• Real Weddings

Our next bride knew that some day she would find mister right, and when she did it would be like hopping onto a runaway train straight to the altar. Guess what, she was right! After a whirl wind of just under a year of dating and wedding planning she found herself waking up on her wedding day. And what a spectacular day it was, filled with family and friends from all over, and lot and lots of ice cream. So what sort of advice does this fast-paced bride have to offer? Slow down, take a minute to take in all that you have worked so hard on, and make memories that will last a life time; Because you can't rush love, but you can guarantee that your wedding day will zip right past.
Are you in love with the can't rush love wedding? So are we, be sure to stroll on over to the full gallery here to see all of the stunning details captured by Jon Duenas Photography. Also, we advise reading on to hear all the detailed advice along with the scoop of this wedding's budget...

From the Bride:I always knew that when I met the man I was going to marry, things would go very quickly. I met Saul at the end of the summer in 2012. At the time, I was living in Taiwan, and he was just passing through for a month. I wouldn’t say I ever believed in love at first sight, but this was pretty close to it. In December, he came back through for another month, and we began dating. The majority of our relationship was long distance. I moved back to Oregon in January, but he was still traveling abroad doing nonprofit and missions work. During Easter weekend he came to visit my family, and me, and that is when he asked my dad for his blessing to marry me. Two weeks later, we were engaged. Then came four quick months of wedding planning.

I knew I wanted my wedding to be outside and that I wanted the surroundings be what I built everything else off of. I ended up choosing this cute little ranch outside of the city called, Ranch on Beaver Creek. It was beautiful! Trees all around, beautiful lighting everywhere for the evening, and a creek that ran along both the ceremony and the reception areas.

Now, I am not a detail person and so all of the details were like a looming cloud above my head. Nowadays there are just so many options! There are blogs, websites, magazines, and Pinterest! I found that Pinterest is both a blessing and a curse. What I had to do was learn how to reign it in and not wait until list minute to start putting it all together. 

I probably would have been just a tad bit more demanding towards details that I really wanted. My family and bridesmaids came from all over the world, and they did a lot of the grunt work, so I wanted to be a really laid back bride who didn't stress out her loved ones. In the end there were pictures that I really wanted but didn't have the heart to keep nagging about. I regret that.

I also wish we would have done pictures beforehand like my photographer had suggested. But I wanted to be old school and didn't want my husband to see me until I walked down the isle. Maybe I would have been a bit more demanding on what I wanted from my photographer if I had those couple extra hours before the wedding for photos. As a bride on your wedding day, things go by SO fast. I can assure you, you wont remember all the details and you wont get to say hi to every guest there. Pictures helped me experience my wedding in a different way.

I knew I wanted my wedding to be romantic and whimsical. I wanted a beautiful landscape, lots of flowers, and lights… everywhere! We had Katie Davis, from Ponderosa and Thyme do our bridal party flowers, and we did the table settings ourselves. In retrospect, I wish I would have had her do it all because she was perfect. She has this uncanny ability to know exactly what you want, even if you aren’t able to put your ideas into words. Her goal is to create an atmosphere of beauty in every wedding or event she is a part of. She does just that! I cannot say enough about her!

One of my favorite parts of the reception was dessert! Because it was during one of the hottest times of the summer, we decided to have ice cream. I wanted to have all types of toppings like in a frozen yogurt store, but I wanted to make sure it didn’t look like a cheap thrown together potluck table. We ended up getting this amazing ice cream cart from The Dairy Maids of Oregon that blew my expectations out of the water! It looked like a cute antique white barn style cart and it served three types of soft serve ice cream. It was such a hit!

Budget:
Wedding dress and shoes: 1,400
Hair: 100
Dessert: 190
Food: 1,980
Drinks: 1,700
Venue: 2,350
Decorations: 2,460
Party Favors: 300
Sparklers: 82
Photography: around 4,000
Florist (for wedding party flowers): 857
Flowers for decorations: 203
Videographer: 500

• Flowers: Ponderosa and Thyme
• Food: Love Love Teriyaki
• Hair: Salon 554
• Jewelry: NADRI (earrings)
• Photographer: Jon Duenas Photography
• Rentals: Danner & Soli
• Table Accessories: For the Love of Pete Floral Artistry and Catering
• Venue: Ranch on Beaver Creek