Growing up, Little Rock native Courtney Backus’ grandmother warned her about a group of boys across the way at her grandparents’ home in Pine Bluff. As fate would have it, her future husband – Hunter Norton – was one of those boys.

When a mutual friend set them up on a date years later, sparks flew. After conversation over drinks one night, the childhood playmates-turned-sweethearts had their first official date in November 2010.

“And as the saying goes, the rest is history,” Courtney said.

(See their section inside the digital edition of Arkansas Bride.)

BRIDE’S INSPIRATION
“I have always loved the beauty of the outdoors and nature. Luckily, Hunter is a big outdoor enthusiast as well and was on board. I wanted something with a laid-back feel, but still formal in some ways.”

HOW THEY SAVED
The bride (who’s a corporate event planner) planned the wedding herself, enlisted a friend to design all the wedding stationery, and handled much of the setup. “But I would NOT recommend this unless you have done weddings before,” she cautioned. “Wedding planners can help you cut costs and cut out a lot of stress.”

HOW THEY CUSTOMIZED
With help from their families, the couple built a wall for the ceremony from old barn wood they collected during their engagement and hung all of their family wedding photos on it. The bride designed a wedding logo that was featured on napkins, koozies and more. Personal touches continued with a cigar bar and a kids’ zone complete with bubbles, games and a coloring book featuring caricatures of the bride and groom. The couple integrated family throughout in more ways: pearls at the top of Courtney’s veil came from her grandmother’s 1955 wedding, the groom’s wedding band was his late grandfather’s and the bride’s bracelet held her great-grandfather’s wedding band.

MEMORABLE MOMENT
“Our reception got several noise complaints so the cops came out. They ended up being really friendly and even did a photo with us, acting like Hunter was getting arrested. The pictures turned out pretty funny and cute!”

THE DETAILS