DIY Wedding by Couture Events
I know that we seem to preface every post by saying that this next feature is the be-all and end-all of weddings. But this time I really mean it. I swear. Sent to us by Krystel Tien of Couture Events, it’s hands down one of the most charming weddings I have ever laid eyes on. Plus it’s a DIY affair. Plus plus, it’s a budget friendly affair. So all in all, it’s kind of a homerun. Oh and the pics by Sean Walker? Beyond. Check out the gallery for even more.
Click here to see all the gorgeousness in the gallery
Let me first preface by apologizing for the length of this description…it was just SO good, I couldn’t cut out a single sentence. It’s filled to the brim with the most incredible cost cutting tips I’ve ever read, so if you are working on a budget, grab a cup of coffee and get comfy.
* * *
The wedding was held in San Diego in the backyard of a friend’s home. Sharon and Casey wanted to get married outside with a backdrop of trees and leaves. They knew it was a risk to plan an outdoor wedding in January, but the thought of bare trees and twinkle lights overcame the fear. The free venue helped!It ended up being one of warmest and most beautiful days of winter.
The major theme of their wedding was community. According to the Bride, “That’s how a wedding should be- a network of the people that you love and that love you coming together and joining family and friends from both sides to celebrate marriage.” The brides mother passed away from breast cancer two years ago, so her mothers best friends and her father’s bible study joined together to help make this wedding a reality.
In the words of the Bride, “We had an extremely small budget…partially by circumstance and partially by choice. We didn’t want to go into debt over our wedding. As time went by, it became revealed how expensive weddings really were! Enter: an amazing community. Our wedding would not have happened without our friends and family and we made that clear in our heirloom-themed day as there was a lot of old and borrowed.” The couple decided to string pennants throughout the trees. The pennants started out as mere aesthetic but soon became very nostalgic. Bride’s Quote: “Most of the fabric was my mom’s, an avid crafter. She was truly woven throughout the entire wedding. My amazing bridesmaids and I spent two days in my living room-turned-sweatshop, cutting pennants, passing off to the next person to iron, to the next person to sew, to the next person to string. I wanted them to be in trees, down the aisle, anywhere there was room!”
I took the couple to a wholesale flower shop to buy their flowers. It is incredible how far eight dozen roses and 80 hydrangeas can go when you’re going for a backyard look. The day before the wedding, because the arrangements would have been a little thin, the bride and her best friend ran around the semi-rural neighborhood where the wedding was, cutting wildflowers and naturally-growing plants from the side of the road as fillers. No one knew the amazing arrangements had no florist help and were comprised of half-weeds!
One of Sharon’s bridesmaids made her bouquet. She stuck all the flowers together, affixed them with burlap and tied her mom’s wedding ring to the base with twine (it was one of the brides favorite little touches in the wedding).
The brides best friend’s husband, Devon, went out into the mountains and gathered wood to make a four-posted chuppah for them to stand under during the ceremony. He nailed it together and draped muslin over the top to make it focal point to the woodland theme. Casey’s brother built the photo booth out of a sheet of plywood and a big frame someone almost threw away at Casey’s apartment complex. They covered it in burlap and leftover pennants. Sharon painted an old frame and put a piece of cardboard painted with chalkboard paint inside so that guests could add a special message. They had a friend take the photos.
Quote from the bride: “I didn’t want my bridesmaids to spend hundreds of dollars on their attire; neither did I care for a bulky taffeta number. The dresses were from Urban Outfitters. Going with the eclectic feel, and the fact that I had nine bridesmaids, we broke up the monotony with three different dresses. We went with tights for warmth and flair (Macy’s) and super comfortable heels from DSW. I made a Forever21 run a week before, got jewelry and hair pins I thought would go well with the dresses, and put out a box the morning-of for them to choose from if them wanted.”
Sharon had her dress made by Chris Gennaro. He is an incredible freelance designer that works out of his home, even with six kids running around! The bride wanted the J. Crew Sascha dress, which at $2000 would have put them over their entire budget. Chris copied the dress for her, but made it extremely flattering to her body. She ordered a custom silk flower and her vintage shoes on Etsy.com. It was perfect.
Quote from the Bride: “After looking into how much tablecloth rentals were, I knew we couldn’t fit it. So I thought, what is the cheapest possible fabric?? Muslin! I bought three bolts of it at $1.99 a yard (P.S. I can’t even count how many 40% off coupons I used at Joanne’s). After laying it on a table and realizing it would only come three inches off the sides, I had a momentary freak-out until thinking I could make table runners and then cut all the muslin lengthwise, right down the middle, and affix it to either edge of the runner. Krystel, our amazing wedding planner, called dozens of coffee shops to find burlap coffee sacks. After finally founding one, I made a donation to their clean water project in Ecuador. My grandma and sister cut and hot glued for three days strait!”
