Adrienne & James
What was special about where you got married? James & I really love being a part of the central coast of California, so we couldn’t imagine getting married anywhere else. We have many happy memories in the Five Cities area, so we knew this was the place to be. Once we saw Cypress Ridge Pavilion in Arroyo Grande we fell in love instantly and knew that no other location could speak more strongly of our love for natural beauty and fit so well into our theme. It didn’t hurt that the price was right either! We were really looking for an all-inclusive location, somewhere we could hold the ceremony and reception, included catering, linens, set up, break down, etc.
What do-it-yourself projects did you do? Just about everything! James and I had our work cut out for us, sometimes I think we didn’t exactly know what we had gotten ourselves into!
Invitations - Purchased at Michael’s on sale, we printed them at home on a color printer. It was easy enough!
Decorations - IKEA is awesome for decorations! We bought the majority of our stuff there, lanterns, tea light holders, vases, floating candle bowls, etc. Decorating the tea light holders was labor intensive because we had to glue the leaves and rafia onto each holder. James collected tree limbs and cut them into
coasters that sat underneath each holder. We added crushed abalone shells to the floating candle bowl which reflected light and shimmered beautifully by candlelight. We used willow tree branches, twine, and river rocks to really tie in the feel of nature. James and I collected pictures from our childhood, family & friends and created a picture display at our reception using twine and clothes pins. Super easy, inexpensive, and took the place of doing a modern day slideshow. We saved some serious cash using odds and ends our venue had leftover from other events. My sister made our wishing tree. Our ceremony decorations consisted of galvanized buckets with the handles wrapped in red satin ribbon hung from shepherds hooks we purchased at Home Depot.
Cake/cupcake tower - James purchased a template online and created a sturdier version of it out of wood. He painted it with acrylic paint and glued brown satin ribbon around the edges. This was his project.
Flowers -We ordered them from Trader Joe’s to make our own ceremony pieces, bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages. While they couldn’t guarantee colors, they did allow us to pick the types of flowers we wanted and informed us the colors were seasonal, so we took our chances to save a few bucks. This had to have been the most challenging, labor intensive, and frustrating part of the DIY
projects, but if you are crafty and patient it’s worth it and required little more than some trimming, florist tape, and ribbon. We met all our flower needs for $200!
What advice do you have for other brides? It’s a lot of work having a DIY wedding, so take frequent breaks and drink wine! James and I were very organized, made lots of lists, shared ideas, made a budget and stuck to it, but most of all we remembered that our day was ultimately about us. Plan to make lots of purchases and returns, cut coupons, and save your receipts! I also spent a lot of time online looking for the best prices, do your research! If you can, keep things practical. I know there are some things that just need to be a splurge, but try and think of items that can be reused for future occasions, that way you can be reminded of your lovely day again and again! Lastly, choose your photographer (s) carefully and with love. Our photographers, Amanda and Johanna, ended up being two of the most important people in the world to us that day, they captured an amazing day in our lives and for that we are forever grateful.
DIY WEDDINGS |
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