Real Wedding: Khali + Potsch’s Whimsical DIY Wedding

Kelty from Steep Street is sharing such a fun wedding with us today. So much goodness – and be sure to read all about the details from Khali – everything was so thoughtful and she has some great advice for those of you in planning mode right now. A bit about the couple from Kelty, “Khali + Potsch are honestly two of the most genuinely good, creative, and hilarious people I have ever met. They’re both actors in LA, and their creativity extends to all manner of talents… they crafted their wedding by hand with more love than I imagined possible, creating a colorful day for their guests as well as one for the books.”

From Khali (the bride), “Our wedding theme was Wes Anderson meets Michel Gondry. Full of color and fantasy with a nice balance of modern, vintage and unreal. We feel so proud to have carried that abstract idea all the way through. HA! Definitely an easy theme to get lost or carried away in. But we were good at putting each other in check.”

outdoor wedding with hanging frames

The rope symbolized each of our independent experiences intertwining and creating our lives together. When Potsch and I came into this relationship we each had a suitcase full of fabric from past and someday projects. It was fun to shred them and tie them together. It was a lot of knots!!!! We got a few good movies in while doing this project. :)

bridesmaids with butterflies

couple

wedding photography by steep street

bridesmaids with butterflies

hanging frames

The center frame was from my dad’s parents who are no longer with us. I have had that frame in my life since the beginning. Our idea with hanging empty frames in tree as our alter was our symbol of this moment being the start our own family tree.

happy couple

bridal party

groomsmen

Potsch had this awesome idea to have his groomsmen in spats to complete a rather gentlemanly look. We searched online for awhile and everything we found were either cheap looking costume spats or very expensive gorgeous spats. We really did not want our bridal part to spend much money on their get-ups so the nice pair were out. So Potsch did as he always does and made up his own pattern. He made 7 stunning pairs of spats! That is definitely one of the reasons I love him. He can make anything possible.

cute wedding photos

bridal party photos in the woods

seating chart

For the seating chart, I wanted to design something graphic and unexpected. We also wanted to utilize the big frames we had and keep that esthetic going. I made my bouquet the morning of the wedding. A bit of a foolish idea. I added the paper flowers that Potsch had made me just before walking down the aisle. On one of our first dates he impressed me at a crappy diner around 2am with his magical napkin roses. I said if we get married I want to carry a bouquet of your napkin flowers. I was blown away he remembered that.

wedding details

wedding details coloring portraits

Napkins and runners/ Spats – Potsch and I have a wearable and usefuls company, HoneyB, where we hand screen shirts and pillows and market totes. It was fun to put the sewing and screening skills to work here. We bought this gorgeous fabric down town and just went to town. I came up with our KP logo and it just made sense to put that on the napkins. At the end of the night people asked to take them home. That made us smile.

billy balls centerpieces

A great way to ease the stress and enjoy friend time is to invite all your bridesmaids over and put them to work. About a week before the big day all my bridesmaids gathered at my house for mimosas and a lesson in terrarium building. It was awesome!!! Everyone got so into it. Each piece was so different and fun. At the wedding it was cool to see people wandering to each table to see the different terrariums and at the end of the night we only ended bringing 5 out of 14 home.

cupcake dessert table

It’s not Michel Gondry without tiny people in a dream world. Potsch and I came up with a design to have our cupcakes, made by my mom, as foliage in dream world. We gathered lumber ruminants from the lumber yard and Potsch build our sweet dream land complete with moss and little hidden stories all around. With the left over wood we made our table numbers and stands for our Terrarium center pieces.

cupcakes at wedding

wedding guests

wedding menu

reception with hanging pom balls

black and white portraits

silent movie stills wedding

Our movie, “Falling for you” by Khali and Potsch. This was one of our very first ideas! It was also the most daunting. We kept putting it off and feeling overwhelmed. We wanted to just forget about it but we wanted it so bad. We tried a few times to write a story but it just wasn’t working out until one day Potsch showed up at my work and for my hour long lunch break we did nothing but hammer out a silent movie love story called “Falling for You”. In one weekend, Oct 2nd and 3rd, Potsch and I , with the help of Potsch’s writing partner, Ali, filmed our movie and that week Potsch edited it. I would say it was our greatest accomplishment of the whole event besides, of course, becoming husband and wife. We premiered the movie during the reception.

Our wedding still has not quite sunk in. Images still float through our brains as clouds. We find ourselves saying “wow it has been 3 months already!” Seeing the pictures brings us right back to that thrilling week full of love, family and friends, tears of joy and soooo much beauty. I still get teary eyed thinking about seeing my almost husband waiting for my with so much pride at the end of the aisle. I can still feel my high heels sinking into the grass as we said our “I do’s” and feeling beyond grounded in that moment. Doing a DIY mostly wedding you would think keeps you so locked into the fact that you two are getting MARRIED but sometimes you can lose sight of the specialness of the day in all the handmade details. I remember getting dressed with all my lovely ladies around me and taking a few breaths to let go of the hot glue gun mind and set the magical in love mind free to feel every second of happiness and surprise. There were so many precious moments at our ceremony – having my brother Tom play an original song for us, holding this handmade rope with every single person at our wedding, staring into my husbands eyes. Everything was just perfect.

In terms of our vendors – we feel like we chose and were blessed with the best and brightest in the field. Each person’s attention to detail and excitement fueled us on.

Vendors:
Photography- Steep Street
Location – Stewart Hall at Temescal Gateway Park
Wedding Planning + Coordination – Anna Brewer of Love and Splendor
DJ – Red Show Dj Ig
Caterer- Brats Brothers
Appetizer, Jam Favors and Cupcakes – (my mom) Chef Cathy Shambley
Videographer – Izzy Gonzalez
Dress – Maggie Sottero
Grooms Suit – H&M
Bridesmaids – vintage and new all over
Groomsmen: H&M vest and shirt / ties from amazon

Thanks so much Kelty for letting me share your photos today and big congrats to Khali + Potsch. We wish you guys so much happiness!

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