Sophie + Jonathan wanted to throw a relaxed + intimate wedding for their closest friends + family in California. The most important thing for Sophie was that she wanted to get married outside – and fun to hear that she used GWS for lots of ideas! There were lots of great DIY projects for the day including the most amazing one being Sophie’s wedding dress! Yep, Sophie made it with a vintage pattern she found and then even used the leftover fabric to make a matching hat piece with beaded freshwater pearls she found in the NY garment district (see the hat below – stunning, right?!) She also made her pearl bracelet, garter set, cake toppers, menus and the table runners for the reception. Two of Jonathan’s groomsmen/bandmates performed the music for the ceremony, which made it super special. Big thanks to Matthew Morgan for the gorgeous photos!
The day before the wedding, Sophie and her family drove to the Los Angeles flower district and bought all of the flowers for the wedding. Inspired by the floral design of Saipua, Jonathan’s family and the bridesmaids later helped Sophie put together all of the bouquets, boutonnieres and table arrangements for the reception. From Sophie, It was a lot of work, but everything about the wedding felt so personal and unique to us – it was worth it!
There aren’t a lot of younger children in either of our families, so my pet box turtle, Zoe, was assigned the role of the ring bearer! There was a priceless moment (during our vows, even) when both Jonathan and I realized that we had forgotten to inform our officiant, Jonathan’s uncle, of Zoe’s participation in the ceremony. I’ll never forget the look on Jonathan’s uncle’s face when we he reached for our wedding rings and found them tied to a tiny desert tortoise!
They say to only choose vendors that you trust, and it’s true! I planned my California wedding entirely from New York, and if I hadn’t been able to trust my vendors with some very important decisions, it just wouldn’t have happened. The wedding is now 6 months past, but when I think of how wonderful all of our vendors were to work with, I still want to give them each a big hug! The whole day was perfect, and we couldn’t have done it without them.
I think the best advice I received when planning my wedding came from a blog and was along the lines of “don’t be afraid to try something you might be good at.” I think it’s great that DIY has caught on in the wedding world, but don’t feel limited to printing your own table numbers! I think brides get shy about doing things themselves because they feel a lot of pressure to get things exactly right on their wedding days, but everyone has their own talent and you can’t know what you’re good at until you try it! My wedding dress was my most ambitious sewing project to date, and it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t convinced myself I could pull it off.
photography: Matthew Morgan Photography // venue: Parker Ranch, Trabuco Canyon, CA // event planner + catering: Iva Lee’s Catering // wedding dress: handmade by the bride, adapted from Vintage Vogue pattern V1084 // hairpiece: handmade by bride // shoes: Kate Spade “Licorice” // bridesmaid dresses: Zara, Anthropologie, Lord & Taylor, Jcrew // hair + makeup: Katie Vollmer and team from Beauty and the Beach // groom suit: Paul Smith // invitations: Karen Gelardi // cake: Boulangerie Pierre & Patisserie, Garden Grove
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