Real Wedding: Alison + Ryan’s Fun DIY Green Wedding

Happy Monday everyone! I have such a sweet, fun wedding to share with you guys today! I love how creative Alison + Ryan were – and they had some of my favorite LA food trucks feed them :). Their motto was Eat, Drink, Live, Love, Laugh – so perfect. I’ll let Alison tell you more about their day…

When Ryan and I started planning our wedding we set out to throw a sweet party.  While we were inspired by a gazillion different things, we knew that we wanted our wedding described as, “That’s so Ali and Ryan.”  In attempts to reflect our personalities , we decided that we wanted a ceremony that encompassed the importance of family and friends followed by an fun activity filled reception. For our venue, we selected the Marrakesh House in Culver City.  It was an amazing venue.  The backdrop was perfect for a wedding and Laura, who manages the property, was so easy to work with!  It is also an environmentally friendly location, which enabled us to keep “green” in our planning and resulted in some great inspirations.

wedding tulle rainbow dress

The bridesmaid’s flowers and the boutonnieres were homemade from crepe paper and feathers. I made my bouquet from my Mom’s wedding dress.  I took scissors to her dress (aak!) and then dyed it.

bridesmaids one flower

wedding ceremony decor

To create our ceremony, we started from scratch.  We wrote the ceremony & vows (including the promise to root for each others respective football teams), had Ryan’s Dad marry us, and asked our Mother’s to be our ring bearers. The frame with circles doubled as our guestbook and ceremony backdrop.  My friend Lisa and I made it with a little help from her Dad and his wood shop. The idea was to have the guest sign the circles and then their thoughts + wishes were with us as we getting married.

wedding ceremony backdrop

wedding ceremony

wedding exit streamers

wedding photography mark brooke los angeles

wedding photography mark brooke los angeles

wedding photography mark brooke los angeles

wedding signs

For the reception, we made sure we had some diverse food, good music, and fun custom details to ensure people had a great time, including a photo booth with crazy props, Arkeg Drink-n-Game machines (arcade game machine that pours beer!), build your own ice cream sandwich, glow in the dark glasses, etc.  In the end our unofficial theme became Eat, Drink, Live, Love, Laugh, which were also our table names.

wedding reception decor

The Escort Cards were handi-snacks with a personalized sticker. The flowers on the table were are white linen dyed different colors and homemade  The napkins are also made from linen, Ryan cut & stamped them. The forks for dinner are compost forks that were personalized by Ryan. The glass jars with candles are recycled glass we collected from our friends.

wedding decor

kogi truck wedding food

Dinner by the Kogi Taco truck + dessert from Cool Haus (Ice Cream Sandwich Truck). – Yum! Two of my favorite LA food trucks :)

The desserts on the dessert table were made by my Mom, while our Cake was baked by my friend, Lisa.  I also made the illuminated letters and the plates came from Anthropologie or CB2.

wedding dessert table

cool haus wedding

wedding marrakesh house

We did a lot ourselves to make sure it remained a reflection of us and keep costs low.  But we could not have done it by ourselves.  Our family and friends were an amazing help.  We even held craft parties so people could help us finish our projects.  Amazingly, people came!  It was one of the most rewarding things about planning.  To see how much everyone cared and was willing to step out of their comfort zone to help us.  And to see how their pride and ownership of their projects carried into the wedding day.  It was awesome that so many people who attended could truly feel like they were part of the ceremony and reception.

Vendors:
Venue/Reception – Marrakesh House
Make-up/Hair – Bliss Make Up Artistry
Dress – Stephanie James Couture
Shoes – Betsey Johnson
Veil/hairpiece – I made my veil and hairpiece from vintage cage veiling, vintage feathers, lace from my Mom’s wedding dress, rhinestone trim and a vintage locket that held a memento from my grandparents that are no longer with us.
Bridesmaid Dress – Wore their own
Catering – Kogi Truck
Dessert – Cool Haus
Photography – Mark Brooke Photography

Thanks Mark + Candice for sharing this super fun wedding with us! Mark Brooke Photography is located in Orange County, CA and available for travel worldwide.

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