personalized to them. "We tried to be very thoughtful and personal on our wedding day through incorporating both of our interests as well as thinking about our guests," explains Callan. "We wanted to keep everything with smaller, local vendors, so we had to piece everything together with various vendors to make it work. I love charcuterie boards, so we did a huge grazing table in the greenhouse for cocktail hour. Adam loves whiskey, so we did a specialty whiskey bar behind the greenhouse where they custom smoked whiskey cocktails. We offered cinnamon sugar donuts and apple cider at the ceremony when guests arrived. We also did wood-fired pizza as our main meal, because we wanted feel-good food. Since I'm a dessert blogger I decided to make a small cutting cake. Though I wanted to make all of her desserts, my family talked her out of it! We supplemented with mini pies and other mini desserts from a small local bakery." 

Looking back on their picturesque fall wedding in Pennsylvania, Callan and Adam note that out of the entire day their ceremony was own of the most cherished elements. "For both of us, the first look and ceremony were the most anticipated moments," recalls Callan. "The ceremony was particularly special, as our high school water polo coach was our officiant and said some really heartfelt words. We wrote our own vows, so that was also very meaningful. Another highlight for me was surprising my grandfather with a first dance to one of his favorite Elvis songs."