Fullerton Wedding at Villa del Sol from Bryan N. Miller Photography
DIY has come such a long way, and I swear Brides are getting craftier by the minute. Take this gorgeous girl for instance. She DIY-ed detail after detail for her Spanish-inspired soiree at Villa del Sol in such a fashion you would never know she didn't pay a pretty price for it all. Instead we get image after image of envy-worthy inspiration from Bryan N. Miller Photography, and it's all waiting for you right here.
From the Bride... After simply enjoying our engagement for a few months {which I recommend!}, we jumped right in to the planning. Our wedding inspiration came to us while vacationing in Santa Barbara, where we immediately fell in love with the Spanish influence of the city – whitewashed walls, Spanish tiles, bright + beautiful colors. We were determined to find a venue that captured all of those qualities, but just a little closer to our family + friends. We were so lucky when we stumbled across the Villa del Sol, a small Spanish style building with the most amazing courtyard in the heart of downtown Fullerton, California. It had absolutely everything we were looking for, and it was the perfect foundation for us to build our wedding on.
I’m a pretty detail-oriented girl, so I knew that I wanted the little details of the day to shine through – we really wanted our 110 guests to feel at home and know how important they are to us. Since we’re fairly crafty people {and because we had a budget to stick to!}, we DIY-ed pretty much everything for our wedding. We spent the months leading up to the big day painting lanterns + various other things gold, making signs + flags for the favors, collecting mercury glass, potting succulents, digging through our parents’ + grandparents’ wedding photographs, hand-stamping programs + thank you cards, working with our vendors on special + personal touches, and much, much more. I even designed our invitation suite + paper goods, and whatever we couldn’t get to, we turned to good ol’ Etsy!
Like most couples planning a wedding, we quickly realized that good food, good drinks, and good music were absolute musts! We both have insanely awesome families + friends, and we knew that if we met those requirements, mixed with the love + fun they’d bring with them that day, we’d have one heck of a party that everyone would be talking about long after the last dance of the night. And thanks to our wonderful caterer Café Hidalgo and Arrowhead DJ, we’re still getting rave reviews months later!
Both David + I were missing some very important people that day: our grandparents who have passed away. My grandparents played such a significant role in my life, especially my grandmothers {who I’ve been told I take a lot after}. I was able to carry all four of them with me down the aisle – their photos in small lockets attached to my bouquet. In honor of his grandmother, David carried a “Grandmas are special” charm that was given to her on her last birthday with the family. Although we wish they were physically with us on our wedding day, we know they were, and still are, smiling down on us from up above.
This wedding truly was a labor of love, and together with our wonderful vendors, and our amazing day-of coordinator, Dena David, we’re beyond thrilled with how everything turned out! And thanks to our insanely talented photographer Bryan of Bryan N. Miller Photography and our oh-so-sweet + brilliant cinematographer Alea of Alea Lovely, the day was documented to gorgeous perfection so we can remember it always.
So many happy tears, riotous laughs, killer dance moves, and special moments happened that day – even though it went by way too fast, we honestly couldn’t have asked for a more perfect + beautiful celebration. A few hours into the reception and when everyone was on the dance floor, David + I went to the second floor terrace to soak it all in – our months of hard work had paid off! It’s such an overwhelmingly beautiful feeling to see everyone who we loved most in the world, in one place, all there to celebrate our love with us. It was the most incredible way to spend our first moments as husband+ wife!
I’m a pretty detail-oriented girl, so I knew that I wanted the little details of the day to shine through – we really wanted our 110 guests to feel at home and know how important they are to us. Since we’re fairly crafty people {and because we had a budget to stick to!}, we DIY-ed pretty much everything for our wedding. We spent the months leading up to the big day painting lanterns + various other things gold, making signs + flags for the favors, collecting mercury glass, potting succulents, digging through our parents’ + grandparents’ wedding photographs, hand-stamping programs + thank you cards, working with our vendors on special + personal touches, and much, much more. I even designed our invitation suite + paper goods, and whatever we couldn’t get to, we turned to good ol’ Etsy!
Like most couples planning a wedding, we quickly realized that good food, good drinks, and good music were absolute musts! We both have insanely awesome families + friends, and we knew that if we met those requirements, mixed with the love + fun they’d bring with them that day, we’d have one heck of a party that everyone would be talking about long after the last dance of the night. And thanks to our wonderful caterer Café Hidalgo and Arrowhead DJ, we’re still getting rave reviews months later!
Both David + I were missing some very important people that day: our grandparents who have passed away. My grandparents played such a significant role in my life, especially my grandmothers {who I’ve been told I take a lot after}. I was able to carry all four of them with me down the aisle – their photos in small lockets attached to my bouquet. In honor of his grandmother, David carried a “Grandmas are special” charm that was given to her on her last birthday with the family. Although we wish they were physically with us on our wedding day, we know they were, and still are, smiling down on us from up above.
This wedding truly was a labor of love, and together with our wonderful vendors, and our amazing day-of coordinator, Dena David, we’re beyond thrilled with how everything turned out! And thanks to our insanely talented photographer Bryan of Bryan N. Miller Photography and our oh-so-sweet + brilliant cinematographer Alea of Alea Lovely, the day was documented to gorgeous perfection so we can remember it always.
So many happy tears, riotous laughs, killer dance moves, and special moments happened that day – even though it went by way too fast, we honestly couldn’t have asked for a more perfect + beautiful celebration. A few hours into the reception and when everyone was on the dance floor, David + I went to the second floor terrace to soak it all in – our months of hard work had paid off! It’s such an overwhelmingly beautiful feeling to see everyone who we loved most in the world, in one place, all there to celebrate our love with us. It was the most incredible way to spend our first moments as husband+ wife!
Wedding Photography: Bryan N. Miller Photography / Wedding Venue: Villa del Sol in Fullerton, California / Wedding Planning + Design: the Bride / Floral Design: La Mirada Wedding Flowers / Cinematography: Alea Lovely / Catering + Wedding Coordinating: Café Hidalgo / Wedding Cake: NancyKay’s Confections / Desserts: Couture Candy Shoppe / Cake Topper: Better Off Wed / DJ + Photo Booth: Arrowhead DJ / Spanish Guitar: Donovan Raitt / Wedding Invitations: Designed by the Bride / Letterpress: Willow Press (willowpress@gmail.com) / Paper Goods: DIY by the Bride / Calligraphy: Calligraphy by Hillary / VintagePostage: Treasure Fox / Succulent Favors: Succulents Galore / Flower Girl Sign: Umbrella Tree Design / Wedding Dress: Blue by Enzoani "Dabra" / Hairpiece: Tessa Kim "Palma" / Bride's Shoes: Bridal by Butter + Schutz / Bridesmaids' Attire: Group USA / Bridesmaids' Shoes: Steve Madden / Groom’s + Groomsmen Attire: Bar III via Macy's / Flower girl’s Attire: Strawberrie Rose + J.Crew / Hair + Makeup: Queen of Diamonds