We are going out with a bang this week thanks to photo genius Scott Stater who captured a backyard wedding like no other. And let me just say that I think I’ve found my wedding soul mate. A fête that involves a great short dress, a love of scrabble and the all important game of flip cup. Who knew these elements could blend so seamlessly into an all out wedding bash fit for a couple who knows how to have fun? Happy, happy Friday. Get your gallery on for more!
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From the bride… Ryan and I don’t take life too seriously, so when we started planning our wedding, we wanted it to be relatively casual and lots of fun—more like a party than a wedding. We also wanted our family and friends to get a real sense of us in the details of our celebration. When it came to choosing my dress, I knew right away that I wanted a knee-length dress. My dress felt fun and a little bit sassy — like a party dress. Our location and food choices supported our “fun” vision. We got married at the Los Altos History Museum, which has a beautiful courtyard surrounded by a lovely garden where guests can mingle in an intimate setting. Our guests were thrilled to be served cheeseburgers and french fries for dinner (one of the reasons we chose our caterer was how crisp they could keep their fries)! And for dessert, we skipped the cake and had an assortment of our favorite sweets like rice crispy treats and chocolate chip cookies, which were baked by Ryan’s sister.
We’re both creative and enjoyed making most of the décor elements for the wedding, using lots of inspiration from Style Me Pretty. Since the venue is outdoors and has a fairly rustic setting, we wanted to infuse a modern look into the table décor. So I chose fabric with a graphic pattern, and Ryan’s mom made our table runners. I collected vases of various shapes and sizes from eBay and Goodwill, and we spent a Saturday afternoon spray painting them all white, which helped us keep costs down without sacrificing décor. Ryan’s mom and I also made a “here comes the bride” banner for my niece and nephew to carry down the aisle. Plus, we created our own ceremony programs with celebratory words on the backside, including “woo hoo!” and “hooray!” Ryan and I enjoy playing Scrabble together and when he proposed he made a special Scrabble board, replacing the squares with photos of us and our favorite places. He glued together letters to form the question “will you marry me?” So it made sense to us to carry the Scrabble idea through to our wedding celebration. At our wedding, I used Scrabble letters to create cute signs like “drink up” at the bar and “sweet treats” at the dessert table. The guest book table, next to the photo booth had a sign that read, “say cheese and sign here please.” Table “numbers” were large wooden blocks made to look like over-sized Scrabble tiles and we used real tiles on the guests’ seating cards. When put together the seating cards and table letters spelled out “M&R the big day”! While we were not planning a Scrabble-themed wedding, these few reminders of our engagement made us smile.
We both have favorite memories from the evening. Mine was our “first look” when Ryan and I saw each other for the first time that day. He burst into tears when he saw me and it was just such a wonderful, emotional moment. And one of our only moments alone all night! Ryan’s favorite moment was being introduced as “Mr. and Mrs.” for the first time by playing a game of flip cup. As our wedding party was introduced they lined up to form a tunnel that Ryan and I ran though. On the other side, was a table complete with decorated keg cups and a pitcher of beer. It was Ryan and his groomsmen versus me and my bridesmaids, and despite my bridesmaids giving me a hefty lead, Ryan beat me in the end. It was definitely a fun and unexpected way to kick off our celebration and everyone had a blast playing flip cup the rest of the night.
Photographer: Scott Stater Photography / Wedding Dress: Priscilla of Boston (Vineyard Collection) / Shoes: Jimmy Choo / Bridesmaid Dresses: Various, each bridesmaid chose her own / Groom Rentals: Black Tie Tuxedos /Caterer: Continental Caterers / Location: Los Altos History Museum / Photo Booth: San Francisco Photo Booth / Veil: BlossomShop / Wooden Table Name Cards: CraigWoodWorks / Cupcakes: Kara’s Cupcakes / DJ: Morgan at MK Mobile Sound / Floral Designs + Day-Of Coordination: Rose Smith of Flowers with a Personal Touch (925-447-8095) / Hair + Makeup: Jane Kim of The Glamourist /