We can’t believe this Bride on a budget pulled off this picture perfect wedding (and from across the country, no less!). Many special touches were DIY’d by the couple, like the table centerpieces, burlap runners and flowers, while friends helped with the stationery and entertainment. All of this can be described as no less than a labor of love, and one deserving of the fun-filled festivities captured by Aga Jones Photography right here.
From the Bride… I always knew that I wanted a wedding outdoors. We were thinking of even having a backyard wedding but the logistics for that would’ve been too much for me since I was planning the wedding from the other coast. I was in NYC and Dennis was in Orange County. Long-distance wedding planning can be challenging, but thankfully because of technology, it was doable. We got engaged in February and got married in July so we essentially had 5 months to plan this wedding with me still in NYC and one weekend in March to check out venues. Of the three venues we looked at, we chose Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club for two main reasons – the beautiful scenery/well-kept grounds and the coordinating team which Alyson Gabaldon heads. We could tell from the get-go that they were experienced and organized and this was what I needed especially with the long-distance wedding planning. Apparently, this venue gets booked fairly quickly around a year in advance, so I thank God for leaving July 26th open for us to get married there!
We also were on a budget since we were paying for everything ourselves so we incorporated a lot of DIY stuff. Dennis is an engineer and therefore very detailed. I would call myself more of well.. an “aesthetic visionary”. So I told Dennis my vision and he had the know-hows to make it happen! We worked on a lot of the projects together the week before the wedding. We made the table numbers and number stands, the planters, the seating chart/frame, fused the burlap runners, set up the bistro lighting with the help of Dennis’ friends, and did our own flowers. It was fun being able to work together on these things and I learned a lot from him, like using a sander (my first time!) and staining. A lot of the wood pieces were “reclaimed” (hence, free thanks to Craigslist). Most of the flowers were from Trader Joe’s – I went in a week ahead and picked the flowers in season that I wanted. We only spent around $350 on the flowers! The bouquets were a last-minute decision. We were originally going to get them from Trader Joe’s along with the rest of the flowers, but I came across these bouquets a few days before the wedding at Whole Foods and I loved them so much that I asked them to save it for me. They were only $5! The flower girls’ flower crowns and the boutonnieres were beautifully crafted by Mission Viejo Florists.
One of the wonderful things about Arroyo Trabuco is that there is a nature trail along side it. So we had the bridal party jump over fences to get to it and got to take some fun pictures in nature. My wedding dress was custom-made by Karen and her LaceBridal team on Etsy. Although it was risky and it was quite a process communicating over email to the team in China about custom-making my dress, it turned out perfectly! And it was a little less than $400 for a dress that I didn’t need to get fitted and was custom-created for me – I couldn’t ask for more than that! I got my wedding shoes off of Etsy as well. They were vintage and really charming. I just added a little flair by gluing on Swarvoski crystals that I got in a wholesale bead shop in midtown NYC.
So many of our friends are incredibly talented and it was such a blessing to have them pitch in their talents to celebrate our day with us. The wedding program, the menu, and the favor card were wonderfully designed by my talented graphic designer friends Julia Kim and Deborah Jung. The worship songs were beautifully sung by Dave Hong and Daniel and Sadie Kim. The song “Dance with Me” by Derek Loux during our communion/first prayer/gift to parents was sung by one of my bridesmaids Cheryl Chin. (She is one of the most talented singers that I personally know!) And our emcee/DJ duo were Steve and Petrina Shultz, our friends who have been happily married for 20 years now. It was so wonderful to have our dear friends be such a part of our wedding in these ways.
It has been such a process for us to get to this point – Dennis’ cancer diagnosis, 2 surgeries, radiation treatment, and 4 years of long-distance… So we didn’t take this day for granted and are so thankful that God brought us to this point where we were able to celebrate our union with friends and family at a beautiful location!
Photography: Aga Jones Photography | Wedding Dress: Lace Bridal (Karen Wu) | Cake: It's All About The Cake | DJ: Steve & Petrina Shultz | Wedding Venue: Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club | Boutonieres/corsages: Mission Viejo Florist | Hair /Make Up: Puresemblance (Nora)