Outdoor Handmade Ranch Wedding: Daphne + Tim

Tim proposed to Daphne during a sunset picnic in a field of sunflowers, so they wanted their wedding to be built around this very special moment. The colors for the wedding were inspired by the colors of a sunset – fuchsia, orange, peach, and purple – and the Diablo Ranch (the venue for the wedding) has some of the most beautiful sunsets, so they knew it would work perfectly!

Congrats to Daphne + Tim and thanks to Orange Turtle Photography for the lovely photos.

A bit about the day from Daphne, “We wanted our wedding to be extremely personal and allow each of our friends and family members to contribute in their own way. The music, food, drinks, invitations and programs, centerpieces, decorations, and hair piece were all done by a friend or family member. One of the most personal pieces that our guests enjoyed very much was our dessert table. In place of a large cake, we had our parents make our favorite desserts from our childhood. The wedding was a labor of love.”

To allow my bridesmaids to feel most comfortable and to give them a chance to express their individual style, I had the bridesmaids find their own dress based on a color palette that I chose. I wanted to get a short wedding dress so I could move around easily and be comfortable. I hope to be able to pull it out each year to wear on our anniversary.

What song did you walk down the aisle to?  I walked down to a bluegrass arrangement of an old hymn called “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” Our recessional music was a song that one of my bridesmaids wrote using the lyrics of the traditional hymn “Lead On, O King Eternal.”

Most memorable moment of your wedding day? Gosh, there really are so many! One of them was when my father walked me down the aisle, I made it a point to soak it all in and be present. We were walking slow enough, so I was able to look at all the faces of our friends and family. It was quite moving to realize that all these people were here because they love us and support us.

Another favorite memory is just remembering that everyone was having such a great time, kids and adults alike! The kids were running around on the lawn, playing with the flowers in the pool, and meeting the various ranch animals. I loved seeing all of my favorite people mixing and connecting with one another. Then, having all young and old cutting it on the dance floor was the perfect way to end a very happy and fun day.

Any advice for those planning now?
There are so many things that you can do with a wedding that it can be overwhelming. To help you figure out what is really important, choose 3 things about your wedding that you would really like to focus on. Maybe you want to make sure your wedding has great food, so it might be okay to spend some more money on a caterer. Or perhaps you have particular flowers in mind. For us, having good photos was important, so we were more willing to spend more on getting a photographer we liked. It’s a lot to ask of yourself to plan the “perfect” wedding of your dreams, but if you have 3 things that you are really happy with, I’m sure you will be more than satisfied with your wedding.

Also, Pinterest is a great website to use for planning. You can create inspiration boards easily and share ideas with others who are planning with you (you can follow Green Wedding Shoes here on pinterest).

Have so much fun while your planning. Take breaks and make sure to still do other things together besides plan for the wedding. Tim and I made sure to have date nights in the weeks leading up to the wedding just so we could keep everything in perspective – that the wedding is about celebrating your relationship, not the decorations or the wedding day.

vendors:

photography: Orange Turtle Photography // venue name: Diablo Ranch, Walnut Creek CA // event design: Wrotebynone and Kimberly Yu // wedding dress: Trish by Vineyard Collection and Priscilla of Boston // hairpiece: Veil by Kim Yu (Matron of Honor); Flower by Petal and Thorn // bride's shoes: Something Blue // hair stylist: Jenna Dyer at Colorz Hair Gallery // makeup artist: Heather Kim // groom attire: Bar III // paper goods: Wonderflower Press // catering: Kevin Nguyen // floral design: Chris Dea Floral Designs // invitations: Wonderflower Press