• Real Weddings

After falling in love in San Diego, Alex followed Tom to Houston when he was re-stationed by the Coast Guard. Although the distance proved to be a bit of a challenge, the couple knew they wanted to tie the knot in the bride's home town of Seattle, Washington. With the help of the bride's parents and some amazing vendors Alex was able to plan a beautiful wedding that exceeded her expectations.
Read on to hear from Alex about their special day, especially their full budget breakdown! To see more of the breathtaking details Bella Signature Design created for this romantic pink and peach wedding view the full gallery here, all fabulously photographed by Lucid Captures Photography.

From the Bride:I knew from the beginning that I would have to make decisions without seeing things in person, and our venue was one of those decisions. I went with my gut and chose DeLille Cellars, nestled in the beautiful gardens of Woodinville Wine Country.

The setting allowed us to keep our day very intimate, romantic, and casual, which was exactly what I hoped for. Fortunately, Tom and I were able to travel to Seattle a couple months before the wedding, and after walking through DeLille I knew it was the perfect place for us.

September is one of the most beautiful months in Seattle, the sun was shining and everything fell into place perfectly thanks to Holly from Perfectly Posh Events. She helped Tom and me orchestrate all details, ensuring that we stayed on schedule and everyone was in the right place at the right time, which is important when you only have so many hours to fit in a lot of details. She completely understood that the most important thing to me on my wedding day was enjoying myself and being around my family and friends who had traveled so far to celebrate with Tom and I. She handled every detail and snag (I assume there were some but I never heard of any!) during the day, which allowed me to relax and have a blast.

From the ceremony, to cocktail hour, pictures, cake cutting, dancing, and the sparkler send off, all components were there and nothing felt rushed. A bride once told me to take a minute to look out at your guests and soak it all in, telling me "you'll never experience that feeling with everyone you love ever again" and she was right. Tom and I are so luckily to have so many special people in our lives that helped celebrate our love story.

The amazing team from Bella Signature Design was a huge contributor in making my dream wedding come to life. They worked with me every step of the way, sending ideas back and forth by email, and completely understood my vision for a soft, romantic feel.

I knew I wouldn't have to do to much decorating considering how beautiful DeLille Cellars already is, but they helped incorporate big soft pink flowers, vintages vases and bottles, sweet burlap signs, and lots and lots of candles. After taking in our creation from the bridal suite above the tent, I was in awe how everything came together so beautifully.

After thinking back on our day, Tom and I agreed there were very minor things that we would have done differently. However, one thing that I would have gone back and done was slow down and better soak in all the little details. I didn't have the opportunity to see most of the decor including the table numbers, drink flags, handmade signs, or the escort board until our photos came out!

It would have been so nice to fully appreciate my vision that was brought to life and the components I obsessed over for the past year. However, this was all due to the fact that I was having such an amazing time with my friends and family that I just didn't set aside time to look at all the details.

Another thing that I would have done differently is I would have been more mindful about my get-away bag! It was lost in the shuffle and didn't make it back to the hotel with me, which meant I didn't have any clothes the next morning (except my wedding dress, of course!).

We also headed to a local bar to continue the celebration and I didn't have any shoes that didn't kill my feet after dancing. I decided to live in the moment, go barefoot, and not let the small "no shoes" excuse end my night. I'm so glad I did! Those are the small, silly details that you tend to remember forever.

Initially, like any organized bride out there, I started with a budget and was determined to stick to it. Before deciding on any vendors, Tom and I sat down and talked about what was really important to us. Then we consulted with my parents (who generously footed the bill) about what was important for them. My dress, the decor/flowers, and the photography were really important to me. For Tom, he wanted an open bar and a great DJ and my parents were adamant about quality rentals and great wine (after all, we were at a winery). Unfortunately, we did go over our budget due to having around 100 guests instead of the planned 80, but below are approximates for how much the major components cost.
Venue: $5,000
Catering: $14,000
Alcohol (we were able to bring in our own): $3,000
Cake (with delivery): $585
Custom designed invitations: $1,300
DJ (our original DJ cancelled on us last minute and Your Sound Entertainment generously agreed to stick with our original, budgeted price): $800
Dress (alternations and extras): $2,700
Photo booth (a Living Social deal!): $600
Decor total (all flowers, signs, etc.): $3,800
Photographer: $2,000

• Bridesmaid's Dresses: Moms, Maids and More
• Cake: Morfey's Cakes
• Cakes & Catering: DeLille Cellars
• Cakes & Catering: Herban Feast
• DJ: Your Sound Entertainment
• Dress Shop: La Belle Elaine's Bridal
• Event Designer & Flowers: Bella Signature Design
• Photographer: Lucid Captures Photography
• Shoes: Badgley Mischka
• Wedding Dresses: Maggie Sottero