Family-Infused Old Ranch Country Club Wedding on a Budget
Not only is this wedding super charming and filled with heart-felt details (the Bride wore her mother's wedding shoes!), but it was also planned in three months AND on a budget. You read that right. Three months. On a budget. It's pretty spectacular if you let it sink in for a minute. Particularly when the images below from Closer to Love Photography paint a beautiful picture of what obviously the best day ever for every single person in attendance. See even more here.
From The Bride...My handsome, dream-come-true Prince (Adrian) and I have been married thrice as many months (is that even a word? ha) as we had to plan our wedding!
We are coming up on 9 months of marriage bliss and had a-week-shy of THREE months to plan our wedding!! Oh, and did I mention that we had 316 confirmed guests attending? Just typing that out almost gives me a panic attack! But truth is, when I found the rare Prince I've been waiting my whole life for, waiting 3 months to be his Mrs. actually seemed too long!
We have a story that feels like it's straight from the storybooks. (Sure, I'm a little biased), but sit down with me over a cup of piping hot tea (preferably using my sweet mama's collection of eclectic English tea cups) and you will see what I mean :)
We met two summers ago, July 2011, on a mission trip to Moldova, a third-world country in Eastern Europe, which is next-door to Romania (my parents emigrated from Romania to escape communism in 1983, while Adrian was born and raised there until he 17 years old). We were both there on that trip, a world away, back in 2011 doing what we are both passionate about: serving others, especially those who have lost their mommas (as we both have).
As a side note: Adrian and I are both Romanian, hence the reason we had a "small" wedding of 316 guests! Picture "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" only with Romanians :) Remember Toula's run-away grandma from the movie? ...yea...I'm pretty sure I spotted her at our wedding a few times!
I had decided to go to Moldova that summer of 2011 to work with the young orphaned girls, and mostly to share the Pearl Story with them. The illustration of how a beautiful pearl is formed inside the shell of certain types of oysters as a defense mechanism against pain/irritation was something near and dear to my heart ever since the summer before that, 2010, after losing my mom to pancreatic cancer.
As fate would have it, Adrian, whom I met for the first time on the trip, had decided to return to Moldova for his second summer in a row in 2011 (to work with the young men and orphans, who always had a special place in his heart since he himself had tragically lost his mom when he was 5 years old).
While on this trip, I observed at a distance the way Adrian selflessly loved those around him, and apparently he was observing me too (I was pretending not to notice. ha) :) After exchanging only a handful of conversations together throughout the trip, we each went back to our little corners of the world after the trip had come to an end: me to my beautiful hometown of Portland, Oregon and Adrian to Huntington Beach, California.
Long story short, less than a year later, I took a job in Southern California, and in April 2012, we had our first date: bike riding in Huntington beach. It didn't take long for us to realize we were perfect for each other. (Our engagement photos having a tea party and bike riding in Huntington Beach will be posted in another submission I will be doing for SMP. In case you can't wait until then, I will post the link the our photographer, Closer to Love's blog here though so you can get a sneak peak: http://www.closertoloveblog.com/blog/2012/11/9/monica-adrian-engaged-huntington-beach-ca.html
Adrian proposed on September 21, 2011 in La Mission, Mexico on yet another mission trip we went on to serve the orphans there, and were soon married on December 15, 2012 in Seal Beach, CA.
I thank God for Adrian everyday. He is the most wonderful person I have ever met, and inspires me to be a better person everyday! He truly is my hero!
Wedding Details...Our décor inspiration comes from our love for everything antique, and just the right balance of simplicity and elegance. Since I was a little girl, I admired my mother’s collection of English tea cups, along with her own love for vintage décor. In her honor, I decided to incorporate her eclectic English tea cups (both in the engagement shoot and at the wedding) and lots of lush Victorian lace, which contrasted so nicely with the earthy feel of burlap against a neutral color palette. We had white vintage Italian chairs upholstered in burlap and used a lot of vintage books and birdcages, as well as mercury class candle sticks to hold our simple yet elegant flower arrangements at the wedding and reception. We also tried to incorporate many Romanian traditions into our ceremony/reception.
p.s. My dress was ordered online because most boutiques in OC require 6 months to order. So I paid $300 for it! WHAT A STEAL!!! It costed more money to alter it! ($400). (Now that's insane if you ask me!)
My favorite detail: I wore my mother's shoes! They fit perfectly, just like Cinderella's glass slipper :) My mom's father gave them to her over 30 years ago when she left Romania to come to America with my dad and 6 of my older siblings. Wearing her shoes made me feel like I had a part of her with me at the wedding. I love the photo (included) of my two sisters helping them put on my mom's shoes. We were all pretty emotional. Nicely captured by Sammy Cosa of Closer to Love Photography.
As we were getting ready, we sent eachother a note/gift. I sent him his favorite chocolate treat that he says reminds him of when he was a small boy, when his dad would go to Germany for work and return home with a treat for him that tasted the same. He told me once when we were dating "If you love me, then buy this for me again" :) ....so I bought him 30 packs! :)) I love the picture that Sammy captured of him eating a chocolate with his dad (attached).
