Real Wedding in DIY Wedding Magazine {Aileen & Alex}
Happy Anniversary to Aileen and Alex!
These two were my residents back in my Sierra RA days at UCI. I knew then that they would be married someday. Honored that they had me coordinate their special day. They had one of the sweetest ceremony I've ever witnessed.
These were the groom's personal vows: "Ours is a simple story of boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl and girl makes boy wait 3 years for the honor of a date. In those 3 years I realized that you are the type of woman that is definitely worth the wait, the rare type of woman that no man should meet when they are too young and immature - when they are not ready to meet the woman they should spend the rest of their life with, the woman that would do an amazing job raising their kids, the woman that would be patient and kind and strong and independent - someone so beautiful both inside and out that it almost seems unfair that I get you all to myself. You are the type of woman that poets write about, that singers sing about and mother-in-laws dream about. ...and lucky for me, you are the type of woman that is patient enough to wait 9 years for this day. I promise not to squander this opportunity. I promise to love you and keep you safe – even if it means I have spider killing duties. I promise to make you tea when you’re feeling sick and to give you hugs when you’re feeling sad. And when I’m old and wrinkled – and you still look like a teenager – I promise not to forget the promises I have made here today." ~Alex
Their special wedding was featured in DIY Wedding Magazine. Enjoy the full magazine spread below!
DIY Details from their wedding, as told by our Bride, Aileen.
Fake Succulent Escort Cards: Our wedding was in a garden so we wanted to find accents that would compliment our venue. We purchased fake succulents, which we glued to small, tin watering cans. We then printed and cut small yellow flags that contained each guests name and table assignment. These made a cute accent that would serve as both an escort card & a souvenir from our wedding! We especially loved these because we were able to make them quite far in advance because the floral element was not real and would not require watering!
Cake Toppers: I loved the handmade cake toppers I come across on Etsy and Pinterest but we needed to be very budget savvy. I’m very fond of crafting so I decided to attempt to make our caketopper on my own! We found a pair of plain wooden figures at our local craft store and used acrylic paint to paint our cake toppers so that they had our features and would be wearing our wedding attire! The final touch was to go over it with a gloss (I used Mod Podge) to give the cake toppers a shiny, finished look. We then added a few bits of fake foliage to give the cake a bit of color!
Gray Table Runners: We knew we wanted a colored accent to help add color to our ivory tablecloths. I purchased a large bolt of broadcloth online and with help from a friend, cut and sewed together all our table runners for the reception tables. We went with broadcloth because it had a matte finish and was lightweight (and budget friendly). The simple gray runner added the pop of color we needed and now, after the wedding, we have a set of neutral gray runners that we can use for our future parties!
Wine Bottle Table Numbers: I saw this idea on Pinterest and loved it! I love the idea of upcycling items that we already have in abundance around our home. We asked friends to help us save a few wine bottles, cleaned off all the labels, and then spray painted each one with white spray paint! We then used a bit of liquid school glue and painted each table number by hand. We then topped it off with a bit of gold glitter to glam it up a bit!
Centerpiece, Potted Fake Succulent: I knew I wanted a small succulent alongside our small, floral centerpieces made by our florist! Right before going to purchase the real succulents, my wedding coordinator sent me a link to a site that had fake succulents made from construction paper! I attempted it and it worked so well. We used a textured green construction paper to cut out different sizes of petals and then glued them together with a hot glue gun. We then lined the pot with some moss to give the succulents a more realistic look! We saved some money by my making these ourselves and some of our guests couldn’t even tell they were not real!
Giant Paper Flowers: This was by far my favorite project because it was such a collaborative effort between Alejandro, our Bridemaids, and me! I found this idea through a blog and thought it would be great for accenting some blank wall space we had at our venue! These flowers were self-standing and ranged from 2 feet to 5 feet! For the base of these flowers we filled plastic cups with cement, we made the stems out of molded stucco corner and green tissue paper, and made the flower with yellow & white tissue paper cut in an assortment of sizes! These flowers were a fun addition to the wedding décor and were a hit throughout the reception! They definitely made for great photo ops too!
Photograph/Note Placecards at Table: This was definitely the most labor-intensive task we decided to undertake but also the most rewarding project throughout our entire wedding process! We scoured our Facebook accounts, old photo albums, and computers to find photos of us with EACH ONE OF OUR GUESTS. We printed all the photos and then wrote a note to each of them. We placed these photos in an envelope and used them as our place cards. We wrote over 200 notes for our wedding day. It took a lot of time but it was so incredibly touching to see each guest open their envelope upon arriving their seats at the reception to find a photo and personalized note written to them from the newlyweds!
Mr. & Mrs. Chair Signs: We decided not to have a sweetheart table and instead have a “King’s Table” that would allow us to sit with our entire immediate family during the reception. To mark our seats, I hand-molded twine dipped in school glue to write our “Mr” & “Mrs”. After allowing them to dry and harden, we simply glued them to a small chalkboard, which we then attached to our seats.
