Imagine you have the perfect location for the wedding of your dreams, but it would need a lot of work – I’m talking building a stage for the ceremony and all the seats, seating for dinner and finding a place for the catering staff to cook all the food. Well, Christine + Ian knew they wanted to get married in the woods and searched high and low for the perfect spot – campgrounds, state parks, etc but none seemed to be “the place.” It was then that they decided to ask Ian’s parents if they could hold the wedding at their house – it was the perfect location – but would need a lot of work to get it ready. Well, his parents said yes and they spent nearly every weekend for 5 months, and a full month before the wedding surveying, digging, hammering, cutting, sanding, cleaning and generally working themselves to the bone to make it happen. This wedding is truly a labor of love from Christine, Ian and their families. I think it might be the ultimate DIY wedding! Every element was handcrafted by them or family + friends and the day was filled with such love that was felt by everyone who came. Thanks so much to the crazy talented duo of Shelby + Stone from Stone Crandall Photography for the dreamy photos!
Their invites are AMAZE! Some of the most gorgeous invites I’ve seen. Christine + Ian made them and you can see more photos + learn how they made them here. Also check out their adorable Save the Dates!
From Christine + Ian, The flowers, while not initially our top priority, ended up being a highlight for the wedding decorations. The flowers were sourced from a wildflower farm, Indian Hills Organic Flower Farm, down the road. We got what looked best that morning and the maid of honor, Carol Srivongse (who also happens to be a professional event coordinator), created and placed the beautiful arrangements on site.
The creation and decoration of our wedding was a big undertaking, as everything needed to be made from scratch, by us and our family. Nearly all of the materials, decorations and various aesthetic details were sourced from our property and that of our neighbors. We amassed piles of birch stumps, branches and various odds-and-ends that were chopped, milled, sanded, laser-cut and used for decorations and signs. Fabric was dyed and cut into dozens of long streamers to be used as backdrops and entryways between the trees. And as for the big projects…
A recently fallen pine tree was used to create a log bench amphitheater to seat all 110 guests. The benches themselves (all 28 of them) were split and mounted using a custom rig and system invented by the groom’s father. The aging deck around our house was torn apart for lumber to build a terraced hillside for dining, as well as the stage on which we were married. A madrone tree was cut down and slabbed to create a gorgeous, six-inch-thick surface for the bar. Similarly, various scrap wood and logs were used to construct an elevated platform for the bride and groom to dine on.
I love how they posted the photos of the two of them throughout the years! Super cute.
Out of the many amazing moments of our wedding, one of my favorites was being able to walk down the aisle to my brother playing two of my favorite tunes on the ukelele. It was a combined rendition of “Transatlantique” and “Elephant Gun” by Beirut played on the ukelele by my brother, Peter Srivongse. (Recording) For the recessional, we played “Loin des Villes” by Yann Tiersen and timed it perfectly so that our kiss was exactly at the 1 minute and 26 second mark (my favorite part of the song).
Unsurprisingly, the most intense and memorable part of our wedding was our ceremony. Standing together in front of all our closest friends and family, on a stage we built ourselves, surrounded by trees in the woods where Ian grew up - it was overpowering and spectacular. A truly incredible moment. It was made all the better by having our closest friend, Tarla Hill, officiate our marriage. The speech she had prepared for us was personal, hilarious and heartfelt. We were so lucky to have her on stage with us.
Christine is wearing a super pretty Sarah Seven dress – perfect for the woodsy wedding!
Some of the many DIY projects they did included:
• Escort Cards: kraft shipping tags stamped with guest’s names and decorated with washi tape, backs were stamped with their table assignments (animal or vegetable) and their entree selection was on the bottom perforated section.
• Guestbook Table: made from an old door from the trailer the Ian grew up in, hand painted with primer, crackle and mint-colored paint.
• Fingerprint Guestbook: Christine drew the back of their car, a Mini Cooper Countryman, on poster paper and put it in a frame from Ikea. Guests stamped their thumbs and wrote their first name next to their thumbprints.
• Seating Card Clothespins: clothespins were stamped with each person’s name
• Coasters: slices of birch were sanded and their C/I logo was lasercut onto them
For the food, we sat down and made a quick list of all the dishes we love and our caterer, Antonio Ayestaran Catering, created a delicious menu that incorporated all our favorites. We served: Sea-bass with avocado buerre blanc along with mussels and clams in a cream sauce; BBQ brisket sandwiches and pork ribs; Korean skirt-steak tacos with a Thai chicken larb salad; portabella mushroom filled with grilled vegetables and topped with a puff-pastry. Our desserts, along with our red-velvet wedding cake with cream cheese filling, were Korean rice-cakes and chocolate chip cookies. Our cake was decorated with a fleur de lys pattern on the top tier and dusty miller leaves on the second tier.
