Today’s wedding is super cute – a bit quirky – and most of all, perfectly resembles this fun couple. :) Heather owns a local LA dessert company The Scootabaker (and made the gorgeous cakes for the reception!), and Michael is a musician (he’s toured with The Wallflowers, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, and is currently on the road with Gogol Bordello). They had a private, intimate elopement in a secret location and then invited friends + family to a reception at their favorite Mexican restaurant. Mexico City in Los Feliz, California. Another amazing detail to note – they did the whole wedding for around $6000, with the help of their friends. Amazing!

Michael and I celebrated our 11th anniversary of the day we met on 11/11/11. And on October 1, 2011, we had a private ceremony of the two of us under a fallen tree in the hidden Franklin Canyons of Los Angeles. My best friend Gina officiated and Steph Fowler was our stellar photographer. We chose to have our celebration dinner with our closest friends and family that evening at our favorite Mexican Restaurant, Mexico City in Los Feliz. We wanted to fill everyone with good food and drink and have them be merry with us all night long with zero expectations of partaking in conventional wedding formalities.

Why did you choose to elope?
It’s a funny thing because it didn’t occur to us that we were actually planning an elopement. We still wanted to include our family and friends in our celebration dinner reception. Initially we were in the process of planning a small wedding and as is so common, the guest count kept growing. It was no longer that “small wedding” we talked about and we were becoming very anxiety ridden by it all. We just wanted to get back to the real reason we were getting married, to be together for always and ever, just the two of us. It had to start that way with a wedding that belonged to just the two of us.

I love Mod culture and design and since we were celebrating in a Mexican Restaurant I wanted to go with a theme of Mexican Mod. The colors, patterns, and arrangements at our reception were symbolic of the couple that we are - colorful, passionate, and modern. I made all four of my wedding cakes and sewed all the table runners. And being a creative type I’m really big into supporting local artisans, so I commissioned all my girlfriends with companies of their own to contribute custom work to our wedding such as stationary + artwork, wedding favors + cake topper, airplant terrarium centerpieces, and a bouquet + floral arrangements. All in all our wedding was an affordable $6,000! We saved the rest of our wedding funds to use on taking many little honeymoons over the next year!

photography: Steph Fowler Photography // ceremony venue: Franklin Canyon, Los Angeles // reception venue: Mexico City Restaurant, Los Angeles // paper goods: Pink Butter Creative // wedding favors + silhouette heads cake toppers: Plastique*  // florals, succulents, vintage vase rentals, bouquet + boutonniere : Primary Petals // terrariums: Twig and Twine // ceremony dress: Vera Wang // cake cutting dress: Forever 21 // veil, feather hair bow: Tessa Kim, Vie Moderne // bride’s shoes: Vivienne Westwood // hair: Calista Sanderson of Andy LeCompte Studio // groom’s suit: Tom Ford // cakes: The Scootabaker Desserts (The bride’s company) // linen: La Tavola // officiant: Bride’s best friend, Gina Buletta

Attention Chicago brides + grooms! The Wedding Salon is offering a giveaway of 10 tickets to their luxury bridal event on June 4th from  4-8 PM at the Sax Chicago featuring dream giveaways including fantasy honeymoons to Mexico, bridal accessories, engagement photo sessions + more!

Meet with the top names in weddings to help you find your vendors for your big day! Enjoy Cake Tastings, Beauty Makeovers by Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani & Kiehl’s from Saks Fifth Avenue Chicago, Couture Gowns, Cocktails and Fantasy Table Décor!  Score a VIP Gift bag with treats for your big day including goodies by Frederic Fekkai, makeup, nail polishes and more.

The Wedding Salon in Chicago
Monday, June 4, 2012, 4-8 PM
Sax Chicago
Tickets are $50 (admits the bride with a guest)

To enter to win tickets, email GreenWed@WeddingSalon.com with your wedding date and address. The Wedding Salon will email the lucky winners!

The Wedding Salon events inspire couples to find the best resources & trends for your wedding.  Countless luxury wedding vendors will be available to help you plan your big day. Our unique events are produced like a million dollar wedding and attract the highest caliber talent in the industry. Discover the latest trends in Photography, Invitations, Honeymoons, Signature Cocktails, Photobooths, Couture Gowns, Décor Themes & more. Enjoy Beauty Makeovers, Cocktails, Gift Bags and so much more at this one day event.