In lou of escort cards- The brides mom’s friend cut little tags from wood strips they bought at Michael’s and painted them with chalkboard paint. They wrote everyone’s names on the tags and then tied them on mason jars with twine, one for each guest that would serve as their drinking glass for the evening. They chose a more humble food route by having Souplantation cater just soup. The Brides mom’s dear friends spent New Years Day watching football and making cornbread to go with the soup. It was very affordable and all of the guests loved having comfort food. They cut prices again by ordering bulk biodegradable bowls, napkins, cutlery, and coffee cups online. Knowing that alcohol would be one of the major expenses of their day, they chose to stick to just wine. They bought enough Charles Shaw for everyone from Trader Joe’s – $2 a bottle.
The bride and groom asked select friends and family to make desserts that were signature or special to them. People loved being a part of our wedding this way! They labeled each dessert individually. The bride downloaded a font online for all the little signs and printed them on cardstock left over from their handmade invitations. The cake was made by a friend of the bride, simple and elegant, perfect for their special day.
Other details from the bride: We started asking friends to save their used wine bottles. Our friend Kevin from church let us borrow the sound equipment from the youth room. All the tables and chairs were generously lent to us from a friend of Casey’s dad. My sister sewed the ring bearer pillows and stuffed them with left-over fabric scraps. I order next-to-nothing Dallas Cowboys fabric from Ebay and my good friend Sarah made the garter. Casey’s brother, Daniel spent a day with the chainsaw, cutting wooden stumps, for lack of a more elegant word, to put on the dessert and guest tables. We also used wood disks to put desserts on to add to the rustic feel. -We strung borrowed lights between rigs in the trees in the Meier’s backyard.
* * *
Are you crying yet? I am.
Photographer: Sean Walker Photographer / Coordinator: Couture Events / Bridesmaids Dresses by Urban Outfitters
update…for those of you curious about the budget, the cost of the wedding was $2,000. The coordinator and the photographer were both friend’s of the bride so those costs weren’t included in that $2k.
87 Comments about “DIY Wedding by Couture Events”
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Thank you for posting this -- I definitely cried reading about her mother's pennants.
On another note -- thank you for the mention of the dress designer! That dress looks like a million bucks. When I read this was budget, just glancing at the pictures I thought "yeah right, sister -- that dress cost in the thousands." I'm VERY impressed and inspired!
Great post, Abby...
I love the bridesmaid dresses! What an inspiration and on only a $2,000 budget!
I thought it was impossible!
I love it! Beautiful and inspiring!
Awesome wedding! The details are amazing and thougtful. What an incredible way to start a new life together. No money in the world could buy the love and help they got from family and friend. Job well done, bravo and congrats.
Gorgeous wedding and so creative! I'm blown away!
Oh my goodness! 2k is a very small budget, especially with how many people they had! I have a slightly higher budget, and I'm planning a DIY wedding at my parents' house. This wedding further convinces me it's possible to not spend 10, 20, 30k on one day and have a wonderful time celebrating with the people you love.
I LOVE THIS WEDDING!!
I wrote a ton of notes for my own...I especially love the bridesmaids dresses (and the shoes!) I want to do the same thing but I have been getting flack from everyone about how it won't look right, now I have proof having different dresses and colours can work!
Thank you!
-D
Absolutely amazing. I am so inspired! Great job : )
What a beautiful wedding.. amazing that a wedding can happen in a $2000 and be such a fairytale. Love the food choice, the dessert table, everything down to there very last detail!
I'm wondering... how much did her photographer charge? I would think that the photographer would be one huge expense...
thank you so much for sharing this wedding! it's refreshing to see that a stylish, beautiful wedding can be done on a budget (who isn't on a budget these days??). i especially love the use of coffee sacks for runners. if i get married someday, i hope that my wedding will be as pretty, thoughtful, and diy :)
Abby thank you so much for this post!!!! I love that this wedding was so budget friendly....but you can't tell that it was done on a small budget!!!! All the personal touches are beautiful and heartfelt. The Bride's advice is so so helpful!!! I love everything about this wedding!!!
I'm also confused about the photography budget. I went to the website and found that the photog's packages start at $2,000. The coordinator's day of package starts at $1,000. It just doesn't add up as a under $2,000 wedding...
