Real Wedding: Courtney + Adam’s Rainy DIY Ranch Wedding

Today I have a super cute wedding to share with you guys! Sent over from one of our amazing sponsors, Ashley Maxwell Photography, this wedding is just so sweet. I really loved reading what Courtney + Adam sent over also. They dreamt of a sunny day, but found out it was going to rain. Instead of being upset, they discovered they had the most magical wedding in the rain – complete with a rainbow at their ceremony! How magical!! And how fun that Courtney found her photographers here on GWS also – love hearing that! :) Big Congrats to Courtney + Adam!

wedding invitation bunting

ranch wedding

bride with toms shoes

bride and groom

bridesmaids with umbrellas

brides with necklaces

bride with veil

backyard wedding

couple in a blanket

plates with buttons

sangria saturday

cookie table

outdoor lights

Our favorite things:
From Adam: So we had this whole outdoor wedding planned with a lot of personal touches, but the weather had a different plan and rained on our wedding day… and it turned out better than we could have ever hoped. The sky was so dramatic, and when it came time for the ceremony, the rain stopped and a rainbow appeared. Seriously, there was a picture book rainbow arcing over our field. (We heard later that as our guests approached the ranch house on the shuttle bus, they started cheering when they saw the rainbow). It was a little too perfect.

But my favorite part of the day (apart from seeing my future wife appear in the doorway and then float down the aisle) was witnessing the love and generosity from everyone. It was such a last-minute scramble to change everything after the rain started: from disassembling and moving a dance floor, to restringing lights, to buying emergency umbrellas and galoshes, to finally decorating the unplanned tent. And our family and friends did it all (one of the bridesmaids was already in her dress, hair done, moving extension cords around in the mud), and later they told us that being able to help made the day even more special for them. It was wonderfully humbling, to say the least.

From Courtney: As crazy as this sounds, and I can’t believe I am going to say it, but I think my favorite part of the day was the rain. It blessed us with so many things that we would never have had if it had been the sunshine-y day we planned. The rainbow, the dramatic sky and light, the umbrellas and galoshes (cute!), a tent that, despite my being staunchly against, I think created a cozy, homey place for a celebration. I will never forget the feeling of love and joy in that tent – it was overwhelming and beautiful. I will admit that I was pretty distressed at the mention of “r” word in the forecast, but as soon as I embraced the fact that it was going to rain, and there was nothing I could do about it, I was good. And for it to stop just before the ceremony, provide a rainbow, and start again as soon as the last outdoor picture was taken? Magical. I also want to acknowledge and thank our amazing friends and family for everything they did to pull the day together. It was, indeed, a last-minute scramble and NEVER would have happened without them. As everyone does, I have always believed I have the world’s best loved ones, but the selflessness, love, and enthusiasm they displayed that day was mindblowing and unlike anything I have ever witnessed.

Our DIY Fun!!

We knew from the beginning that we wanted our wedding to be full of personal touches, and we love being creative together, so we were excited about making as much as we could ourselves. And so began 8 months of D.I.Y. fun that resulted in: 150 invitations designed and assembled, 16 table name cards, 125 tags for the blanket favors, 125 escort cards, 75 screenprinted canvas bags for out of town guests, 4 pieces of roadside furniture refinished, 132 handmade napkin rings (thanks to my mom for her help with these!), 3 pennant banners sewn for decor, 4 handmade necklaces for the bridesmaids, 19 dozen cookies for dessert, 7 old frames we turned into chalkboards, 1 welcome sign made from scrap wood, 16 burlap runners for the tables and a whole lotta fun!

And what we couldn’t make at home, we let our families be the inspiration for (i.e. using antique stamps on the homemade invites in honor of my dad’s stamp collecting hobby, my grandma’s costume jewelry on the bridesmaids’ necklaces, Adam’s brother playing guitar while his cousin and our friend sang, my grandma’s depression glass for vases and her quilts for decor, etc.). People thought we were crazy (and there were a few moments when I thought we might be, too), but it turned out to be exactly what we wanted – an experience that we created together and will never forget.

VENDORS:
Location – Flying Caballos Ranch
Photographer – Ashley Maxwell
Caterer – Trumpet Vine Catering
DJ – DJ Shark
Rentals – Unlimited Events
Hair – Nicole Starling, Tigerlily Salon
Makeup – friend, Jocelyn Lane
Day of Coordinators – Events Redefined
Dress/Shoes – Manuel Mota for Pronovias/TOMS and farming galoshes from Farm Supply in SLO :)
Groom’s Suit – J. Crew
Flowers – friend, Liz Castleman, picked up flowers at the LA Flower Mart on Friday and drove them to SLO. Then, she and our families arranged them all in a mixture of my grandmother’s depression glass vases and vintage vases/jars we collected.
Boutonnieres, Bride’s hair and dress flowers – Ashley Maxwell

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