Our Wedding day, March 19, felt like a dream. The fact it didn’t pour down rain was enough to make the day a miracle and a blessing from God. Tommy and I felt beyond blessed by people’s actions in the way everyone helped to make the day happen. We put a lot of thought into the ceremony, because that was very special to us. Since we got married outside at Parker Ranch, I knew I wanted something to hid behind before I walked down the aisle so Tommy couldn’t see me. I envisioned old antique doors to walk through. My mom and I went to work creating this. We found the doors at the Habitat for Humanity store and then a friend painted them to look aged. I found the doorknobs at Anthropologie.
The first thing I completed on my Wedding to Do list was my dress. I found it at Encore Bridal in Manhattan Beach. Once I found the dress the decor and the bridesmaids dresses went off the theme of my dress. I carried the ruffles through the curtains and the bridesmaids outfits. I will explain more about how I styled each of the girls in my We Say Wednesday post next week. Since the doors were one of my favorite things I wanted to utilize them as much as possible. So that is why I put our engagement pictures on one side and the seating assignment tags on the other. Our coordinator simply pushed the curtains back during cocktail hour and we had a whole new look!
I wanted to keep the ceremony simple because of how beautiful the setting was around us. We added flowers to the arch and our bridal party alone was decor. I added antique rugs down the aisle to add to the elements of the vintage doors. I really wanted a sense of feeling like you were inside a church while sitting outside. Before I made my entrance through the doors we had a bagpiper play Amazing Grace and then I walked down to an instrumental version of Amazing Grace. I will never forget those few minutes before I became a wife. Getting to close my eyes and reflect on the goodness of God and the love of my life waiting on the other side of the doors.
The reception was a mix of glamorous, rustic and vintage. We had bold purples, followed with silver and gray accents on the tables. I pinned doilies on the table cloths for seating assignments, continuing the theme from our Save the Dates that were on doilies. The centerpieces were all made by me, my mom and some very good friends! I started collecting old frames and ended up finding over 60 of them. We put lace in two and a word on vellum paper in the third to represent the table. Tommy and I chose the words according to what we hope will represent us throughout our marriage. We then placed battery operated candles in the middle to have a glowing affect. Lights were hung throughout the trees, and made it feel like we were in Never-Never Land from Peter Pan! The bridal party tables were long wooden tables and had flowers and candelabras down the middle. One of my favorites touches was one of my bridesmaids created handmade signs of everyone’s first name to hang on the back of their chairs.
I wanted our sweetheart table to feel intimate yet make a statement. We added pillows to our chairs and hung His and Hers signs on the back. I used a curtain for our table cloth, silver chargers and topped it off with a chandelier hanging in the tree. I would have sat there all night if I could have.
We had BBQ food and The Sweet and Saucy Shop created an amazing cake and dessert bar of mini apple pies and cheesecake, our two favorite desserts. We even had penguin cake toppers because penguins are our favorite animal!
The night was full of dancing, moonlight, laughing, touching speeches and special glances between Tommy and I in disbelief this day was finally here, and we had become one.
Vendors: Coordinator: Candace Events by J & C/ Photographer: Matthew Morgan / Videographer: Liz Hetzel/ DJ: Family Friend/ Food: Blake’s Place BBQ / Rentals: Baker Party Rentals / Bar Rentals: Life of the Party / Cake: Sweet and Saucy Shop / Dress: Encore Bridal / Designer: Somsi Couture / Shoes: Max-Studio and Toms / Suits: Macy’s / Make-Up: Cheek Couture
Love,