Calling all girly girls out there who are desperate for a little pink wedding inspiration! The minute I laid eyes on this adorable wedding, I knew you guys would go nuts. Not only is it super gorg, it’s jam packed with so many fun details and DIY goodness, you can hardly believe it’s real. But it is and the bride, her cute maids and her loving family built this wedding completely from scratch. Photographed by Chloe Murdoch for Mike Larson Photography with flowers by Panacea Event Floral Design…this little number, is definitely a SMP keeper. Click here to see even more!
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Brandon and I met on the first day of our freshman year of high school. Our friendship grew into a dating relationship during junior year. We have happily been “Brandon and Bri” ever since, and by the time July 10, 2010 rolled around, it was surreal to believe that we had finally made it! When Brandon proposed to me in 2008, he gave me gifts representing faith, hope, and love. Since we committed to building our marriage around these core values, we wanted to also plan our wedding with these things in mind. Our wedding was a total labor of love. Brandon and I, along with my mom, and the rest of our families, poured our hearts and energy into all of the details. It was such a blessing to us to see our wonderful vendors become passionate about our wedding and pour their hearts into it as well.
Our first wedding-related decision was to get married at Brandon’s grandparents’ house on California’s beautiful Central Coast. Once we had a venue, our families went to work creating an elegant English garden atmosphere for us. Seriously, we have pictures of our parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all on their hands and knees in the dirt, weeding, planting flowers, and building stone paths. This made our wedding day feel so much more personal!
For the centerpieces, my mom and I collected milk glass and antique silver containers to hold flowers in my favorite color: pink! We scoured antique stores, flea markets, and eBay to find all the perfect pieces! Some of the other DIY projects I took on were designing all of the paper products, including our letterpress invitations, painting and altering our vintage cake topper, and even baking French macarons for our candy table! My mom and I designed the candy table together. She’d bought me my first sewing machine for my bridal shower, so making the striped candy table tablecloth was our first project! Even Brandon found ways to help. He collected all of our vintage style photo booth props at local antique stores. They ended up being a huge hit! Our day of coordinator, Danae, with Danae Grace Events, did the most wonderful job bringing together all of our details and making our wedding even better than I had envisioned!
The wonderful ladies at Down the Aisle in Arroyo Grande helped me find my Casablanca dress, and Jennifer at Something Blue helped me make it my own with her fabulous alteration skills. I hired Holly Stalder to design my lace shrug, which she made from my mom’s wedding dress. This ended up being my favorite part of my wedding day ensemble! I customized my Stuart Weitzman shoes by having them dyed bright pink, and adding shoe clips I purchased from Absolutely Audrey on Etsy. The designer of my veil was Jennifer Leigh. I found my jewelry at an antique store in Solvang, California.
My very first wedding inspiration came from Style Me Pretty! I found SMP through a non-wedding related design blog when I was doing some research for a project. This was shortly before Brandon proposed, and as ungirly as it sounds, I’d never given a thought to weddings. Style Me Pretty opened me up to the world of weddings and showed me how personal and meaningful a thoughtfully-planned wedding can be. Once I started planning our wedding, I also found inspiration through fashion and interior design magazines, Sofia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette,” the weddings of past generations, and vintage French packaging.
Brandon and I will always look back on our wedding day as the warmest, most beautiful celebration of love and everything that is good in life. We were thankful that we chose only to invite our closest family and friends. We felt close to every guest that attended, and were overwhelmed by the love and generosity they showed us. The entire day felt like a wonderful, stylish dinner party, an absolute dream!
Photography: Chloe Murdoch with Mike Larson Photography Inc. / Day of Coordination: Danae Grace Events / Caterer: Epic Weddings, Catering Unlimited / Florist: Panacea Event Floral Design / Specialty Linens + Tent Draping: Cover Ups / Other Rentals: Got You Cover’d / String Quartet: The Candlelight Strings / Dress: Casablanca, purchased from Down the Aisle, Altered by Jennifer at Something Blue / Lace Shrug: Holly Stalder / Shoes: Stuart Weitzman, Clips from Absolutely Audrey on Etsy / Veil: Jennifer Leigh / Letterpress Printer: Twin Ravens Press / Photobooth: The Photobooth Experience / Bridesmaid Dresses: Watters / Groom+ Groomsmen Suits: Banana Republic