Modern Handmade Desert Wedding: Trisha + Justin

confetti

Trisha + Justin have been together for 11 years! Trisha comes from a marketing and photography background and Justin does production for big events – like Coachella. They knew that they wanted to get married in the desert since they had worked at Coachella together for so many years. The Empire Polo Club in Indio was the perfect place for their wedding – plus it has tons of palm trees which Justin just loved! :) They wanted to keep the look fun, fresh and super modern with lots of bright colors. They also decided to try and DIY as many things as possible to help keep costs down.

From Trisha, “Our wedding was truly a labor of love. The secret to our relationship is that we always have fun, never take life too seriously and always put one another first. We really started planning our wedding based on the simple fact that we wanted to share our love for each other in front of all of the most important people in our lives and then follow it with a lot of fun! The best compliment that we have gotten from MANY of our guests was that every detail of the wedding was so “us”. After all was said and done, we both said we wouldn’t have changed a thing. It was the best day of our lives so far.”

Thanks so much to Amelia Lyon for the photos and congrats to Trisha + Justin!

mint and yellow invitation

wedding sign

heart sticks

heart sticks

first look

bride and groom

anemone bouquet

bridesmaids


Justin is an amazing carpenter and he built just about everything himself or with the help of friends. He always says “You are the creative one. You show me photos and then I can build it!” So that’s exactly what we did. He built our altar out of 4×4’s and plywood from Home Depot.

ribbon chairs

Our Musical Choices

Processional: Across the Universe – The Beatles, God Only Knows – The Beach Boys

Recessional: Wouldn't It Be Nice –The Beach Boys

First Dance: Times Like These (Acoustic) – Dave Grohl

ceremony

confetti exit

confetti exit

Our Favorite Memory From The Wedding

One of our favorite details were the confetti flickers. I got the idea from Coachella confetti canons. I researched the confetti company and found that they made handheld flickers! We knew that it would be a great moment, but we had no idea how amazing it would look until each one of our guests flicked them at the same time. It was a magical moment to have right after being pronounced husband and wife! It's a moment we will always cherish.

green heels

bride and groom

hearts and strings

bride and groom

seating chart

succulent favor

wedding sign


Our centerpieces were made by cutting the left over 4×4 pieces into varying heights. He also built our huge dance floor, our sweetheart area, all of the signage, the escort card display, the guest chalkboard and wooden levels for the food and dessert tables. He even made his own string lights!

geometric shapes

dinner menu

desserts

bride and groom


“We had so much help from our amazingly talented and generous friends that all came together to make everything possible. They all worked hard to help us make our dream wedding a reality. We were floored by all of the love from everyone that helped make everything possible.”

Our Advice To Those Planning Now

Inspiration is great and there are so many amazing sources out there. Yet, I quickly found myself with inspiration OVERLOAD in a million different directions. So, I had to take a step back from my million pins on Pinterest, my mountains of wedding magazines and wedding websites for a second. Our amazing day of coordinators Hello Gem! really helped us focus our efforts where it would matter most.

Since we were working on a limited budget and doing a TON of DIY, I had to narrow our vision to a few key elements that we knew we wanted and that we knew were also realistic for us. Just choose the things most special to you as a couple. You can't do everything, and that's OK!

Do LOTS of research on your vendors. Meet them first, make sure that you are compatible Hiring great vendors that you trust is the best thing that you can do. We trusted each one of them to do what they do best and let them have free reign. Justin and I hand picked each one of our vendors and they were a BIG part of the reason that we didn't have to worry about anything on our special day. I loved all of our vendors as people in addition to their individual amazing services and that makes a HUGE difference.

My absolute favorite advice that I can give brides is something that my amazing grandmother told me during our planning process. "Don't worry about the little stuff. As long as you are having a great time, everyone around you will have great time too! Nobody will notice the napkins that aren't the exact vision you had, or that craft project that you didn't finish on time. Just enjoy every moment and others will too!"

photography: Amelia Lyon // day of coordination + florals: Hello Gem! // venue: Empire Polo Club Indio, California // dress: Martina Liana // shoes: Miz Mooz, “Sailor” // makeup: Jamie Foley // hair: Elizabeth Gress // groom’s suit: Huge Boss via Nordstroms // cake: Over the Rainbow Desserts // rentals: Classic Party Rentals // dj:Thomas Melum // catering: Best Beverage // ice cream sandwiches: Cool Haus // photo booth: ifoto

 

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