When two talented creative-types tie the knot, it always seems to blow me away. It’s like a meeting of the made-for-wedding-planning minds, so to speak. And this gorgeous pair is the perfect example. Not only did they design their stylish stationery, they also letter pressed them in the comforts of their own home (you can see how they did it on their blog!). The DIY doesn’t stop there, but I’ll let you discover all the pretty through the fabulous photos by Hugh Forte Photography in the full gallery of images!
Click here to see the entire gallery of images!
From the Bride…Our fresh and modern wedding took place at the very modern Levyland Estates, located just between a lagoon and the beach in Carlsbad. We felt it reflected our Southern history [lagoon] and our California present [beach]. We travel to Baja quite a bit so we wanted to reflect some of it’s beauty in our wedding. We had a clean white and tan wedding with bold pops of color based on Spanish tiles and Bougainvillea. The cobalt blue glass complimented bright fuchsia, apricot and lime green flowers. We wanted to balance the modern look and feel of the day with some DIY projects we felt could represent us and our interests.
I was absolutely floored with my flowers and how Paula Rae (Rae Florae) was able to use and incorporate Bougainvillea when other florists scoffed at the idea of using it! She decorated our ceremony arch with the branches and scattered the petals in the aisle and on tables in place of rose petals. All the cobalt blue vases & vessels were collected by my mother (in Wisconsin) and I from home and stores or thrift shops. Friends also donated or lent cobalt blue glass for the event. The blue glasses for the cake stand were all purchased from Pier1, and the votives were borrowed from the florist.
Rob and I met in Savannah, Georgia where we both attended art school. I am a photographer and he is a web designer so we also wanted to design our paper goods ourselves. The Bougainvillea was going to be our reoccurring theme, so Rob designed the invitation, RSVP card and map. We had them off-set printed and then letter pressed them ourselves at home (here is how we did it). To go with our hand letter pressed invites, is a photo of our Save the Date. It’s the photo from his proposal! He knew he wanted it to be photo related so he planned an evening on the beach with long exposure photography. I shot while he practiced writing with light…then he wrote it out. I almost didn’t believe him and thought he was teasing me! (We took a final one to show people and used that for the save the date. My “yes” written in light was on the back of the card) We didn’t want so much un-necessary paper so instead of escort cards, we wrote seating arrangements on mirrors with cobalt blue paint.
I also really love baking so I had the grand idea of baking our favors! We had about 130 guests so I made over 1,000 lime melt-away cookies! It was a passion project which I completed with glassine bags, fuchsia & orange baker’s twine and name tags that also served as the place card. (Vegetarians had orange twine while non-vegetarians were tied with the fuchsia!)
My friend from college made the guest book and personalized it. There is also a photo of a faux cake in the details. It was custom made for us by my mom’s friend who is a folk artist in Wisconsin, Teena Flanner. It was a gift I received at a wedding shower. She personalized it with a surfboard (him) starfish (ocean), camera (me), watering can (we both are passionate about our garden) and a bee (the mascot from our Art school in Savannah GA where we met)
We owe so much to our family and friends who had a hand in helping make it just a beautiful day that really reflected us as a couple.
Wedding Photography: Hugh Forte Photography / Month of Coordination: Amorology Weddings / Floral Design: Rae Florae / Caterer: Eco Caters / Wedding Cake: Sweet Cheeks Bakery / DJ + MC: Friends, Manuel & JP / Officiant: Friend, Cher / Lighting: Friends, Anne & Kirk / Wedding Dress: Amy Kuschel / Hair + Make-up: Belli Belli Salon / Faux Cake: Teena Flanner / Venue: Levyland Estates