Colorful Fall California Wedding on a Budget

Brides on a budget, take note. Actually, every single Bride out there should take note, because this beauty of a wedding proves the point we've been preaching at SMP for years: it doesn't take a lot of money to have a downright perfect wedding. And this wedding is proof. It was a labor of love, and thanks to the beautiful images from Whittaker Portraits, you can see every heartfelt detail here.

From Christina of Whittaker Portraits...Matt and Amanda originally met five years ago, when they were set up on a blind date. They both liked each other, but weren’t interested at the time and never kept contact. A few years later, they unintentionally ran into each other and rekindled their friendship and began their relationship. Matt proposed to Amanda in June, and they were married in the beginning of October. Although they are based in Portland, OR, they decided on a California destination wedding (Amanda’s home state), so they had a lot to do in just 12 weeks! Things quickly fell into place: a friend offered a private residence as a venue, and another friend offered to plan and coordinate the wedding. Friends also offered their discounted services for the wedding including flowers, food, and photography, which made it easy to stay in their 15k budget. Amanda left the bridesmaids to choose their own blush colored dresses, and she decided not to go with one main color for the wedding, but many fall-based tones. Details included a fall-themed dessert table, baby pomegranates and artichokes in the florals and centerpieces, a styled lounge area, custom chalk board signs, and a custom ring bearer sign. Jennifer from Something Blue transformed the backyard area, which is normally a large open lawn, into a fun event space! The ceremony area was converted into the reception area during the cocktail hour while guests mingled in the styled lounge. Special moments included Matt and Amanda’s emotional first look among the dry fall fields of the South Bay Area, a tearful moment while Amanda’s mom helped her get her veil in, and the sparkler exit down the driveway! One of the funniest moments of the day was when the groomsmen were asked to pose how they think bridesmaids should pose. The bridesmaids were also asked to pose like groomsmen. The result was so funny!