Rustic Elegant Wedding

Three years of marraige + Four years of dating = making it past the so-called '7 year itch'!! We had an absolutely awesome wedding which wouldn't have been possible without our fabulous families and family in Christ. Take a walk down memory lane with me...

Cody proposed atop of Half Dome, Yosemite. So we used this picture (taken about 5 min after the "big question") and made postcard save-the-dates through this site. Very cost efficient since post cards require less postage, you could also use postcards for R.S.V.P.'s in your wedding invitation.

One of our 'official' engagement photos. I included this one because of the boots. We bought them together as our wedding gift to each other.

A dear friend of mine was ever so generous to aid (AKA take over) the ginormous task of floral accents for our wedding. Now, fortunately, I already had ideas of how I wanted my dream wedding to be. The very first bouquet Cody gave me was of sunflowers and roses. He knew I loved sunflowers and added red roses for a bit more romance. I instantly fell in love with the combination so it was a natural choice for the wedding. She & I made the above kissing ball with a styrofoam ball and synthetic sunflowers (hot glue and sewing pins for extra reinforcement). Usually, I'm not a fan of synthetic (silk or not) flowers, but when you've got a wedding to plan, it can be a HUGE help to have at least a couple things done ahead of time. Also, I still have this and always will!! I also purchased synthetic sunflowers and roses to play around with arrangements for tables and bouquets, etc. I'm a visual person, so this was a must-do.

Now, when it came to arrangements with the fresh flowers I was ever so lucky to have a friend with wonderful taste. The day before the wedding bajillions of things were going on and I basically told her this, "You know what I like, I trust you, go for it!" And I couldn't be happier with the results, note that I didn't see majority of the flower arrangements till walking down the aisle/entering the reception! The tall, tin vases I found at a local flea market for cheap and added the raffia, also very cheap. The raffia was tied and hot glued to stay in place and wood blocks + small buckets were placed inside the tin vases to achieve my desired height. I ordered all my flowers here, and have no complaints what-so-ever about the quality or pricing (dealing with Fed-Ex  however was nightmare...)

Couple of things here..1) A close-up of my bouquet, notice the freshness of the flowers! 2) I opted to forgoe the traditional french nail for a color that matched my wedding color scheme. Nothing against french...but I just wanted something different! It was hit, such a small thing, but I got so many compliments on it!

These photos show off the custom arbor my dad and brothers collaborated on for our wedding. Now I know not everyone is fortunate enough to have a handy father & siblings, but I am :) ...and I will (also) have this forever. I can't wait to put it into a permanent spot (like when we are able to afford our own home vs. renting) and make it the focal point of our yard.

Our wedding party was a mixure of cousins and friends.  My bridesmaids held single stem sunflowers with raffia accents. Sunflowers are big enough that one is enough. We played around with 3 stems per bridesmaid, but it was a bit overboard for the look I was going for. 

Absolutely love my dress (still)! I chose to go with ivory, the softer white reallt accented the beading and lace on my dress and gave it a softer feel which I think is much more romantic. My jewelry was a cumulation of gifts from Cody during our dating years (bracelet & necklace). Didn't really do the whole old, blue & new thing. I did have a blue garter... Since my dress had a lot of detail, I picked up plain satin, ivory pumps (from DSW). I accented my low bun with a crystal comb, purchased at Claire's, I'm pretty sure! And my dress wasn't (too) expensive. Ok so it was more than I ever thought I would spend on a single dress (I'm kind of a cheapo, remember?), but it was an 'off-the-rack' from David's Bridal and after all it is a wedding for crying out loud! Oh, here's a big lifesaver...you can have a bra sewn into your dress which means you don't have to try on a million bras to find the perfect inconspicuous fit. Go for it!

I opted for a mantilla style veil because 1) the detail was amazing and 2) my grandfather is from Mexico and it was a great oppurtunity to tie in my family history. For my walk down the aisle, I had a seperate veil for my face which as removed by my MOH and added to the flower girls updo. Since I had two flower girls, a second piece was stashed up front to be added to her updo so they both matched and helped avoid any sibling rivalry center stage. And would you check out my bouquet? So lovely.

And now for the reception! Aisle arrangements were moved to accent the head table and bouquets were laid down on the table for further decor. Instead of a runner for our long head table we used napkins to give a coordinateing color accent. To save some floor space we put the head table atop the stage. Behind those curtains (they're sheets from Ikea by the way!) is all kinds of stuff that was usually stored in the reception hall. Usually this hall is a place for casual occasions, as in foos-ball tournaments and the like, so behind those sheets are foosball tables and all kinds of funny stuff! And those tall chairs? Yeah, those didn't fit behind the curtain and they were pretty tall to carry outside the hall, so we improvised and used them as our 'thrones'!

