Yes, this wedding is adorable and yes the images from Melissa Munding are the perfect compliment to the planning and design by Events With A Kick, but I think my most favorite part of this backyard wedding is the message from the bride. I love that she totally had the guts to drop her original plans of a huge “cookie cutter” wedding and traded it all in for an intimate backyard soiree that focused on family and friends, instead of “the way the napkins are folded.” Her bold move paid off big time and we just can’t get enough of the pretty, homespun goodness. Click here for the full gallery!
Click here to see the entire gallery of images!
From the Bride…My advice to future brides would be to remember that a wedding is about the marriage and the uniting of two families, not about the way the napkins are folded or the color of the runners. If you can remember that then everything else seems to fall into place because you are with the people you love, celebrating the greatest love of your life. On a less philosophical note, I would highly recommend hiring a coordinator. It was the best decision I ever made. My husband and I got to be guests at our own wedding and didn’t have to worry about the time table, or if things didn’t work. Our wedding was also at my mom’s house and having our coordinator there to set up and take down everything gave my mom peace of mind.
My biggest surprise was that I cried. Not just cried though, I bawled! I was seriously close to the ugly cry walking down the aisle and all I could think was “this is not going to look good in my pictures.” I was just so overcome with happiness that it was all I could do. Thank goodness for grooms and matrons of honor with tissue!
For weeks we had worried about my Dad’s toast, he can be kind of crazy and out spoken and we thought for sure he was going to say tell some embarrassing story. But when it came time for the speech it was so sweet and heartfelt that I started crying (again!). He was such a proud Dad in that moment that he was just emanating love and happiness. It was something neither of us will forget and something we can’t wait to feel with our own children, in the very far future.
Jeff and I originally set out to plan a gigantic, over the top wedding in Temecula. A couple months in I had a panic attack and realized that I was planning a wedding that wasn’t ours. It was a cookie cutter, straight out of a magazine, no personal details, wedding. So we scrapped the whole thing, including our location and starting working on an evening that would focus on our friends and families being together and having a great time, with a huge emphasis on the things we loved. In the end, I would describe our wedding as country chic. It was very down home, with comfort foods and familiar faces. It was perfect.
My absolute favorite wedding detail was our guest “book.” My friend Alex painted a gorgeous tree that the guests added their thumb prints and signatures to. It is a stunning piece of art that now hangs in our house. This was something I had seen in several wedding blogs, and something you can order on Etsy, but having my friend paint it made it so much more personal. I also loved our favors which were mason jars with wooden etched hearts tied around them. The hearts had our names and wedding dates on them and the glasses were used as drinkware at the wedding. It made everything feel homey, like you were just at a friend’s backyard picnic.
Wedding Photography: Melissa Munding / Flowers: Lyndsey Apodaca of Blyssful Blooms / Event Design + Planning: Salynn Simon of Events With A Kick / Ceremony Location: Bride’s Parents’ Backyard / Hair + Make-up Styling: Jabez Salon / Wedding Dress: Courtney Little / DJ: Turntables Unlimited / Caterer: Chef Adam’s Catering Service