We spent a lot of time deciding how to serve the food, and came up with a system we really liked. Our guests chose their food in advance, and were given a tear-off token (on their escort card) to hand to the corresponding food station (a la food trucks). The stations were actually the windows to the house’s basement, which had been converted into a kitchen for the event. Each table had trays of fingerling potatoes and grilled vegetables as sides. The most important drink for us was the beer and we didn’t hold back. A full keg of our favorite beer – Mammoth Brewery’s 395 IPA as well as an assortment of other Northern California beers. We also served wine from a local wine merchant (B.Y.O.B Wine Seller). For non-alcoholic refreshments we had self-serve Arnold Palmer and lemonade.
The lighting was also a huge part of the ambiance. The groom’s father, an electrician, wired the dancing and reception areas with beautiful rows of overhead lighting. Some said the wedding was even more stunning at night!
Avoid traditions that you wouldn’t do if nobody was telling you to do them. Make it your own day by putting as much of yourselves into it as you can, and not just accepting the defaults. That’s how we made our day so special and memorable – for us and our guests. Embrace your family and friends’ help and support. You wont be able to pull it off without them.
We chose the wonderful and talented Stone and Shelby Crandall for their ability to capture the true emotion of a scene. Their photography style is much more photojournalistic than posed/studio, which leads to breathtaking shots of the little details and epic shots of the significant moments. We ended up spending hours looking at their portfolio site, enthralled by the variety and creativity found in each wedding they photographed.
WOW! What an amazing wedding. I’m still speechless over the ceremony location and the fact they built all the benches! Congrats to Christine + Ian for creating a totally unique and totally “you” wedding! We wish you both the best. Also, they are opening a store on esty (wood and grain) where they will be selling some of the handmade creations from the wedding and will hand make custom items for those of you that are interested. Great idea! And they also have a pretty great wedding website if you like to check that out that also has a gallery of their engagement photos they took themselves - christineandian.com
vendors
photographer: Stone Crandall Photography // hair + makeup: All Dolled Up Hair & Makeup // day-of-coordinator: Carol Srivongse (MOH) // venue: Ian’s parent’s home in Nevada City, CA // catering: Antonio Ayestaran Catering // floral design: Carol Srivongse (MOH) // cookies: Basic Cookies // cake: The Cake Artist // invitations + paper goods: Christine and Ian (Invitations and Save The Dates) // bride’s dress + flower belt: Sarah Seven // bride’s shoes: Chocolate Blu // bride’s accessories: Edor // bride’s beaded belt: hadmade by Carol Srivongse (MOH) // groom’s suit: JCrew // groom + groomsmen tie: handmade by Christine // groom’s tie clip: Urban Outfitters // groom’s shoes: JD Fisk // groom’s bow tie: Xoelle // bridesmaid’s dress: JCrew // bridesmaid’s shoes: Seychelles // bridesmaid’s necklace: Edor // groomsmen pants + shoes: H&M // groomsmen tie clips: Urban Outfitters
I was so anxious to see the wedding that went with those amazing invites! I love the sweetheart table, and the food looks amazing! Congrats to the couple!
The key to a relaxed wedding: Simple is beautiful!
Lovely wedding. Fab details; love the framed photographs on trees and the use of old suitcases. One of the best invites I’ve seen. Congrats on our marriage.
The trees alone would have made for a gorgeous wedding, but they added so many beautiful, woodsy details! Love the pretty invites and the photo timeline!
Stellar wedding. LOVE their invitations and the place cards wrapped around the trees. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!
The wildflower arrangements, the massive tree trunk landscape, the expertly crafted DIY paper elements, the FOOD, the totally adorable Walk our Story in the trees – I’m floored. Amazing work by everyone and congrats to the super talented and handsome couple. What a day…
Wow, that looks like such a fun wedding and gorgeous pics! I especially love the streamers and the invitations!
This wedding is enchanting. Wow. The photography is impeccable and so special!
These pictures are awesome. If I was rich I would have Stone and Shelby follow me around and take pictures of my life. Everyone would think I was awesome.
Gorgeous wedding! It really looks like such a fairytale and dream. The photography by Stone Crandall Photography really captured the beauty of the surroundings and people! Love!