Our red toasting glasses were a clearance Pier1 find, since I only needed two it wasn't too difficult to find the right style!

I put the seating charts in 8 x 10 wooden frames, printed on linen paper purchased from Target. For our guest book we used a coffee table book of black & white photographs of Yosemite (since that's where Cody proposed!) Guests signed the book in silver & gold sharpie and now we have a fun accent to our coffee table. The book was pretty hard to find..and my sister-in-law was the one who actually found it--it even has Ansel Adams signature!

We used a mixture of tables (rounds & rectangles) because that's what was provided. Honestly, it worked out great! It added some great visual intrest to our floor plan. Our table linens & dinnerware were rented from a local shop. We also incorporated floating flowers into many of our centerpieces. They are extremely cost-efficient and they did wonders to the candle lit tables!

For another personal touch, we used names and phrases to describe our lives as a couple (high school sweethearts, root beer floats, etc.) Behind the floating flowers, you can get a glimpse of our favors. We knew we wanted to use something edible and nixed the candy bar idea because we feared the younger guests would go a bit hog-wild at the sight of it. So originally the plan was to give rock candy in our wedding colors. Buuut there was a shortage of rock candy for some reason at the candy company we selected....and I was not informed until I called a couple weeks before the wedding concerned about the status of my order (as in I should have recieved it and I hadn't!)  I was informed that my order would be delivered in a month. Which means it would be about 2 weeks after the wedding. PROBLEM! BIG PROBLEM! Sound the alarm! So my mom and I  hopped in the car and pressed our noses to the glass of a local candy store and waited for them to open. Luckily, the manager was there early and let us in to hear the reason for our desperation. We told her we need candy (lots of candy!!!)  in red and yellow colors and we need it now! So we walked out with cherry heads and lemon heads. Not the original plan. But I'll say I loved it anyway!

Did you notice the disco ball? Yeah, funky. But we made it part of the dance floor, which means it had a purpose (kind of, seeing as it was not a disco party) and it fit in pretty well it didn't stand out terribly.  We did have some great, rustic aritechture in the building..notice the exposed beams! LOVE! Ok so there were ceiling fans too, but hey it was an August wedding!

Cody was amazing about bearing with me for my vision for our magnificent day. He totally did not understand my need for chair covers or wooden chairs, but he went along with it and helped me achieve the perfect chair look (which ended up being wood--cheaper than chair covers & way more timely!) Now for the cake...I had envisioned a smooth, fondant cake with ribbon and floral accents. He vetoed that. Real quick. But the cake he picked out was abosultely beautiful and had a design you wouldn't expect for a wedding; it was covered in white chocolate flakes. Yum.  And we did have a sheet cake in the back to help bring down the size & cost of the wedding cake.The console we used was already in the hall, and since I love (almost) all things old--we used it! We also borrowed Cody's grandparents cake server set for a family touch. The iron & rose candle holder in front of the cake was another flea market find that I continue to use in my own home. The cake stand was rented through the bakery and we decided to 'be nice' with the feeding each other cake tradition! 

We did the set-up & clean-up for the wedding (ok so our families did the clean-up without us...), which is yet another way to curb the budget. We also used the BBQ chain Armadillo Willy's to supply dinner. It was a great accent to a summer evening wedding, and who doesn't love brisket and corn bread? We were also fabulously blessed to receive volunteer aid from our church in serving the food and beverages. We opted to have poured wine and a keg for alcoholic beverages instead of an open bar. We also offered water, lemonade and coffee.  My aunt did a wonder to the bathrooms. Wish I had a picture to show it off. Anyone? She added wicker chairs, a tier of mints and lotion, and sewed an adorable skirt to fancy up the pedestal sink. I purchased the rest of the decor (except for table cloths, dinnerware, silverware, drink ware & floating flower bowls--rented for cheaper than buying plastic by the way!!) So I have lots of candle holders, hurricanes, etc. Which for a candle lover like myself is no problem at all! Plus I'm now finding lots of fun things to do with votive holders (like using them for other parties). I spent A LOT of time price checking items to find the best prices and found that purchasing the decorative accents (for the most part on clearance..just gotta keep your eyes open!) was cheaper than renting.

After lots of dancing, mingling and fun, it was time to see the damage to our vehicle. Luckily the keys stayed hidden (thanks to our minister!) and decor was only done to the outside of Cody's our truck (yeah, what's yours is mine baby!!). Aloha!!

Psst! These photos are a combination from friends and our photographer.