Our last wedding of the day has so much personality and style-savvy tidbits, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what we love the most so we’ll just go with ALL OF IT. It is a gorgeous Los Angeles fete with a Spanish flair and an array of yummy organic florals and plants courtesy of Holly Flora. Yes, we are a tad bit smitten with those lovelies as well as the dreamy images by Jagger Photography. With so much pretty and so little space, there is a plethora of images from this wedding in the gallery so be sure to check it out!
Our wedding inspiration came from a place that is very dear to us – our home. Our home is a 1926 Craftsman Bungalow. We wanted our wedding to be a mixture of all the things that made the Arts & Crafts era wonderful: craftsmanship, quality materials, and simplicity. We wanted rich dark woods, pottery, and textiles. We also wanted to repurpose items from our big day for our home. I’ve already replanted all of the succulents used in our wedding in our garden. The vintage wooden box we used for cards was repurposed as a lamp and also now displays my bouquet. For our guestbook we commissioned an artist to paint, using watercolor, my favorite flower – the Calla Lily. We had our guests autograph it and today you’ll find it hanging from our dining room wall. We chose LA River Center and Gardens because we felt it matched our vision for the wedding. We felt the venue reflected a natural environment and it would need very minimal decorative embellishments. For our flowers we wanted lots of texture, unlike the venue’s flora, yet in harmony with it. For our ceremony we wanted a traditional Mexican Catholic wedding. At the beginning of the ceremony our mother’s lit up two candles as a symbol of how they gave us life. We had a sub-ceremony for the exchange of the arras (unity coins) and the lazo (unity cord), as well as the offering of flowers to the Virgin Mary to bless our marriage. We also gave our mothers and grandmothers a single white long stemmed rose to thank them for their love and ask for their blessing as well. My mother gave me a Virgin Mary statue used during the ceremony, which is dear to me and I proudly display in our home. Mariachi Cuicatlan performed the music for the ceremony, cocktail hour and beginning of the reception beautifully.
In the spirit of the Arts & Crafts movement we had a few DIY projects. I collected the pottery from garage sales and thrift stores that were used to line the aisle of our ceremony. I put together toiletry baskets for the guests’ restrooms. With the help of a couple of friends, we made the flowers for the flip-flops that were gifted as dancing shoes. Abel made the favors, which were tequila shot glasses with a wooden base holder. The tequila shot glasses were individually hand-blown from Tonala, Mexico. He also built the wooden frame holding the backdrop drapery for our dessert table. He even made the signs for the mini dessert out of wood and door hinges. The signs hanging from our chairs, novio (groom) and novia (bride), were handcrafted by Abel from oak wood. The seating chart board was made of wood, and then covered in a fabric inspired by William Morris, a designer, writer and painter of the Arts & Crafts movement. Every wood element was stained in dark ebony. His biggest project was a signature drinks fountain – never seen alcohol dance so beautifully! Some of the more sentimental details for instance, were a flower arrangement placed inside a niche on the wall in memory of our loved ones that have passed away. Also, we had a coffee and Mexican hot chocolate station that had a burlap sack filled with pan dulce (Mexican pastries), this was in honor of Abel’s late grandfather, who would visit Abel and always bring him pan dulce in a small burlap sack.
I was such a wreck before the ceremony. I was completely immersed in my thoughts. The whole world went quiet, but the minute I saw Abel all my nervous jitters went away and the world was okay again. My favorite moment of the day was a surprise Abel planned for me. He had “The Cool Cats” band learn our song (How Soon is Now? by The Smiths). It was a cute surprise that brought the tears. I wanted the band to play that song, but they (at Abel’s direction) said they couldn’t learn the song for our wedding and then wowzers there they were – playing it! The love our friends and family gave us and to see their happy faces really made us happy. Everyone told me to enjoy myself that it would fly by so quickly. I had a blast, danced all night and enjoyed all the wonderful details! The big day was so much more than I expected. It was wonderfully executed thanks to our team of vendors, especially our wedding coordinator, Lina Wallace (she was heaven sent) and our photographers, Jagger Photography, they really did a fantabulous job capturing our day.
Photography: Jagger Photography / Event Producer and Designer: Lina Wallace of A Stunning Affair / Floral Designer: Holly Flora / Caterer: Truly Yours Catering / Band: The Cool Cats (no website) / Mariachi: Mariachi Cuicatlan grp2027@lausd.net / Table Runners: Sashes for Love / Venue: LA River Center and Gardens / Invitations: Peace of Mine Greetings / Other Stationary: DIY by the bride and groom, Jamie and Abel / Hair and Makeup: Lauren Manzano / Videography: Isabel Gonzalez Videotique / Officiant: Father Jack / Cake and Sweet’s Display: My Sweet and Saucy