I could look at these photos forever. The wedding looks like a dream come true, and they are so blessed to have had a photographer who could capture that dream day for them photographically. They will enjoy looking back on their special day forever!
Love all the details and the head table is great:-) All the typography has great style! It all just looks amazing!! Great work!
the invites are too cute! gorgeous photography and venue as well!
This is seriously the best DIY wedding I’ve seen so far! And the dedication that went into it, from building the ceremony set to the favors to the reception. Definitely unique & admirable to say the least! :)
I really love those pictures on the trees! What a great way to separate the years of their relationship!
What a sweet couple !! Their dedication to making the wedding day so special, will carry over to an amazing life together ! The images of this wedding are stunning and bring the viewer right to the event, with all of it’s emotion.
I LOVE this wedding!!! Thank you for sharing!! I love when people use natural beauty to make their wedding day specail – what a fun creative couple! They look so sweet too just love it!
I love just letting nature be the setting, this is GORGEOUS. The towering trees above the ceremony is just awesome. I love the invitations and the tree bark aisle. So cool and I see the trend continues with men dressing down and not perfectly matched. And I love it!
I just LOVE this wedding, I love everything about it….i want to get married again, so I cna get married in the woods!
Wow, the stationary is amazing and the color combo is very cool!
I like retro photo effect. Scenery is quite romantic but it seams that proper weather forecast is a must for this kind of activity :)
holy cow. props to them for having the wedding of their dreams. the wedding of my dreams! i love everything about this. beautiful :)
This is seriously one of the most amazing weddings and locations I’ve ever seen! Amazing work, way to go and congrats!
Amazing wedding! Even if it were just that gorgeous couple in those woods it would have been breathtaking!
These photos are seriously the most epic photos I’ve ever seen. So well framed. Wow, thank for sharing.
Thank you all so very much for your kind words, and Jen for the wonderful feature. We are so thrilled to see Christine and Ian’s wedding up here and their story told … it certainly is a pretty special one. The both of them poured their hearts and souls into this wedding and it was a true privilege just to be a part of it.
Oh how I love the invites. Could someone tell me who made them? Please oh please :) Thank you!
We could find again all the love and time you had to put in to make this day a fairy-tale. What a wonderful photo recording.
Your Dutch relatives, Thom and Marijke
I love that this is in the woods! And the invites are stunning.
the wedding was so well done. i absolutely LOVE IT!! thank you for sharing!
I am so in love with every aspect of this wedding! Must. Emulate.
I absolutely love every detail of this wedding! So incredibly beautiful!
Only appropo to play Loin des Villes while I scrolled through.
Secluded & intimate whisped through delightful.
A treasure.
The invite, the BBQ, the details. This wedding just screams amazing!
I am so curious: what was the back-up plan in case of Mother Nature getting all weepy with sentiment? It seems so predicated on good weather, I can’t help but wonder if their family had two different weddings planned…?
great texture for the photos. amazing wedding! Woods bring out the real mood!
Cheers!
loveflickrs.com
Beautiful wedding. Love the invitations. Good Job!
The couple table is very interesting in the way its lay out (up above everyone else). The details are very thoughtful and I love the vintage tone.
You’ve really imsrseped me with that answer!
AMazing ideas here, sweetheart table is a brilliant idea and the fingerprint guestbook is a really sweet touch :)
What a great location to have a wedding, very awesome!
I love this wedding in the woods! awesome details, I love where the bride and groom sat and the “red” and “white” signs for the wine, and I especially love the fingerprint guestbook.
Well photographed!
Wow over the top fabulous. Read your feature story on Etsy and couldn’t wait to see the wedding photos!
This is a beautiful wedding, I was in awe once I saw this page. This is the most creative wedding idea I have ever seen, congratulations !
I know this is a private residence, but does anyone know if they might be willing to rent it out for weddings???
Bravo.
Way to stay true and grounded.
Now, where did you say those flowers came from? Seemed to be minimally stressed, and brilliantly landed.
It all truly turned out very beautiful.
I absolutely love this wedding! I especially love the ribbon wall backdrop for the ceremony. Can anyone tell me what type of ribbon was used?? Thanks!
Amazing wedding venue!!! it looks like heaven.
Love the bird seed idea!
Beautifully captured wedding!!
This is so beautiful and exactly the kind of wedding I am looking for. Would they be willing to went it out for a wedding?
This is a beautiful wedding and area! Does anyone know the name of the venue? My cousin is planning a woodsy wedding later this year and this is so perfect!
Does anyone know the link for how to make invitations like this? The link in the post wont work for me :(