San Francisco Wedding from Nima Salimi
Oh DIY weddings, they just have so much heart. It's the reason why I will always fawn over them, and why I will never tire of seeing them pop up in our submissions. A DIY wedding like this one from Nima Salimi, where every.single.detail can be traced back this couple and their families, is like wedding magic to me, and how it goes from a simple crafty idea to a full on masterpiece just boggles my blogger mind. But I am so thankful there are couples like this one who not only take on the DIY challenge, they also perfect it - because it leaves us with the chance to soak up a day as sweet as this. See the entire day here.
From the Bride...I wanted to share our wedding with you because my husband and I were so happy with how beautiful the day turned out. Being two teachers (I teach kindergarten and Isaac teaches 5th grade) we were on a tight budget- under $15,000. Living in San Francisco and trying to have a budget wedding makes most people laugh, but we felt that if we truly embraced the quirks of our personality as a couple and put my love of crafting to the test, we could pull it off.
From the table runners to the bouquets, Isaac and I DIYed as much of our wedding as we could. We asked our family and friends to collect their empty toilet paper roles for months, then we painted them and glued them into the shape of a heart to hang over the mantel of the fireplace during the reception. We bought our flowers from Trader Joe's and gathered our families and bridal party together the day before the wedding to assemble the arrangements, bouquets, and boutonnieres. My family is German, so we used my mother's collection of traditional German beer mugs as vases for the flowers accented with smaller arrangements in mason jars from the hardware store. Arranging the flowers turned out to be an amazing way of bringing our families together and allowing everyone to feel as though they contributed to the wedding on the day of.
We created all the signage for the wedding from old picture frames that we painted with crackle paint. We designed, printed, and embellished our own programs and menus. We spent an afternoon watching movies and tying tiny ribbon bows on to two hundred straws. We brought knick knacks from our house, like little German garden gnomes and statues of beagles (we have a very rambunctious beagle who was not invited to the wedding) to decorate the welcome drink table, the bar, and other reception areas.
Although neither of us are religious, we wanted to bring in aspects of Isaac's Jewish background to our ceremony. My mother and brother created a beautiful chuppah for us out of fabric and found wood. Instead of having the chuppah be free standing, we asked our fathers, our maid of honor, and our best man to hold it over us, symbolizing the shelter and support that family provides. We decided to turn the traditional blessing over the wine into a toast with all our guests- and since we forgot the wine in our garage, we ended up having a blessing over the cocktail! Throughout all the planning and creating, Isaac and I focused on creating a day that showcased our personalities and most of all, celebrated our awesome love for each other.
Photography: Nima Salimi | Floral Design+ Decor: DIY | Wedding Ceremony + Reception: Trocadero Clubhouse | Event Coordination: A Day Like No Other | Catering: All Good Pizza | Cupcakes: Elspeth Pelliccia of Elsie Bakes | Entertainment: DJ Goldmyne (djgoldmyne@yahoo.com) | Rentals: Classic Party Rentals | Wedding Dress: Allure Bridal | Belt: Etsy | Bridesmaids Dresses: Nordstrom | Groom + Groomsmen Attire: Macy's
From the table runners to the bouquets, Isaac and I DIYed as much of our wedding as we could. We asked our family and friends to collect their empty toilet paper roles for months, then we painted them and glued them into the shape of a heart to hang over the mantel of the fireplace during the reception. We bought our flowers from Trader Joe's and gathered our families and bridal party together the day before the wedding to assemble the arrangements, bouquets, and boutonnieres. My family is German, so we used my mother's collection of traditional German beer mugs as vases for the flowers accented with smaller arrangements in mason jars from the hardware store. Arranging the flowers turned out to be an amazing way of bringing our families together and allowing everyone to feel as though they contributed to the wedding on the day of.
We created all the signage for the wedding from old picture frames that we painted with crackle paint. We designed, printed, and embellished our own programs and menus. We spent an afternoon watching movies and tying tiny ribbon bows on to two hundred straws. We brought knick knacks from our house, like little German garden gnomes and statues of beagles (we have a very rambunctious beagle who was not invited to the wedding) to decorate the welcome drink table, the bar, and other reception areas.
Although neither of us are religious, we wanted to bring in aspects of Isaac's Jewish background to our ceremony. My mother and brother created a beautiful chuppah for us out of fabric and found wood. Instead of having the chuppah be free standing, we asked our fathers, our maid of honor, and our best man to hold it over us, symbolizing the shelter and support that family provides. We decided to turn the traditional blessing over the wine into a toast with all our guests- and since we forgot the wine in our garage, we ended up having a blessing over the cocktail! Throughout all the planning and creating, Isaac and I focused on creating a day that showcased our personalities and most of all, celebrated our awesome love for each other.
Photography: Nima Salimi | Floral Design+ Decor: DIY | Wedding Ceremony + Reception: Trocadero Clubhouse | Event Coordination: A Day Like No Other | Catering: All Good Pizza | Cupcakes: Elspeth Pelliccia of Elsie Bakes | Entertainment: DJ Goldmyne (djgoldmyne@yahoo.com) | Rentals: Classic Party Rentals | Wedding Dress: Allure Bridal | Belt: Etsy | Bridesmaids Dresses: Nordstrom | Groom + Groomsmen Attire: Macy's