I’m head over heels in love with the gorgeous photos from this styled shoot captured by Jodi Miller Photography and styled by Amber + Emily of Amber Karson Events. Love the mix of ferns, terrariums, succulents and tulle used in a super traditional space. Super romantic don’t you think?

How stunning are all these cakes by Charm City Cakes! Love them.

Fun super 8mm film put together of the day by Brad Bennett of Shaking Hands Productions.

Be sure to also check out the photos from Adam Barnes Fine Art Photography over on Wedding Chicks! So fun to see how different photographers capture the same event. :)

photography: Jodi Miller Photography // event designer:  Amber Karson + Emily Butler of Amber Karson Events // venue:  Parks House // florals:  Morgan Walker of Petals and Hedges // floor terrarium: Ginko Gardens // hair + makeup:  Emily Garbee of Body Works Salon & Spa // bridal gown + accessories:  Carine’s Bridal Atelier (dress designers were Rivini & Liancarlo) // additional hair pieces:  Lo Boheme // gown stylist:  Gabrielle Lehimdijian of GL Styling // cakes: Charm City Cakes // cinematography:  Brad Bennett of Shaking Hands Productions // rental items: Party Rental, LTD // calligraphy:  Arney Walker Calligraphy // garters:  The Garter Girl // ribbon: Midori Inc. // monogrammed plates: Preppy Plates // models:  Bre Chang and Sara & Todd Ernst

How gorgeous + intimate was Star + Duncan’s ceremony in the woods!? And now for their super fun backyard reception!

A bit about the design inspiration from Star: I had fallen in love with Heather of Events by Heather Ham and Susan with Peony & Plum‘s work so I knew I didn’t want to have anyone else be a part of my wedding day. When I met with Susan it went kinda like this – “You’re the artist!  I just want something colorful and eclectic!”, and as you can see she completely knocked it out of the park!  Heather was fantastic as always.  She calmed my nerves, kept the ball rolling but most of all made everything look better then I could have imagined. 

Totally loving this beer + wine display!

And how cute is their Sweets Table!? Love.

Congrats to Star + Duncan and thanks for letting us share your sweet day!

photography: Picotte Weddings // florist + styling: Peony & Plum // wedding coordinator: Events by Heather Ham // hair + makeup: Fiore Beauty // venue: Private Residence // furniture: Collected from Friends and Family // mini pies + desserts: Homemade by the Bride & Bridesmaids // printables, garlands, signage & crochet hearts: Handmade by the Bride // chocolate mustaches: The Frosted Petticoat // bride’s dress: BHLDN // bride’s shoes: Seychelles // taco cart: Friend of the Family // ceremony music + first dance:  A friend, Kyle Logan // groom’s shoes: Flea Market Find // groom’s jacket, jeans + shirt: H&M, Levi’s & Urban Outfitters

Today’s wedding is full of so many sweet handcrafted details and a fun, eclectric color palette. I’m totally in love with their style + sweet ceremony in the woods. I think Star explains it best, so I’ll let her talk about her day! :)

The moment we got engaged we knew we wanted a small wedding. However, that was going to be challenging for us as we both have such large families! We decided to meet in the middle with a private ceremony in the  Los Angeles National forest with our immediate family and closest friends and then we would continue the celebration at my grandparents house with a larger reception. Both of us are artistic and knew we wanted to do a lot of the details ourselves. I started crocheting tiny hearts and making fabric flowers. At the time I had no idea what I was going to do with them but I knew they would be great for something! We spent many weekends at flea markets gathering vintage doilies that we could stamp for our private ceremony invites. There were many label stamping, utensil tying, pie baking and streamer making parties. A lot of the fun was having our friends and family come together to help create everything. Fortunately for us, our family is extremely eclectic and has collected some awesome furniture, stoves, bathtubs and small knick-knacks. We didn’t need to rent anything! Remember those crocheted hearts I was talking about? We used them for the family boutonnieres and as streamers along with doilies and twine. I spent a day hunting for old frames that my dad later converted into chalk board signs and one of my bridesmaids did all the calligraphy. She’s crazy talented!  We really didn’t have any color scheme or over all plan, we just made things we loved and hoped for the best!

