Our wedding was a completely collaborative effort. I always knew that Dustin would be on board and interested in all the design aspects (there are advantages to marrying an architect!). The hardest part was restraining ourselves from diving into half baked projects. We made ourselves sit down and design the invitations first, because we wanted everything to feel cohesive and felt it should start with the paper. From there we discussed an overall look for the venue and decided which projects would be worth our time. We ended up with just a few really big projects and a small handful of smaller easy ones.
We started by separately pulling images from various blogs, and then examining them together and discussing why we liked different aspects of photos. We talked about how we wanted our wedding to feel (inclusive, big family dinner party, fun) and look (bright, playful, modern). We kept things fairly open until we found a venue that worked for us (the venue search was the hardest part of planning, hands down) and then solidified our ideas.
If only we knew how Rachel made this amazing streamer backdrop…just teasing! Come back tomorrow to check out her DIY tutorial. It’s actually pretty darn easy. Or for those of you who aren’t interested in getting familiar with a glue gun, you can buy Rachel and Dustin’s in our Marketplace!
We both love working on projects, so we knew we were going to want to get creative. But we also both work full time and we have a lot of family commitments. We decided to maximize our efforts by allowing ourselves to choose a few well planned, high impact projects. Everything else would be kept as simple as possible and with an eye to logistics.
If you’re dying over these napkins like we are, just wait until tomorrow’s post when Rachel shares her DIY tutorial. Or get lucky and buy the entire set in the marketplace! AND she made those pretty flowers too.
Hello, cutest cake topper ever. Rachel made it, obviously.
Oh, and the painted table cloths… yep. Made them. We’ll have that project this week too. OR you can just buy them in our Marketplace! Along with her assortment of painted picture frames.
We’re not done with this wedding yet. Stay tuned for more posts this week as Rachel shares a few DIY tutorials + her tips on budgeting and planning a DIY wedding. You can also follow along on Heart of Light as Rachel posts about the craziness leading up to the wedding, how she did her own hair and make-up, designing the dessert buffet, and their photobooth details.
And remember, if you get super lucky, you can buy Rachel’s streamer backdrops, her hand-dyed napkins, her painted table cloths, her paper flowers, glass vases/cylinders, kraft paper table numbers, white votive candles, and her painted picture frames in our Marketplace right now!
Photography: Fresh in Love / Venue: George C. Goehller Alumni House at Cal State Fullerton / Wedding planners: Love and Splendor / Catering: Border Grill Truck / DJ: PropsFX / Photobooth: Red Cheese / Bartender: Party Staff / Rentals: Create a Party / Bride’s dress: Saja / Groom’s suit: N. Hollywood
