California Wedding with DIY Style
I love, love, loved this wedding and know that some of you will die for it too. So it’s only appropriate to make it our next sneak peek! The full gallery of images can be found right here. And even though there are tons of steal-worthy details, I have to admit, it’s the adorable paper goods that really got me.
To see the full wedding, click here!
We didn’t want a ‘traditional’ wedding in many ways. We really wanted a fun, relaxed, creative wedding that didn’t cost us a fortune. Owning my own letterpress business {Flora and Fauna Press} and loving any sort of creative project, I knew I was going to be crafting the majority of this wedding myself.
Knowing that many of our guest were flying from the midwest, we wanted to make sure they had a good time. Once we found our venue, a lot of our decisions were based on the style of the ranch. We served BBQ ribs, chicken and smoked sausages. The caterers brought in the giant BBQ, and started grilling during cocktail hour, the spectacle really built up the excitement for dinner. I was a bit concerned about the messiness prior, so I found BBQ themed wet-naps and bibs, tied them with grossgrain ribbon and placed them on each plate.
The dress. I had a hard time finding something moderately priced, not too fancy but not too casual. I fortunately found Elizabeth Dye via Etsy. She was fantastic! We worked over email and she helped me create a unique dress within my budget. I was a bit nervous, not seeing it in person, but when it arrived I was delighted! I originally had the jacket made for the reception, but I liked it so much I decided to wear it the whole time.
The invites were inspired by the swiss-dots on my dress and of course, the ranch. I opted for more of a vintage-country chic, opposed to a rustic vibe. Many of the decor decisions were influenced by the invites. The colors were mostly black and white with pops of color: dark orange-red, with a bit of sap green.
The ranch provided mis-matched China, so I played off of this by buying mismatched glass and milk-glass vases and votives for the tables. I made the polka dot table runners, and collected vintage wooden salt and pepper shakers for the tables.I letterpress printed the escort cards, table numbers, cocktail napkins and candy bags. I decorated the dog collar and flower girl basket too.
Creating the flower arrangements was the biggest risk for me. I found a wholesaler and she helped me pick out some flowers and filler to suit my vision and color scheme. I chose Dark Milva roses, Rununculas, Black Millet, Scotch Broom, Green Mist and and Green Amaranthus. The orange berry clusters were picked on site, on the suggestion from the ranch owners, and were a perfect nice accent. My junior bridesmaid {my niece } made her own bouquet, I just helped her wrap it. I had practiced making my bouquet a few times prior, and it helped tremendously.
We are so lucky to have wonderful friends who pitched in to make it a very special day. The sound, the music, my hairstylist, our photographer, and our officiant all are dear friends. Not to mention the help prepping and setting up from our families. Planning your own wedding is a lot of work!
Vendors: Invitations + Stationery: Flora and Fauna Press / Event Design & Flowers: Bride / Venue: The Condor’s Nest Ranch / Photography: Michael Underwood / Catering: Smokin Mo’s BBQ, Huntington Beach / Cupcakes: Baby-cakes Cupcakes, Temecula / Brides Dress: Custom by Elizabeth Dye Brides Shoes: Givenchy / Grooms Suit: Christian Dior / Grooms Shoes: Paul Smith
18 Comments about “California Wedding with DIY Style”
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What's with the music?!?
I'm not supposed to be looking at your blog from work, and I just got totally busted?
When did this start?
LOVE LOVE this wedding. The colors are stunning! LOVE the long, family style reception tables! SO SO intimate!
This is a wonderful wedding and with such great DIY details! Thank you for sharing!
I LOVE LOVE this wedding, the music the food, and the camper, it's all GREAT!
This is precious, and Elizabeth Dye is fabulous! Going to check your paper good website now!
What a beautiful day, bravo!
I love this wedding...so unique! I love the invitations...the color palette...the brides unique dress!
The wedding dress is AMAZING. Where were the themed wet naps and bibs from? Very cool idea and I'm considering have similar details at my BBQ themed wedding.
Thank you! BBQ wet wipes were from Wipes123.com, I can't remember where we bought the bibs, I know we found them online by searching for 'disposable bibs'.
I'm getting marriied here as well this September! I can't wait. May I ask who did your hair? Looks really good :)
very cool! great job!
I absolutely LOVE the big chairs! Where did those come from?
My friend is a hairdresser, he lives in Atlanta. If anyone in the ATL wants his info, I'll be happy to provide it.
Chairs are part of the Ranch decor.
Where is this etsy lady? I searched for her on etsy and I couldn't find her?
Yay! So excited to hear you had success with the long distance dress thing. I am doing the same, and (though I had no doubt about Ms. Dye's skillz) it is great to see that your dress is not only GORGEOUS, but fits you like a glove. Beautiful wedding, beautiful dog, etc. Congratulations!
@April--her store is called The English Dept. You can find her here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/englishdept or here: http://theenglishdept.com/
i'm getting married at the ranch this july. are you interested in selling any of the vases you bought? also, how did you like smokin' mo's? we are thinking of switching to them. thanks for the great ideas!!
I am starting a new FREE wedding weight loss fitness session in October (while places last). In the Westlake area of California.
If you are in the area and want to get some exercise before your wedding to make sure your dress is perfect go to http://www.myperfectweddingweight.com for more detials.
I am getting married in November at the Westlake Village Inn cant wait.
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