DIY Temecula Creek Inn Wedding
Oh, rustically awesome DIY wedding. I sort of think you are the best thing ever, and I can't wait to spend my Monday evening basking in your goodness. From those perfectly imperfect florals to the crazy crafty details to a bride and groom who are the epitome of HAPPY, it's a perfect Temecula party in every.which.way. See every moment captured by Greg Hoskins right here.
From the Bride... Our wedding day is best described as personal and creative in an original way. From all of our friends and family being very involved, to the incredible attention to detail. We had a lot of DIY touches. We brought in all of the furniture and decor. I loved that we made the big and open space feel like an extension of our home. My mother and a few friends did all of the flower arrangements, garlands, centerpieces, and bouquets. I love this aspect because each and every one was different. We had a big outdoor wedding and we wanted the flowers to feel as natural to the space as possible. My aunt and I designed our invitations, name cards, table names, and personalized placemats. We also planted and grew every single succulent that was given as a favor in our own garden. The sign we used for the favors was a piece of wood that we found at a flea market and we added a chalkboard to the opening. The other chalkboards that were used were all bought separately over time and the wooden signs were all collected and painted on by us. The napkins were tied together by my aunt and cousin and each one had a flower tied in. Our cake forks were engraved and our cake topper was the same one my grandparents used, they have been married over 60 years. Each centerpiece was different, with a vintage/English/tea theme using all of my mother's china, etc. Each table number was a name of a state that Don and I have been to together for our jobs.
For our aisle runner, I wanted to stretch that decor into our ceremony so we had oriental rugs lining the aisle. We wanted to incorporate volleyball in some classy way so we painted on them and used them for staging as well as pictures to send out as a thank you. For my something blue, I cut a piece of my dads blue jeans into the shape of a heart and had it sewn into my dress. I also had my sash made for me, I gave her some ideas of what I liked and wanted and she handmade it for my dress. Sticking with our vintage feel, all of my jewelry was either passed down from family or used as my something borrowed. A ring that I wore is from one of my best friends and in our group. Three other friends have worn it on their wedding day.
We are creative people and many of our guests are artists and share that creativity so we had a friend sit behind our ceremony and paint it while we got married. We also put up a blank canvas for people to contribute to throughout the night, this way we had something from everyone to put in our home. We love hardback books so I found a first edition of Romeo and Juliet and took the pages out and had blank pages sewn in to use as our guestbook. This way we can have it in our bookshelf and not packed away somewhere. We are competitive people so we wanted to have some games for activity. Instead of buying cornhole boards we got the wood and made them ourselves. I had a friend paint our profiles on them and we labeled them "mr. right" and "mrs. always right". We also painted a gold and blue "K" on the gold and blue bags for the University that Don works at, Kent State. For our Thank You notes, I wrote a note and had my aunt print them on cards in Kent State's colors and we hand tied bells on each card and placed them on the seats. When we were officially married, everyone rang their bells for us.
For dessert, we decided to do s'mores stations at each fire pit as well as a 4-tiered cake with three different flavors. I was inspired by the theme of our decor when I chose the design for our cake. I wanted it to be elegant, vintage, and keep with the creative vibe. We framed pictures of our engagement shots as well as wedding pictures of people in our family that have been married. We admire those marriages and wanted to honor them in a special way.
I love printed umbrellas and I had this idea to collect a bunch of umbrellas and hang them to make a ceiling over the dance floor. Due to logistics this didn't workout as well as we planned so we ended up making a backdrop around the bar. I wanted to have a cheeseburger as one of our course options because, well, I am just that kind of girl. Since this was not an option I made sure they brought out sliders later in the evening as late night bites. They grilled them right in front of us and it added to our personal ambiance, not to mention they were so yummy! During cocktail hour we made a trail mix station, in addition to tray passed appetizers. We brought in a bunch of different containers and ingredients and let people make goodie bags that had a personalized stamp on it as a memento. My parents are big wine lovers, and so we purchased all of the wine for the dinner and reception. My dad hand selected each bottle, and it was appreciated by the many guests who also appreciate their wine.