Star + Duncan are photographers, so photography was super important to them and they knew they wanted to have Picotte Weddings photograph their wedding.  From Star, “Suthi’s work is beautiful, timeless and just plain awesome!!” I couldn’t agree more! Thanks so much Suthi for letting me share your gorgeous photos today!

Since the ceremony location was a surprise, the guests were shuttled in a baby blue vintage school bus. They all gathered under the oak trees for a short + intimate ceremony. Star walked down the aisle to their friend playing Rose of My Heart by Johnny Cash.

When the ceremony was over, they exited to their friend’s rendition of Big Rock Candy Mountain. Then all the guests piled in the bus and went to the reception where they joined the rest of their friends + family for a wonderful Mexican feast and danced the night away. Stay tuned for part two with their reception + lots of sweet crafted details! :)

photography: Picotte Weddings // florist + styling: Peony & Plum // wedding coordinator: Events by Heather Ham // hair + makeup: Fiore Beauty // venue: Private Residence // furniture: Collected from Friends and Family // mini pies + desserts: Homemade by the Bride & Bridesmaids // printables, garlands, signage & crochet hearts: Handmade by the Bride // chocolate mustaches: The Frosted Petticoat // bride’s dress: BHLDN // bride’s shoes: Seychelles // taco cart: Friend of the Family // ceremony music + first dance:  A friend, Kyle Logan // groom’s shoes: Flea Market Find // groom’s jacket, jeans + shirt: H&M, Levi’s & Urban Outfitters //

Caitlin + Steve have been together for 8 years, so it was really important to them that their day really represented who they are, both together and as individuals. The most important things to them are their families + friends and they really wanted them to be super involved. I love that their day was relaxed with bright colors + fun details. Caitlin is an art teacher and her mother is an artist, so of course there are lots of great DIY details – including the super fun pinwheel arch they were married underneath. I also LOVE that she surprised Steve with a flashmob at the reception! So fun. :) Thanks so much to Louisa Bailey for the gorgeous photos!

Being from different religious backgrounds, Caitlin + Steve worked with their officiant to create a really meaningful ceremony which included elements from both a Jewish and Catholic service. From Caitlin, “We included a modern interpretation of the 7 blessings as readings, which we adjusted ourselves and had seven members of our family read them to us. My sister read ‘I carry your heart’ by e.e. cummings as it’s my favourite poem.”

We found lots of inspiration from wedding blogs, paper art and art books. We decided to create badges for all the guests so everyone could be included in the fun! Guests were invited to choose a badge whose word ‘spoke’ to them. They features words such as ‘Fun’ ‘Joy’ ‘Love’ and ‘Forever’. There was even a ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ one just for fun!

The Buniyong Town Hall was decorated by Caitlin, Steve + Caitlin’s family. They collected over 300 glass bottles in the months leading up to the wedding and filled them all themselves with flowers. They sewed their own table runners and made + painted all the decorations and the guestbook. Caitlin + Steve decided that instead of a registry they would ask for donations to their home renovation fund, as they had just purchased their first home together! Caitlin made a small ceramic moneybox version of their house as their ‘wishing well’.

The surprise flashmob!!

Having Louisa Bailey as our photographer was like having another friend with us for the day. (Some of our guests even thought she was our friend!) She made everyone feel so comfortable. And the photos speak for themselves!

photography: Louisa Bailey // venue: Ceremony at Brim Brim Gardens, Buninyong, Australia; reception at Buninyong Town hall, Buninyong // floral design: Stems Flower Market, Ballarat // wedding dress: Australian eveningwear designer Thurley // hairpieces: The bride made her hairpiece using silk and the leftover beads from the wedding dress // jewelry: The bride’s sister, jeweler Claire McArdle, made all the jewelry for the day // shoes: I designed the shoes myself through the Australian website Shoes of Prey, because I couldn’t find any beautiful yellow shoes in the local stores! (And because it was so fun and easy!) // bridesmaid dresses: The Bridesmaid and flowergirl dresses were made by the brides mother. With fabric from D’Italia in Melbourne for the bridesmaids and Tessuti Fabrics in Melbourne for the flowergirls // hair: Sheree and Ange at Exterior Motive // makeup: Catherine Louise // groom suit: Australian Designer Country Road // invitations +  paper goods: The Bride // catering: Peter Ford Catering