• Real Weddings

Lisa and Adam didn't want to rush their engagement so they took two wonderful years to plan and create their big day. The theme of their wedding was outdoor, vintage, and handmade with an environment that was fun and personalized.
Those two years of planning gave this couple the time to DIY some truly lovely details, from wooden cutting board favors to tons of decorated mason jars. Purple and ivory accents beautifully tied the day together. You'll want to pull your crafting kits out after you see all of the darling handmade details from this lavender, burlap and twine wedding in the full gallery here, captured by Volatile Photography.

Words from the bride

We had such an amazing time creating our perfect wedding; loving each moment of constructing our handmade decorations. We both loved to have our families and close friends stay at the ranch for a few days prior to the wedding. It made everything on our big day run smoothly and lessen the stress for everyone. We both tried to think of some of our favorite memories and we have so many. We loved everything from the large spacious lush green venue and color scheme of Victorian lilac and grey, incredibly beautiful flower displays, amazing photographers, beautiful and yummy cake, to our adorable little dog in his grey suit. I wish I could say we had a favorite but truly our wedding was seamless and a dream come true.

The seating chart was a handmade chalkboard with a handwritten seating chart provided by a very special bridesmaid. Adam handcrafted with the help of one of his groomsmen; beautiful cutting boards for all guests as a thank you gift. Adam and I had loved the burlap theme and made our own ceremony cards with jute rope and embellished details for all our guests to have. To decorate gift tables we had accordion photo books with engagement photos displayed (a great idea of Adam’s). Our actual wedding site displayed draped burlap with white paper pom poms and a small table for wine ceremony. The ceremony site was lush and green at the time and the burlap fit the scene perfectly. 

Together we created over a hundred mason jars with burlap, jute rope, and lace to accent the table and floral arrangements. Each burlap runner was hand cut to accommodate each table as well. The day before the wedding approximately a hundred paper lanterns were hung from trees and in the dancing room. Each lantern was set with a small light to illuminate the dancing area. The centerpieces were arrangements of assorted flowers in assorted shades of purple, light green, gray, white, and ivory colors, each designed in a large mason jar. These arrangements were designed using varieties of flowers such as roses, hydrangea, dahlias, sweet peas, hydrangeas, lisianthus, and stock, with some other seasonal foliage and accent flowers. Around the base of each centerpiece, was a series of four small mason jars, two of which were filled with a very simple floral arrangement.

The Couple’s Story:
Adam and Lisa grew up in neighboring towns and went to different grade school and high schools. During high school years their groups of friends merged and they became friends quickly. Little did they both know, their fathers had worked closely for many years and would go on various business trips together. When they talked to their parents about each other the stories would flood out about the fun filled business gathering they had; and an instant connection was made. As they entered college Adam spent years asking Lisa out, to no avail. She was very focused on earning her nursing degree and wanted to make sure Adam was ready for a serious relationship. Finally, 6 months before Adam’s graduation Lisa agreed to go on an official date! It was December 31st, 2006 (New Years Eve).
In July 2007 Adam moved to Las Vegas to start his first post college career. We had to have a long distance relationship because Lisa was still completing 2 more years of nursing school. We tried to visit each other as much as possible; but this happened only every 3 months or more (hence our wedding song; talking about distance).
By January 2008 (after about a year together) Adam was moved to Petaluma, California for his career. Lisa continued to visit every couple of months through June 2009. She graduated as a registered nurse, and promptly moved to California. We had officially made it through the long distance relationship. This was a difficult time for the both of us but in the end we came out even stronger than ever. We were no longer just best friends hanging out in highschool; but now best friends in love.
In January 2011 Adam began planning the engagement. He got her father’s permission; the proper way. He then knew that she had always wanted a ring that was sentimental and had love and meaning to her. He then obtained her dream wedding ring; an old European cut diamond ring her loving grandmother had worn during her day. He then had it reset (with the final okay from his mother and my mother). He then planned for the Mahaffey and Miklos family to surprise Lisa on her birthday June 15th, 2011 in California.
Lisa was working two jobs at this time and was very busy. Adam had suggested I take off 4 days of work to relax and go for a surprise trip to the beach. Like any girl I went shopping for new swimwear and beach apparel. Little did I know what Adam had up his sleeve.
To keep things secret the location of the engagement wouldn’t be divulged until our families were in route to the airport on June 15th. To keep the secret Adam even went shopping for beach clothes too. We always would plan a special dinner together on our birthdays. On June 15th for her birthday she got ready so quick, very unlike Lisa and I had to pretend I was tired so she would calm down and not let us get going too early.
We finally headed out to La Dolce Vita, a wine lounge in Petaluma. Adam had secretly rented the place out for the night for the special event. Sahar (the owner), had to “shoo people” away since it couldn’t have a giant “private party” sign if the surprise were to work.
When we both arrived the place was empty which wasn’t uncommon for early evening on a Wednesday. We proceeded to the bar and ordered a bottle of champagne. Without hesitation, because Adam’s nerves were out of control, he dropped to his knee to ask her to marry him. Lisa never even answered. She grabbed the ring and started asking if Adam was serious and not joking. Then she put it on her finger and couldn’t stop smiling. After calming down she said yes, and we toasted with champagne for a short time. She proceeded to call her entire family to let them know the big news. Little did she know; Adam had another surprise up his sleeve.
After about 20 mins Adam stated he had one more little gift. He instructed me to turn around and outside of the large glass windows was our entire family walking in with a few close friends. Surprise executed flawlessly!

• Beauty: Audrey Crandell
• Cake: Forget-Me-Not Cakes
• Coordinator: Westerbeke Ranch
• Dress Designer: Jenny Lee Bridal
• Hair: Structure Salon
• Stationery: Pink Tomato Press