LOVE the photo booth frame! This whole wedding looks and sounds like so much fun.
I totally love how her bridal party (girls) are dressed in their dresses. SOOO cool!!!! What a great wedding. Love all the details!
Thanks for all of the amazing feedback! To the ladies wondering how she stuck to that budget: I can only speak for my own company but I think they worked out some sort of deal with Sean Walker Photography too ! Sharon was a friend of mine in high school, we hadn't talked in a few years- then when I heard her story from a friend and heard that she needed help I decided to step in for Free :) ! I have never done that before and I am not sure if I will do in the future but I did it because I believed that Sharon deserved an amazing wedding day and I knew I could offer her our Coordination services and my my team to make it perfect, if she did a lot of the prep work. We all worked together to make this day amazing! Confusion solved? :)
You can do it too though, if you do hire a great coordinator (even if you do pay them a good chunk of your budget) they can help you come up with budget friendly ways to do things! If you need my help, just let me know- I can help point you in the right direction!
Thanks,
Krystel Tien, Couture Events
WOW. I can't believe how amazing this looks for so little! They were so creative and it was done so beautifully! My favorite part is everyone bring deserts. SO CUTE.
Lovely wedding, but I am also confused about the budget. How do the photography and coordinator play into the budget - doesn't sound like you included it? Was the actual budget much higher?
So beautiful, love all the special touches. I can't believe they were able to afford a professional photographer and an event planner for under $2000 and still had any money left in the budget though!
Sorry, I don't believe that it only cost $2000 to put this wedding on. Fun details but what is the point in lying about how much they cost? Trying to impress us?
We're having a small budget wedding too, just $5000, although a $2000 sounds more attractive every day! The photography could have been a gift from a family member, something the bride and groom didn't have to include in their budget. One of the most important things to me is having a live band - and my dad is in a fantastic jazz/swing/country western band, so what would normally cost 600-800 or so is free!
Thanks for sharing this wedding!
No bad intentions AT ALL here in regards to stating the budget at $2,000. I am sure that they worked out a deal with the photog and if you read the comments above, the event planner comped her fee. So yes, this couple looked to the relationships that they had with others and worked out deals with vendors. Definitely something that helped with the bottom line! xo
omg i thought this was one of those photoshoot set ups! amazing wedding wowzer
this wedding is incredible!! it has so much of what I picture for mine. I especially love that it's all about community and on a small budget. how beautiful to show that a gorgeous wedding can be done keeping those two things prominent.
I also live in San Diego and I would really love to get in touch with this bride. any chance we can connect?
my email is sbormann724@pointloma.edu and I'd love to talk!
SO inspiring! I want to see more!
love the dress! is it possible to send me a way to get in touch with the freelance designer? how did the bride find him?
I love BM's outfits especially usage of the tights. Finally, BM dresses that can truly be worn again.
Also, I want to thank the coordinator, Krystel, for her comment explaining how the couple achieved their budget. It's really important that small budget weddings have a clear explanation as to how some couples managed getting certain things. It prevents any false expectations.
I know you always post inspirational weddings here but this is one of those special weddings that I feel just gets it - truly a beautiful thing. I too am planning a budget backyard wedding and have turned to my fiance more than once while reading the description of this wedding and said "Look - we are doing the same thing!"...it's nice to see that budget can be beautiful, cohesive, and fun!
Love this wedding with the rustic feel and the bridesmaids dresses!! This is a beautiful backyard wedding!
Sharon,
The pictures are awesome. Your vision came together beautifully! Thanks for letting me know about the website. I really enjoyed making the gown for you. You wore it well.
For San Diego brides in need of a simply elegant beautifully fitted gowns - I'm your designer.
Christopher
redcheckermini@yahoo.com
As a fellow lover of all things pennant-- this is an amazing wedding. The theme- community- seems to make each little description all so much endearing.
such a beautiful inspiring post. i've added it to my favourites so that one day when i'm planning my own wedding i can pull it up.
i love that they chose to just share a simple meal with their friends & family.
I love this wedding! However, I did have a questions about the mason jars, since I am thinking of doing the same thing. Did the guests use the mason jars just for water? Or did they drink wine out of them as well? I'm trying to figure out if I need mason jars AND wine glasses...??
Yay to budget weddings and amazing friends.
gorgeous wedding and story! i love the shoes! who makes them?
this wedding turned out gorgeous! especially for being on such a tight budget, you could tell that it was very elegant but with their own twist on it! nothing like i've ever seen before!
