• Real Weddings

Three and a half years after meeting at college under some peculiar circumstances, Jaron popped the question to Kaitlin. To create the rustic yet elegant wedding they envisioned this adorable couple enlisted the expertise of Alisa Lewis Event Design, who created a gorgeous event full of rust, ivory and green hues.
Read on to hear so much more from Kaitlin about their special day, especially their full budget breakdown as well as the story of how she and Jaron met. Visit the full gallery here to view more of this rustic backyard wedding, all beautifully captured by Ifong Chen Photography.

From the Bride:When I was trying to envision what I myself would look like on the wedding day, I had mixed feelings. All I knew is that I didn't want anything with sparkles or glitter. And I didn't want it to be strapless. As chance would have it, I was browsing online one night and came across a very simple Vera Wang Lavender gown with a sweetheart neckline and a low back on Nordstrom's website.

The day of the wedding I wore two delicate gold necklaces and had gold leaf pins in my hair. I wanted to incorporate some of my grandmother's jewelry, so I wore a beautiful pair of dangling opal earrings, and two of her rings: one a large emerald and one a simple gold band.

When Jaron and I began the wedding planning process, all I had in mind were the colors I wanted: rich shades of red and green with touches of dark brown and ivory. It was through talking with Alisa and lots of Pinterest interaction that the overall look of the wedding began coming together. We wanted to create an environment that was naturally rustic, with touches of vintage elegance.

Both the wedding ceremony and the reception took place at the private residence of a family member. White church pews, farm table benches and a collection of wood chairs from the Attic | A Vintage Rental Company gave the venue a vintage charm.

The dark wood of the Attic's farm tables provided the perfect base for the mossy green and gold centerpieces with dahlias adding pops of color. Keeping with the concept of an outdoor, nature themed, home wedding, we decided to give jars of clover honey as favors to our guests. It took four of us several hours, but we managed to jar and seal the jars, topping each with a custom sticker of the monogram I designed for our wedding invitations. The result was a relatively affordable favor that our guests all seemed to love!

The other truly beautiful detail was the napkins my sister Erin handmade. We picked out two fabrics in rusty shades, and she cut out 12 x 12 squares with pinking shears.

When I think back on our wedding day, I can't envision wanting anything to have gone differently. I'm a perfectionist, and yet that day everything seemed to flow smoothly, everything looked beautiful, family and friends were supportive and helpful, and Alisa Lewis helped make sure that every little piece was in place. It was truly a magical day! The only downfall (if I were to search for one) would be that, since the wedding was outdoors, the temperature dropped quite quickly once the sun went down. So if I had thought of having a cute cover-up of some kind, that may have been wise.

The day of the wedding I was so pleased with the way everything came together. All the details from the farm tables, to my bridesmaids' jewelry seemed to come together so much better than I could've hoped. It was a truly beautiful day!

Check out the wedding film from Moor Pictures below to get a closer look at this elegant vintage wedding!

https://vimeo.com/53769928

Here is the financial break down for our at home wedding:
Photography: $4,000
Event Rents: $708
Catering: $2200
Baker/Cake: $300
Videographer: $600
Dress + Alterations: $700
DJ: $1,000
Florist: $870
Favors: $250
Rehearsal Hall: $50
Yard work: $800
Total: $11,478
From the Bride on how they met:Jaron and I met near the end of my freshman year at the College of Idaho under a unique set of circumstances. I was in the process of moving two friends into a new dorm room when a group of five or so loud upperclassmen guys came crashing through the door. Giving no true explanation of what was going on, the tallest of the guys got down on one knee in front of me, grabbed my hand, and smiled as one of his friends took our picture. Needless to say I was more than a little confused and blushing profusely due to the over-abundance of male attention. The tall guy stood up and explained that it was his brother’s birthday and, in celebration, groups had been put together and set upon the unsuspecting campus with tasks (such as proposing to a complete stranger) to compete in a kind of overly involved scavenger hunt. He introduced himself as Jaron and, within a week’s time, we were on our first date, me apprehensive and him perfectly confident in our relationship’s future. I’ll risk being cliché and say, the rest was history.

It was three and a half years later, at the end of my senior year, that Jaron surprised me late at night in a friend’s apartment, surrounded by candlelight, by getting down on one knee and asking me to be his wife. I was so shocked at his success in catching me off-guard (I’m obnoxiously nosey) that I didn’t even have the wherewithal to cry. I just kept saying, “Ohmygod, ohmygod!” and smiled and stared at my ring in disbelief.

Our wedding day, September 2nd, 2012, was as beautiful and surreal as I always imagined it would be. I consider myself so incredibly blessed and cannot wait to see what life with bring the two of us. Having the incredible team of vendors that we did, (Alisa Lewis Event Design, the Attic, and Ifong Chen Photography especially!) made the entire planning process and day of an absolute dream, everything falling into place perfectly. I would recommend every single one of them to any bride in the process of planning her own special day.

• Bowties: Hugasponge
• Bridesmaid Jewelry: Poesy Ross
• Bride’s gold leaf hair pins: Nesting Pretty
• Cake: Erin Blackburn
• Caterer: Couple of Chefs Catering
• Chivari Chair Rentals: Event Rents
• Cinematography: Moor Pictures
• Coordinator,Favors, Table Floral Design & Lighting: Alisa Lewis Event Design
• DJ: AMP'D Entertainment
• Engagement Ring: Lori McLean
• Flowers: Fleurtations Floral
• Makeup: Shasta Hankins
• Photographer: Ifong Chen Photography
• Prop or Furniture Rentals: the Attic | A Vintage Rental Company
• Shoe Designer: Zalo
• Wedding bands: Ohm Home Lighting