This Bride Wore Her Mother’s Gown at her Dramatic Jewel-Tone Wedding

Dramatic jewel-toned wedding for $100k

Omgeeee! There is a lot going for this dramatic jewel-toned wedding, so we hope you’re ready to take it all in! Vanessa and Sam Segovia opted to have their wedding at a historic and abandoned train station in Oakland, California. The theme of their day, “til death do us part” came together with rich jewel-tones, dramatic lighting, and lots of DIY details. Because they had to bring in damn near EVERYTHING to their venue, their $100k was beyond memorable from beginning to end.

There’s no sweeter sentiment than wearing your mothers vintage wedding dress, and hers looked absolutely flawless! The sparkly emerald bridesmaid dresses are also on our radar, along with the groom's velvet emerald suit jacket and skull boutonniere. As if that wasn't enough, there is still PLENTY more to see below, including the brides budget breakdown, and wedding film! So keep scrolling, and be sure to visit the full gallery captured by Abi Quisenberry after.

This bride wore her mothers dress

Bridesmaid dresses in emerald green Handpainted jacket for the bride

Bride and her maids

Skull boutonniere

Groom shoes Emerald green groom jacket

She wore her mothers dress Lace bridal heels

in Her mother's dress

My dress was vintage 1970, my mothers at her wedding to my father, handmade by my grandmother’s friends (A Swiss ladies sewing club) then remade by hand by a seamstress in our hometown. My headpiece included two skulls, a bat skull and a rat skull found at Paxton Gate in San Francisco.

Dramatic vintage lace gown and veil

Dramatic bridal veil Traditional Catholic ceremony Just married!

Cemetery portrait session

Pictures in the cemetery

After the ceremony, the bride and groom rushed out to the Cemetery behind the church for their first married photos amongst headstones and mausoleums, then made a grand exit from the church to friends and family waiting with bubble wands and cheers. We took buses to the reception venue over the Bay Bridge, popping bottles of champagne and celebrating all the way there.

Dramatic "til death do us part" wedding

Bold bride and groom looks Jewel tone bouquet

Skull and flower hair accessory for the bride

Sparkly emerald green bridesmaid dresses Jewel tone lorals and emerald green dresses

Emerald sparkle bridesmaid dress

Groomsmen in all black

last minute Life-size guestbook

Just before our wedding, there was a string of warehouse fires, the city of Oakland began cracking down on venue safety. Our venue was clearly not up to code, being a run down abandoned train station. Just before the wedding, the city began erecting scaffolding around the venue. Our plan was to take all of our photos above the building on the elevated train tracks, however, the day before the wedding we received word that the stairs to the train tracks were now boarded up with plywood, not only restricting access to the tracks but creating a huge eyesore. Instead of feeling discouraged the groom bought tons of spray paint and grease paint markers from a graffiti store the day before the wedding and we made the plywood our life-size guestbook.

Plywood wall guestbook

DIY Match box place cards

Bar menu "pick your poison"

custom cocktails and DIY elements

Our specialty cocktail menu was created by Sazerac Jack of the NoMad Bar in NYC, named 3rd best bar in the world and best bar in Northern America. Reception décor included custom guitar pics, menus and thank you cards created by the bride (also attached for additional information/history regarding the reception venue) Other décor included several ornate skulls from bride and grooms home which were displayed on the head table. Table numbers (prayer candles with table numbers on them) were handmade by the bride. Place cards were matchboxes with Loteria cards and guest’s names & table numbers, 250 pieces, all handmade by the bride.

Dramatic reception space at an abandoned train station Catholic candle table number idea

Skull centerpiece

Skull centerpiece Candle lit head table

Dramatic reception tables Cactus centerpiece with florals

Black wedding cake with pink and red florals

good food and fun

Our wedding was the final event at this historic station, which was shut down 4 days later for good. Our passed apps and reception dinner included mini donut burger, sweet & spicy popcorn, salmon cupcakes. Main courses included double cheeseburger and hand-cut fries, fried chicken and garlic mashed potatoes, grilled cheese and cream of tomato soup. Late night food: Mini Corn Dogs, Fried chicken-n- waffle, DIY Cotton Candy.

Wedding cup cakes Cotton candy station

Gothic train station wedding in jewel tones

She wore her mothers wedding dress First dance under twinkle lights

"Til death do us part" painted jacket

Get a closer look at this "til death do us part" wedding by watching the fabulous film created by Linda Liu below.

https://youtu.be/FCw_HS0Z9VM

Budget Breakdown

From the bride: We ended up spending just under $100k. Without digging up all the specific invoice emails I can give you my best estimates:

Venue Rental: $1600 (it was an empty shell so we had to bring everything in)
Lighting & Power: $8,000
Photography: $6500
Floral: $6600
Catering: $35,000
Toilets (like I said, we had to bring EVERYTHING in)
Shuttles: $3,500
Rentals: $5,000
Church: $1,000
Cake: Free, gift from a friend
Dress: Free, wore my mothers, however, had it completely remade and alterations cost about $800.
Photo Booth: $800
Makeup: Bridesmaids paid for themselves, $80 per. Mine was $120.
Hair: Bridesmaids used Blow Dry Bar for $45 per. Mine was done by my stylist for $170 with color and style, updo and redo halfway through the wedding
DJ: Done by a friend, $300

The remainder was odds and ends like table decor, place cards, welcome bags, etc. We DIYed almost everything so it cost less but took A TON OF TIME. I made all 250 place cards (matchboxes decorated with Loteria cards, glitter, rhinestones, names, and tables) table numbers, (Mexican prayer candles with hand-painted numbers on them) table decor, (guitar picks with our names and date with skulls) etc.

View All Images