When I walked down the aisle we had a friend sing a song and play his guitar, he also sang and played our first dance song. When that was over, him and I surprised Don with a remix of a song that Don and I sing and dance to at home. Our officiant is a very dear friend and he wrote the ceremony himself, based on our meetings together. Don and I also wrote our own vows in addition to vows that our officiant wrote himself. Our flower girls are nieces and my Matron of Honor's little girl. Our Ring bearer is a nephew and he held a special sign that was a surprise for Don. Our amazing photographer is someone we flew down from Idaho. He has also done two of my closest friend's weddings, including my Matron of Honor. His style and the way he creates an atmosphere between the couple is personal and unique....so naturally he was perfect for our wedding!
For our aisle runner, I wanted to stretch that decor into our ceremony so we had oriental rugs lining the aisle. We wanted to incorporate volleyball in some classy way so we painted on them and used them for staging as well as pictures to send out as a thank you. For my something blue, I cut a piece of my dads blue jeans into the shape of a heart and had it sewn into my dress. I also had my sash made for me, I gave her some ideas of what I liked and wanted and she handmade it for my dress. Sticking with our vintage feel, all of my jewelry was either passed down from family or used as my something borrowed. A ring that I wore is from one of my best friends and in our group. Three other friends have worn it on their wedding day.
We are creative people and many of our guests are artists and share that creativity so we had a friend sit behind our ceremony and paint it while we got married. We also put up a blank canvas for people to contribute to throughout the night, this way we had something from everyone to put in our home. We love hardback books so I found a first edition of Romeo and Juliet and took the pages out and had blank pages sewn in to use as our guestbook. This way we can have it in our bookshelf and not packed away somewhere. We are competitive people so we wanted to have some games for activity. Instead of buying cornhole boards we got the wood and made them ourselves. I had a friend paint our profiles on them and we labeled them "mr. right" and "mrs. always right". We also painted a gold and blue "K" on the gold and blue bags for the University that Don works at, Kent State. For our Thank You notes, I wrote a note and had my aunt print them on cards in Kent State's colors and we hand tied bells on each card and placed them on the seats. When we were officially married, everyone rang their bells for us.
For dessert, we decided to do s'mores stations at each fire pit as well as a 4-tiered cake with three different flavors. I was inspired by the theme of our decor when I chose the design for our cake. I wanted it to be elegant, vintage, and keep with the creative vibe. We framed pictures of our engagement shots as well as wedding pictures of people in our family that have been married. We admire those marriages and wanted to honor them in a special way.
I love printed umbrellas and I had this idea to collect a bunch of umbrellas and hang them to make a ceiling over the dance floor. Due to logistics this didn't workout as well as we planned so we ended up making a backdrop around the bar. I wanted to have a cheeseburger as one of our course options because, well, I am just that kind of girl. Since this was not an option I made sure they brought out sliders later in the evening as late night bites. They grilled them right in front of us and it added to our personal ambiance, not to mention they were so yummy! During cocktail hour we made a trail mix station, in addition to tray passed appetizers. We brought in a bunch of different containers and ingredients and let people make goodie bags that had a personalized stamp on it as a memento. My parents are big wine lovers, and so we purchased all of the wine for the dinner and reception. My dad hand selected each bottle, and it was appreciated by the many guests who also appreciate their wine.
When I walked down the aisle we had a friend sing a song and play his guitar, he also sang and played our first dance song. When that was over, him and I surprised Don with a remix of a song that Don and I sing and dance to at home. Our officiant is a very dear friend and he wrote the ceremony himself, based on our meetings together. Don and I also wrote our own vows in addition to vows that our officiant wrote himself. Our flower girls are nieces and my Matron of Honor's little girl. Our Ring bearer is a nephew and he held a special sign that was a surprise for Don. Our amazing photographer is someone we flew down from Idaho. He has also done two of my closest friend's weddings, including my Matron of Honor. His style and the way he creates an atmosphere between the couple is personal and unique....so naturally he was perfect for our wedding!