• Real Weddings

This pretty wedding with churros and donuts is right up our alley! Justin and Jenny knew from the beginning of the planning process that they wanted a wedding that was authentically 'them.' As a couple, they love to keep things casual, but classic - tee-shirt and ripped jeans, please! And though it was tempting to fall into the trap of wanting to host the fanciest event of their lives, they agreed that they would rather have their day be a celebration of their love and new life together.

Their gorgeous wedding was filled with natural, romantic, and airy details in shades of light grey, blush pink, ivory, and touches of metallic, inspired by the natural and open beauty of the venue. See all the fun details we couldn't fit in the post in the full gallery, photographed by OneLove Photography.

Lengthy Engagements Definitely Have Some Benefits

Words from the bride: Overall, wedding planning was an exciting and rewarding process for us. Although it’s easy to get caught up in the tide of wedding trends and expensive details, I am so glad that we invested more in moments than aesthetics. We knew that our investment in quality photography and videography would mean so much more to us than passed hors d'oeuvres and calligraphy name cards. We were fortunate to have a lengthy time of engagement, which allowed us to do much of the legwork ourselves. At times, this proved frustrating; but, most of the times, we genuinely enjoyed spending time together to work on different crafts and DIY elements for the day-of. It also made it all the more rewarding to see our guests enjoying these elements we worked hard to create.

Trusty Ol' Google Can Be A Huge Help In Planning

Also, STAY ORGANIZED. I cannot stress this enough, especially if you are planning your own wedding. We kept a Google Drive Doc throughout our planning process to organize and plan EVERYTHING for the wedding. We created different tabs to track our guest list, vendor contracts, wedding day schedule, etc. Our organization paid off tenfold when we brought in our month-of coordinator to take over and made the handing-over process smooth and painless. Luckily, we didn't run into any major snafus on our big day. Getting ready in the morning did take longer than expected, so we had to rush our first look and pre-ceremony pictures. If I could go back, I would have allotted more time to get ready so that we could have taken more pictures with our family and bridal party.

DIY Your Butts Off And Trust In Your Vendor Team

We spent our weekends making 3' tall standing fringe LOVE letters and muslin favor bags to hold coffee beans, and sourcing crafted goods to decorate our ceremony and reception. Envisioning how to design and fill up the blank spaces of our venue proved overwhelming at times; fortunately, this is when our trust in our wonderful vendors bore fruit. Our florist absolutely nailed our vision of "simple and romantic." From the ceremony to the reception, our florist used the most perfect and romantic blooms in neutral blush and ivory tones and muted greenery. Eucalyptus garlands played a huge part in adorning our vintage ceremony dresser and our sweetheart table. Our reception tables were decorated with a mix of bud vases and table-length garlands and accented by candles.

Be Yourself! Make It Rain And Bask In The Love

We chose to recite personal vows and our officiant (a long-time friend) gave a very touching, personal, yet hilarious message to mark the beginning of our marriage. Undoubtedly, our whole day holds a special place in our hearts. I will also never forget the looks on our guests’ faces when Justin made it rain with a cash gun as part of our grand entrance; it was such a silly, fun, and “that is so Justin” moment. Basking in the love we felt as we sat down at our sweetheart table as a married couple made our hearts melt. And I have never danced as much as I did on our wedding night - our guests will attest that I never left the dance floor!

Avoid Black Holes But Say Yes To Donuts With Holes

I would love to tell couples that a few well-thought-out details go a long way! Don't get lost in the black holes of Pinterest and Etsy. No matter what your brain is telling you, your guests will not care that some cocktail napkins are stamped and others aren't (oops). Your wedding should represent YOU - everything else is just icing on the cake. We are also big foodies and we absolutely loved seeing our guests enjoy the treats we love most, which included a churro cart during our cocktail hour and assorted strawberry, blueberry, cinnamon sugar, hazelnut pistachio, and red velvet donuts in lieu of wedding cake. Donuts were paired with iced coffee (another favorite of ours), which we served with personalized cup sleeves and metallic striped straws.

Prioritize And Search For Budget Friendly Options

• Dress & Apparel: Pronovias
• Cakes & Catering: M Cakes Sweets
• Catering: Stonefire Grill
• Churro Cart: Salina's Churros
• Dress & Apparel: Valentino
• Event Planning & Design: Simply Sera Events
• Fashion: Mikaella Bridal
• Flowers: Belatulla Floral Studio
• Groom & His Men: J Crew
• Hair & Makeup: Studio mm&b
• Jewelry: Lauren B Jewelry
• Paper Goods & Calligraphy: Paperless Post
• Photo Booth: Cheesy Photobooths
• Rentals: Miscellanea Vintage
• Wedding Dresses: Kara Wedding
• Wedding Dresses: Watters
• Wedding Films: Joseph Andrew