A few months ago we were featured on Style Me Pretty. It was an awesome DIY Wedding at Larner Vineyard in Santa Barbara. Sylvia was a beautiful bride & Mary Jane Photograpy did a wonderful job capturing the day! Check out below to see the Style Me Pretty postings!
A Santa Barbara Wedding with DIY Details
There’s just something completely charming about all the DIY elements of this wedding. I think that’s why some of us really love DIY weddings, isn’t it? We’re addicted to the personalized touches and creativity. It reads through as endearing, quaint and familiar. Which in this case, is brought to life by the magnificent camera stylings of Mary Jane Photography. These pictures are like my mom’s apple pie – warm and inviting (and you can ask her, I just can’t stop eating the stuff).
Sylvia gives us the 411 on her day:
Throughout the planning process, Dave and I felt it was very important that all elements of our wedding really reflect us as a couple. We wanted a beautiful setting, a weekend where everyone could spend some real time together, moving music, delicious food, and lots of dancing. We were keen on doing as much DIY as we could. Not only to save money, but because we enjoy being hands-on. We sought out vendors that really clicked with us and our philosophy and were blessed to find people like Mary Jane, Joy Proctor, Sidney at SBBBQ, and, Christina and Michael Larner. They were all instrumental to the success of our day and were a pleasure to work with. We also wanted our wedding to be about community, so we involved friends and family with the planning as much as possible. We had two crafting parties at our house in the weeks leading up to the wedding, where we had a team of friends help us construct the wooden directional signs, the chalkboards, the framed seating chart, the bags of lavender, and much more. My mom made the runners for the tables with fabric I found in downtown LA and Michigan. She and my dad made the gooseberry and blueberry jam favors as well and drove them in from Michigan. Dave’s mom was in charge of the bar and bought all of the liquor, in addition to throwing us an amazing fiesta rehearsal dinner.
The day before the wedding we had an army of people to help set up the barn at Larner Vineyard for the wedding and reception. In just a few hours, the place was transformed. As I looked around, watching all these people we love, from so many parts of our lives, working together to do something beautiful for us, I was overcome with joy.
More to come from this amazing DIY wedding!
A Santa Barbara Wedding with DIY Details, II
Now THIS is what I call a tablescape! I really do have an appreciation for a well decorated table and this delightful setting from Sylvia and Dave’s Santa Barbara wedding is sure hitting the spot right now. It’s just the perfect combination of rustic charm meets clean elegance. I dig it.
I just had to include the last photo from this post. Nothing makes me smile more than seeing a bride get down. And Sylvia, girl, you are getting down in this photo. We all salute you! I have been known to cut a rug or two (albeit somewhat uncoordinated) and it really is one of my favorite aspects of the wedding reception. I like a bride that can boogie.
Sylvia continues about her day:
Friends and family were involved with all elements of the ceremony and reception as well. Dave’s aunt, Reverend Bonnie Rose, was our officiant and a friend played guitar at the ceremony. A big moment at the ceremony was when Dave and I turned to face the entire group gathered and sang a favorite hymn of mine, “I am so blessed,” together. It was incredibly moving to look at all these people gathered to support us and sing about how blessed and grateful we were in that moment.
For the reception, we asked five different musically-inclined friends to DJ throughout the night and one to be our emcee. We kicked off the reception with a choreographed hip-hop dance we did with our wedding party (including our flower girl). It was probably the biggest hit of the night and one of the most fun moments of my life.
Instead of hiring a baker to make us a wedding cake, which neither of us is a big fan of, we asked friends to make pies and cookies for a dessert table. Dave’s friend Janice made us a symbolic wedding cake so we would have something to cut. Our planner, Joy Proctor, put the table together beautifully.
Dave and I paid for the entire wedding ourselves and so asking friends and family to help out started out as a necessity. However, looking back, I don’t think we would have done it any differently. One of my favorite parts of our wedding day was looking around and knowing that every part of it had been created by someone we love.
The Vendors:
Wedding Coordinator and décor : Joy de Vivre Wedding & Event Coordination / Venue: Larner Vineyard / Wedding Dress: Nicole Miller / Shoes: Nine West / Wedding Hair and Makeup: TEAM Hair & Makeup/Bridesmaid Dress: J. Crew, Shawls from Nimli / Menswear: Ties from Cyberoptix Tie Lab / Caterer:SBB Gourmet Catering / Invitations: Hello Lucky / Bridal Earrings: Veronica Ladjili / Photography: Mary Jane Photography
Friends and family were involved with all elements of the ceremony and reception as well.Dave’s aunt, Reverend Bonnie Rose, was our officiant and a friend played guitar at the ceremony.A big moment at the ceremony was when Dave and I turned to face the entire group gathered and sang a favorite hymn of mine, “I am so blessed,” together.It was incredibly moving to look at all these people gathered to support us and sing about how blessed and grateful we were in that moment.
For the reception, we asked five different musically-inclined friends to DJ throughout the night and one to be our emcee.We kicked off the reception with a choreographed hip-hop dance we did with our wedding party (including our flower girl).It was probably the biggest hit of the night and one of the most fun moments of my life.
Instead of hiring a baker to make us a wedding cake, which neither of us is a big fan of, we asked friends to make pies and cookies for a dessert table. Dave’s friend Janice made us a symbolic wedding cake so we would have something to cut.Our planner, Joy Proctor, put the table together beautifully.
Dave and I paid for the entire wedding ourselves and so asking friends and family to help out started out as a necessity.However, looking back, I don’t think we would have done it any differently.One of my favorite parts of our wedding day was looking around and knowing that every part of it had been created by someone we love.