At our wedding, we had a special vintage table dedicated to our mothers in their honor. Even though our moms were not tangibly present, displaying two of my favorite English tea cups from my mother's collection along with a photograph of each of them was a sweet way for our guests to remember the beautiful lives each of them lived. These tea cups were also used in our engagement shoot.
Being that our wedding was in the middle of December, I wanted to keep everything winter white. My bouquet and other florals at the ceremony and reception, were made up of two of my momma's favorite flowers: peonies and tulips, along with plenty of simple yet beautiful baby’s breath and other tiny white delicate wax flowers. Reception centerpieces were an eclectic mix of blown mercury glass holders, vintage bird cages, and an assortment of old books topped with beautiful little wax flowers and garden roses along with a plethora of baby's breath. (Baby's breath is one of the things that helped keep our budget down!)
During our ceremony, we decided to take communion together, as a symbol of our unity with eachother and with Christ as the center of our marriage. This was a special, emotional moment, realizing the Grace we have been given and the grace we are to extend to eachother every minute of every day, loving eachother unconditionally. I LOOOOVE the picture Sammy captured of Adrian wiping my tear. This is the perfect picture of who Adrian is: always so attentive to my every need. I AM SOOO BLESSED to be his wife!
One small detail I love from our reception was the "Zacusca" on the tables. This is a traditional Romanian appetizer spread made of eggplants, roasted peppers, onions, garlic, and other flavorful veggies, typical made in large quantities in the fall and canned to enjoy on cold winter days. It was served with warm french bread and was a huge hit, even with our non-Romanian friends. As a little girl, I remember my mom making this every fall and the smell of roasted vegetables filling up the home, so it was very special to me. These adorable jars were the perfect touch, and looked so sweet in mason jars on each table!
The wedding programs, made of simple doilies, along with the honey jar wedding favors, were DIY projects I found on Pinterest.com and were made by me! (all 320 of them!!). I'll give my husband some credit too though, since he helped me fill each of the little jars with local Organic honey. Each honey jar was covered with fabric and stamped with our monograms (stamp ordered from etsy.com) We incorporated many chalkboards at both our engagement and wedding, all of which were made by my husband and I using antique serving trays/frames and chalk paint.
People don't believe me when I tell them I planned a wedding for 316 guests in LESS THAN THREE MONTHS!! You would never know. Everything was perfect and I wouldn't change a single thing about it!
Happily Ever After really does exist. I am a living testimony :)
To keep down the budget, I did my own make up (my husband had a special request: that I "look like I always do"... so I went easy on the makeup. Also, my friend who is also my hair dresser did my hair for me, half up with a simple braid and soft curls with my veil tucked under.
We are coming up on 9 months of marriage bliss and had a-week-shy of THREE months to plan our wedding!! Oh, and did I mention that we had 316 confirmed guests attending? Just typing that out almost gives me a panic attack! But truth is, when I found the rare Prince I've been waiting my whole life for, waiting 3 months to be his Mrs. actually seemed too long!
We have a story that feels like it's straight from the storybooks. (Sure, I'm a little biased), but sit down with me over a cup of piping hot tea (preferably using my sweet mama's collection of eclectic English tea cups) and you will see what I mean :)
We met two summers ago, July 2011, on a mission trip to Moldova, a third-world country in Eastern Europe, which is next-door to Romania (my parents emigrated from Romania to escape communism in 1983, while Adrian was born and raised there until he 17 years old). We were both there on that trip, a world away, back in 2011 doing what we are both passionate about: serving others, especially those who have lost their mommas (as we both have).
As a side note: Adrian and I are both Romanian, hence the reason we had a "small" wedding of 316 guests! Picture "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" only with Romanians :) Remember Toula's run-away grandma from the movie? ...yea...I'm pretty sure I spotted her at our wedding a few times!
I had decided to go to Moldova that summer of 2011 to work with the young orphaned girls, and mostly to share the Pearl Story with them. The illustration of how a beautiful pearl is formed inside the shell of certain types of oysters as a defense mechanism against pain/irritation was something near and dear to my heart ever since the summer before that, 2010, after losing my mom to pancreatic cancer.
As fate would have it, Adrian, whom I met for the first time on the trip, had decided to return to Moldova for his second summer in a row in 2011 (to work with the young men and orphans, who always had a special place in his heart since he himself had tragically lost his mom when he was 5 years old).
While on this trip, I observed at a distance the way Adrian selflessly loved those around him, and apparently he was observing me too (I was pretending not to notice. ha) :) After exchanging only a handful of conversations together throughout the trip, we each went back to our little corners of the world after the trip had come to an end: me to my beautiful hometown of Portland, Oregon and Adrian to Huntington Beach, California.