This is amazing! I think it's a compliment to the couple that so many people were willing to come together and help them pull this wonderful day together!
Thanks again for everyone's comments! As assistant to Krystel this wedding was truly AMAZING and the community really came together to help out Sharon and Casey. This was an unforgettable event and I hope everyone enjoyed the story, setting, and decor for this magical day!
As for Desi...yes they used the mason jars both for their water and wine, but I think having both would be great too, if it fits within your budget!
Thanks so much for including Sharon and Casey's wedding on your amazing blog. It was such a phenomenal day to be a part of. For any of you who want to check out more photos from the day I just posted round one on my blog. www.seanwalkerphotography.blogspot.com
Wow, this was a great post. All on such a tight budget. It seems amazing. This is certainly the type of community you want in your life. Friends and lots of love!
http://blog.africansands.com
This post just made my morning. What a lovely couple :) And so very lucky to have such wonderful friends and family!
This wedding is adorable. And it also makes me feel like a lazy jerk for spending so much on mine. lol.
Great post, this is an adorable wedding i love this couple!
I would have sworn that was the Sascha gown from J. Crew! What an unbelievably amazing replica!
Love, love, love this DIY wedding. I don't think anything was sacrificed with their plan of working with a smaller budget. Everything looked beautiful. I especially love the dessert table, centrepieces, and of course, the 2 Buck Chuck!!
If the bride reads this and wants to sell her tablecloths, email me!
chaispicetea@yahoo.com
Wow, what an amazing DIY wedding with a creative couple and some amazing friends. If the photographer and coordinator donated their services, along with friends and family donating supplies and their time, I can see how they could have pulled off such an amazing wedding on such a small budget. And wow did they pull it off! So gorgeous.
xo, Ara
I truly believe this is the best post ever on Style Me Pretty! What and inspiration of community coming together and such a gorgeous, well put together outcome! I loved it all!
Could you give us a link to Chris Gennaro?
Great Pictures!
Absolutely swoon-worthy. Gorgeousness does not need to break the bank - you just need careful planning and a little bit of luck. Of course it doesn't hurt to have incredibly talented friends / family members!
SO, SO in love with this wedding- thanks for sharing :)
BRAVO! This wedding is a champion of all things DIY. Almost every single detailed involved a pair of hands and lots of heart. If you weren't told so you would probably guess that this wedding cost WAY more than it actually did. A HUGE congratulations to the Bride and her endless team of friends, family and vendors for a job done so well, I'm actually struck speechless!
Wow awesome wedding love the outdoor theme as I too had an outdoor wedding. Loved the center pieces they were very unique and the pictures are beautiful. Keep up the awesome work ladies!
Hey Ladies,
Many of you are looking for the designers info. He did post his info above but just in case you missed it-
Christopher Gennaro
redcheckermini@yahoo.com
Thanks,
Krystel, Couture Events
I am in absolute Awwwww over this wedding! It's gorgeous, eco-friendly, and family/friend oriented all in one... Iespecially love all of the DIY throughout the wedding, especially being a fellow DIY lover
Just Lovely
Such a pretty wedding. I am selfishly glad I did not have to bake, hot glue gun, paint frames, sew, handwrite tags, build furniture, make bread, and pick wildflowers for your wedding though. Your girls and guys must really love you to do all that work. My head spins just thinking about all of it!
Krystel at Couture Events is fabulous. I've worked with her in the past. She is not only creative but really listens to her brides and makes their dreams come true!! Loved everything.
I'm curious what plates did they use and where did they buy them?
Thanks!
ummm this is so supremely lovely but i must know one thing: did the guests eat and drink (alcohol)? or was it just desserts? there is no way a caterer and alcohol was involved if this was a 2k wedding.
lovely aesthetic overall!
Hey Lia,
If you read the blog it answers your questions!
" They chose a more humble food route by having Souplantation cater just soup. The Brides mom’s dear friends spent New Years Day watching football and making cornbread to go with the soup. It was very affordable and all of the guests loved having comfort food. They cut prices again by ordering bulk biodegradable bowls, napkins, cutlery, and coffee cups online. Knowing that alcohol would be one of the major expenses of their day, they chose to stick to just wine. They bought enough Charles Shaw for everyone from Trader Joe’s – $2 a bottle."
This is an amazing wedding! Very refreshing to see a literal DIY wedding on SMP!