Invitations: We wanted to go with a bright, contemporary look for our invitations! Alejandro is an engineer and loves clean, geometric shapes. We found a great template on Vistaprint.com that incorporated a Venn Diagram with our initials. We redesigned the template a bit to create a simple, sleek invitation that didn’t contain too make components.
Boutonnieres/Floral: Our venue was in a beautiful garden that already provided great natural landscapes. We decided not to have an excessive amount of flowers so we asked a dear friend of the family help us with the floral for our wedding. We selected all the ribbon ourselves and provided her with all the additional elements. We then decided to go with bright, fresh flowers like billy balls (Craspedias), sunflowers, and gerbera daisies (which also happen to be my favorite flowers). The striking, rich yellows of these flowers really helped accentuate our wedding colors, which included hues of Yellow, Gray and Navy Blue.
Ring Bearer Pillow: I found the idea of a homemade ring pillow from a wedding magazine I stumbled upon. My sewing skills are sub-par so I asked a friend of mine to sew together a pillow. I cut our various sizes of yellow flowers with felt and she made a simple gray pillow our of cotton cloth. We stuffed it with pillow stuffing and the outcome was made my customized, keepsake ring pillow!
Flower Girl Baby’s Breath Crown: We were not allowed to have our flower girl throw flowers on the floor as she marched down the aisle so we decided to go with a small ball of flowers for her to carry. To help accent her floral ball, my sister-in-law made a simple crown out of floral wire & baby’s breath!
Flip Flops, Giveaway “Dancing Shoes”: Alejandro & I really wanted to make sure this wedding was a blast for all of our guests! We didn’t want anyone to be kept away from the dance floor because of their choice in shoes so we found discounted flip flops that were in our wedding colors (gray & yellow!) and we passed them out to our guests on the dance floor! They were such a hit! Heels were left at their tables and all our guests joined us in dancing the night away!
Personalized Water Bottles: We decided to splurge on an open bar so we wanted to make sure everyone stayed hydrated throughout the evening! We had water bottle labels made with our photos on the label! They were definitely a novelty item for our guests but also a great, fun refreshment to serve throughout the reception!
Distressed Starbucks Jars: Another fun upcycling project with item I already have around the home. I saved a few small, Starbucks frappachino jars and painted them with acrylic paint in our wedding colors (Gray, Yellow, Navy). We then put some fake green foliage in them to add a slightly contrasting accent. These jars were set up in trios and placed on our bar tables during cocktail hour!
Guest Book: We did not want to go with a traditional guestbook where people simply sign their names upon arrival. We hoped to find an alternative that we could eventually display on our home. Alejandro & I got married exactly on our 9th anniversary and we have a ton of photos together through the years! We decided to make a photo book online to use as our guestbook. We included a ton of photos from when we were young all the way up to our engagement photos. We made sure to leave plenty of blank space for our guests to write their messages. I think our photos took everyone on a quick trip down memory lane!
Slate Photo Frames: We wanted to have our engagement photos displayed in a unique way. I found a website that prints photos on large 12x12in pieces of slate. We used these at our sign-in table and are very happy because they now are re-purposed and add a beautiful accent to our home décor!
Dessert Table: Alejandro is from Ecuador where a sweets table is a staple at most weddings! The best part about this tradition is that most of the featured sweets are typically handmade. Most of the sweets featured on our dessert table were handmade by Alejandro’s mother and her circle of amazing friends! They even ordered special candy wrappers all the way from Ecuador! This twist really helped made our dessert table a great blend of homemade traditions, great memories, and contemporary fun!
Drink Stirrers: To help accent our bar, we found black drink stirrers in bulk online and decided to spruce them up with a little design. We found Washi Tape in fun patterns like yellow & gold and individually decorated each drink stirrer!
Marquee Light Up ‘A&A’ Letters: We wanted a personalized DIY accent that would help light up the bar throughout the night! We found plain, white marquee letter at our local craft store. The letters we found were great because they were small and battery operated! No outlet needed! To help glam the letters up, we painted them with gray acrylic paint and added a touch gold glitter. When lit up, these letters really made a fun statement!
Vendor List: Coordination (Skybox Event Productions), Location (Los Angeles River Center & Gardens), Photographer (Tikko Studios), Videographer (BoxHeart Weddings) Caterer (Melrose Catering), DJ (Ron Rosete DJ Rawn), Cake (J's Sweet Treats), Sheet Cake (Portos Bakery), Florist (Oliva Guevara), Hair & Make up (Chiali Meng), Invitations (Vista Prints), Officiant (James Kang), Photobooth (Funmaker Photobooths)
Post Published on July, 11, 2017. Wedding Date on July 11, 2015.
