I just adore everything about this wedding! You can really tell that Briana + Tom’s friends and family care so much about them and loved helping out however they could to help them throw their perfect wedding. Thanks so much to Priscila Valentina for letting me share her gorgeous photos with you guys today!

From Briana, “Most of the inspiration for the day came from my love for succulents and the beauty of the church that we were married in. The church was built in the late 1920s and is in the middle of a very small and quaint neighborhood. The brick walls, stained glass windows, and the giant tree in the courtyard are some of the simple beauties that we highlighted. The bridesmaids dresses mirrored the wine color found throughout the church (in the stained-glass windows, carpet, and church decor). We  made almost every decision together.

We both knew we wanted to get married in our church and write our own vows, most of the other decisions took some time to work out. We are both artists and love creating, but we were also tight on time and money. So we came up with the ideas and most of our friends + family offered their talents and time to help make things happen. Although the process of planning was time consuming and difficult at times, our wedding was absolutely amazing, so fun and so full of love.”

Love the girls’ tights!! And of course, boys will be boys…

Love how they did their first look!

I walked down the aisle to a covered and altered live version of the song “hoppipolla” by Sigur Ros, played by Tiger Tank Euphoria.

We kept it pretty simple, lots of hanging lights, some paper lanterns and some tulle. The centerpieces were different size glass containers with succulents planted inside, which at the end of the night were given away for a small donation to the bride and groom. I had started a succulent garden at my mother-in-law’s house about 3 months before the wedding and asked everyone I knew to donate clippings that I could grow, and by the time we planted them in the centerpieces we had more than enough.

Another inspirational aspect of the wedding was the amount of help and generosity of our family and friends; it was the people who were involved that made our wedding so beautiful. All the music (ceremony and reception) was played live by our friends who are amazing musicians and we had a wonderful jazz session during the reception. My bridesmaids and my husband’s aunt helped me immensely with creating all the floral arrangements and decorations. My maid-of-honor took the reins in decorating our tandem bike which we road off on at the end of the night. The day before the wedding all of our family and bridal party worked an 8 hour day to completely set up the church and reception hall, everything was done from hanging lights, setting up tables and chairs, getting the PA ready, to folding each napkin perfectly. Our friends and family also ran the wedding and reception! We had friends making food, serving food, and at the end of the long day and night it was our family and friends who had to clean up. There is nothing more touching than when the love of others is so obviously and freely given.

Vendors
Photography: Priscila Valentina //  Venue: All Saints Church (Long Beach, CA)
Hair and Makeup: Viktoria Erickson at JN Couture Salon  //  Shoes: Found at a second hand store.
Hairpieces: The veil was borrowed and the hairpiece was handmade by the bride.
Groom Attire: jacket: h&m; vest: express; undershirt + ascot: umbertos; pants: nordstrom; shoes: bedstu
Floral Design: Bride, Briana Maxson //  Invitation: Hailey Sivadge and Groom
Cake: Pastries by Jacquelynn  //  Music: Tiger Tank Euphoria, and some friends
Catering: Kpasta (Long Beach, CA)  //  Wedding Dress: Davids Bridal

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