Long story short, less than a year later, I took a job in Southern California, and in April 2012, we had our first date: bike riding in Huntington beach. It didn't take long for us to realize we were perfect for each other. (Our engagement photos having a tea party and bike riding in Huntington Beach will be posted in another submission I will be doing for SMP. In case you can't wait until then, I will post the link the our photographer, Closer to Love's blog here though so you can get a sneak peak: http://www.closertoloveblog.com/blog/2012/11/9/monica-adrian-engaged-huntington-beach-ca.html
Adrian proposed on September 21, 2011 in La Mission, Mexico on yet another mission trip we went on to serve the orphans there, and were soon married on December 15, 2012 in Seal Beach, CA.
I thank God for Adrian everyday. He is the most wonderful person I have ever met, and inspires me to be a better person everyday! He truly is my hero!
Wedding Details...Our décor inspiration comes from our love for everything antique, and just the right balance of simplicity and elegance. Since I was a little girl, I admired my mother’s collection of English tea cups, along with her own love for vintage décor. In her honor, I decided to incorporate her eclectic English tea cups (both in the engagement shoot and at the wedding) and lots of lush Victorian lace, which contrasted so nicely with the earthy feel of burlap against a neutral color palette. We had white vintage Italian chairs upholstered in burlap and used a lot of vintage books and birdcages, as well as mercury class candle sticks to hold our simple yet elegant flower arrangements at the wedding and reception. We also tried to incorporate many Romanian traditions into our ceremony/reception.
p.s. My dress was ordered online because most boutiques in OC require 6 months to order. So I paid $300 for it! WHAT A STEAL!!! It costed more money to alter it! ($400). (Now that's insane if you ask me!)
My favorite detail: I wore my mother's shoes! They fit perfectly, just like Cinderella's glass slipper :) My mom's father gave them to her over 30 years ago when she left Romania to come to America with my dad and 6 of my older siblings. Wearing her shoes made me feel like I had a part of her with me at the wedding. I love the photo (included) of my two sisters helping them put on my mom's shoes. We were all pretty emotional. Nicely captured by Sammy Cosa of Closer to Love Photography.
As we were getting ready, we sent eachother a note/gift. I sent him his favorite chocolate treat that he says reminds him of when he was a small boy, when his dad would go to Germany for work and return home with a treat for him that tasted the same. He told me once when we were dating "If you love me, then buy this for me again" :) ....so I bought him 30 packs! :)) I love the picture that Sammy captured of him eating a chocolate with his dad (attached).
At our wedding, we had a special vintage table dedicated to our mothers in their honor. Even though our moms were not tangibly present, displaying two of my favorite English tea cups from my mother's collection along with a photograph of each of them was a sweet way for our guests to remember the beautiful lives each of them lived. These tea cups were also used in our engagement shoot.
Being that our wedding was in the middle of December, I wanted to keep everything winter white. My bouquet and other florals at the ceremony and reception, were made up of two of my momma's favorite flowers: peonies and tulips, along with plenty of simple yet beautiful baby’s breath and other tiny white delicate wax flowers. Reception centerpieces were an eclectic mix of blown mercury glass holders, vintage bird cages, and an assortment of old books topped with beautiful little wax flowers and garden roses along with a plethora of baby's breath. (Baby's breath is one of the things that helped keep our budget down!)
During our ceremony, we decided to take communion together, as a symbol of our unity with eachother and with Christ as the center of our marriage. This was a special, emotional moment, realizing the Grace we have been given and the grace we are to extend to eachother every minute of every day, loving eachother unconditionally. I LOOOOVE the picture Sammy captured of Adrian wiping my tear. This is the perfect picture of who Adrian is: always so attentive to my every need. I AM SOOO BLESSED to be his wife!
One small detail I love from our reception was the "Zacusca" on the tables. This is a traditional Romanian appetizer spread made of eggplants, roasted peppers, onions, garlic, and other flavorful veggies, typical made in large quantities in the fall and canned to enjoy on cold winter days. It was served with warm french bread and was a huge hit, even with our non-Romanian friends. As a little girl, I remember my mom making this every fall and the smell of roasted vegetables filling up the home, so it was very special to me. These adorable jars were the perfect touch, and looked so sweet in mason jars on each table!
The wedding programs, made of simple doilies, along with the honey jar wedding favors, were DIY projects I found on Pinterest.com and were made by me! (all 320 of them!!). I'll give my husband some credit too though, since he helped me fill each of the little jars with local Organic honey. Each honey jar was covered with fabric and stamped with our monograms (stamp ordered from etsy.com) We incorporated many chalkboards at both our engagement and wedding, all of which were made by my husband and I using antique serving trays/frames and chalk paint.
People don't believe me when I tell them I planned a wedding for 316 guests in LESS THAN THREE MONTHS!! You would never know. Everything was perfect and I wouldn't change a single thing about it!
Happily Ever After really does exist. I am a living testimony :)
To keep down the budget, I did my own make up (my husband had a special request: that I "look like I always do"... so I went easy on the makeup. Also, my friend who is also my hair dresser did my hair for me, half up with a simple braid and soft curls with my veil tucked under.