I come to the site for my daily fix and there are so many things that speak to my "dream", but this really hit home for me. This really shows what you can actually do, truly being able to have a dream wedding on a real budget. We started off imagining a theme and colors of something that I loved, but now I realize what we really want is for people to enjoy themselves-different from a lot of weddings we have been to where you just watch and leave. I want all of the guests to feel included no matter how many other people they know there. Now it is more about a celebration of our love and spending that day, that will only happen once, enjoying everyone who will come to be with us. I believe that with so much help from family and friends that you can have those connections to keep your budget down. I am fortunate enough to know a jazz musician for our ceremony music at no charge, more than one photographer for the whole day at a charge of only $150, and more than one person for hair and make up that can come to us, again, for free. We know a caterer that is doing all of our food for 150 people for just $300 or less and an officiant that is a friend of the family. I agree that not everyone is fortunate enough to experience this, but I do believe that a small budget can create something beautiful. I loved being able to see this wedding and to read all of the DIY details!
This wedding definitely made my eyes misty! I live in the San Diego area and finding a place that is reasonably priced for an outdoor wedding for DIY-rs is such a difficult task! I would love to chat with the bride about the property.. I know that it's a friend's property, but would it by chance be available for other DIY weddings? It's the perfect PERFECT spot for what we have in mind.
Everything so incredibly beautiful, Sharon you've certainly got quite a lot of talent! Congrats!
Clairemartine@gmail.com, let me know about the property.
Your pictures are beautiful and I really enjoyed all the special details you put into your wedding! True inspiration! I really like the shoes your bridesmaids wore.....would you mind sharing the designer?
I might be a little late in stating this, but since I just heard from a friend tonight at dinner about all the negative remarks revolved around the cost of the wedding in light of the coordinator/photographer rates... Sharon and Casey are also friends of mine and I did not charge them anything close to what I normally charge. Hope that puts to rest any skepticism that has been trying to taint this amazing story and wedding along with all the hard work to make the day what it was.
This is so inspiring! What great tips for brides on a budget. The clothesline with pictures hanging down is my favorite feature-Adorable.
absolutly beautiful and amazing i need to do this if i ever decide to get married the best and most gorgous wedding i have ever seen love u
Love this wedding! So cute and has great ideas! The photography is amazing as well.
This is probably my all-time favorite wedding featured on SMP! I love that it was so personal and chic yet also affordable. I think it's tempting to go into debt for your wedding and I applaud Sharon and Casey for sticking to their budget and making their wedding day so memorable. They not only had a beautiful, fun wedding but they also saved money that can be put toward more memories - possibly a new house or a great honeymoon. Congratulations, Sharon and Casey!
how amazing is this wedding!!!! the beautiful calligraphy is by suzy lee of darling calligraphy: http://deardarlingcalligraphy.blogspot.com/
This wedding is beautiful and proves that a wedding on a budget can be fabulous, if you're willing to put in the work it takes.
My sister got married in September and I put in a ton of work to stretch her $3000 budget. We were able to get a caterer and a photographer in that price as well. Now the photographer was by no means as amazing as the photgrapher for this wedding but they did a great job for us. It's totally possible to do a great wedding on a budget! I just had to put in many many hours of work to make it happen for my sister!
I was wondering if someone could tell me the size of the mason jars used in this wedding. I am doing this for mine and just need to know the size that seemed to work out amazingly well. Thank you!
This is a beautiful wedding....I<3 it!
how can i get in touch with this dress designer? So interested in his work for my own wedding dress!
What a beautiful wedding! Just wondering, did guests mind drinking out of the same cup all night? I love the idea of using mason jars for the entirety of the wedding, but were guests unhappy about drinking water, then wine, then water, all in the same glass? Thanks so much for letting me know.
What a charming and inspirational love story and wedding story! This truly shows that it's not about the money, it's about creativy and those around you who love you that make something like a wedding truly special. Not to mention, this should be featured in a Bridal Magazine and I bet nobody would realize it was a wedding on a budget! Wonderful job on such an inspirational wedding.
I also had a DIY wedding. I really wish I had thought of muslin tablecloths. That is a great idea and I am sure saved tons of money.
What a beautiful DIY wedding! Love all the details.
oh...so sweet...i love it...such a beautifull wedding....good job!
Sharon this wedding is FANTASTIC! Your dress was beautiful and your story was beautiful and so touching. ! I would love to chat with the you - the bride about the property.. I know that it's a friend's property, but would it by chance be available for other DIY weddings? It's the perfect PERFECT spot for what we have in mind.
it was so incredible!!!
nicolevdines@gmail.com, let me know about the property! Thank you so much!