Community Minded Alternative Wedding

mark brooke photography

Destiny struck early when Nick and Anastajia first met in high school. Both of them were interested in the arts as well as bettering their community, these feelings matured and grew along with their love during 10 years of dating.
Now as two adults ready to kick off their life together, they decided to throw a killer alternative wedding bash that would also give back. This lead them to choosing vendors such as The Riverside Art Museum, Elaborate Floral Designs and Bon Appetit for their missions in helping their community. Want to learn how to keep things local in your wedding? Keep reading for some great tips from the bride and visit the full gallery here to see all the beautiful details captured by Mark Brooke Photography.

getting wedding ready

wedding jewelry

pink and cream bridesmaids look

large protea bouquet

From the Bride:This wedding was a long time coming, as Nick and I are high school sweethearts and have been dating for over 10 years. It seems so long ago now, but I remember seeing him in the crowd of kids rushing to class all those years ago. He had leopard spots in his hair and was the drummer to the local band Overran (they we're sort of a big deal).

He still tells me how the first time he saw me he told his friends, 'I'm going to marry that girl." And he did. All these years later.

hip groomsman ideas

mark brooke first look

It was super important to both of us that our big day reflected our years together. This is why our wedding was much more of a party than a 'traditional' wedding affair. We of course wanted to include traditional wedding aspects, but present them in a fun and modern way that both our friends and our oldest family members would enjoy. We were on a budget and really got creative with our wedding planning.What better way to shake up a traditional wedding affair then by having Elvis pronounce you Man and Wife! He's not just in Vegas theses days.

elvis officiant

formal wedding at the riverside art museum

formal art museum wedding

the riverside art museum

From the beginning, it was super important to Nick and I that we used this event as an opportunity to support our local community. The venue started it all - The Riverside Art Museum was everything we we're looking for but we were most excited about the venue because every penny we paid to rent the space goes right back to support the museum and it's art outreach programs.

We are both graphic designers and I think that definitely showed through all of our planning and design decisions. I created all of the paper elements, from the save the dates to the programs and the menus, and planned the entire event myself. It was a labor of love and a TOTAL blast! We were so lucky to have such amazing artists and vendors in our local community that were able to make the day a true success!

gold silhouette thank you table

wedding thank you card

Fun Wedding Guest Book:
1. Pick a postcard
2. Grab a pen
3. Leave the bride and groom advice, memories or well wishes
4. Put it in the white box

vintage postcards for advice and well wishes

walking to the venue

Our florist Cheryl from Elaborate Floral Designs buys her flowers from local vendors and, with the help of Bon Appetit, makes sure the flowers never get thrown away but donated locally instead.

peach and gold wedding ideas

gold chevron table runner

Our caterer Bon Appetit, who operates through my alma mater the University of Redlands, works to support local farms with their food sourcing and strives only to use sustainable sources for multiple aspects of their business. Even better, all the food left over from the event went to local homeless shelters. The lovely desserts at the cake table were created by Sugarbird Desserts which promises mouth watering treats "with clean lines and simple accents."

dessert table

eco-friendly dessert table

We were especially thrilled to introduce our guests to a new local business A La Minute Hand Crafted Ice Cream, whose commitment to supporting local allows them to support multiple local businesses and farms as well. More than 80% of their ingredients are locally sourced and they truly hand craft the most delicious ice cream we've ever had.

ice cream bar at wedding

eating cake

It was so much fun to celebrate such a big moment in our lives with all the people who have been apart of our relationship these past 10 years. We we're blown away by the love and support we we're showered with that day and are so happy we we're able to show our closest friends and family a good time. My only advice for all you brides and grooms out there - don't forget to have FUN!!

live band