All weddings are special, but there is something to be said and cherished for those that are hand crafted from the couple’s own hands and hearts… Boy, do we have a special treat for you today, because this blush Malibu wedding is just that. The bride, who is a photographer and artist herself, used her vision of a light, warm, and intimate celebration as inspiration for her custom designs, which she shares with us below. From the hand pressed table numbers, to the invitations, programs, and so on, love was evident in every detail of their big day. The couple said “I do” under a breathtaking circular arch with blush florals and pampas grass overlooking Malibu Canyon, with the sunlight beaming through the trees, shimmering on the rose gold decor. A picture is worth a thousand words, so keep scrolling to see the magic with your own eyes!
The bride shares…
We wanted everything about our wedding to be personal and handmade by us as much as possible! Before we got engaged, I never really thought about weddings like other girls usually do. I didn’t start planning my dream wedding at age twelve, but I did decide on my four must-haves early on: a pink dress, cute flat shoes instead of heels, an outdoor setting, and a lot of DIYs. One of my favorite movies is Father of the Bride and that is where I got the flat shoes idea. I did give in and got these amazing heels as well, but I still got matching rose gold Keds since they were one of my must-haves. Other than that, I loved how the wedding in Father of the Bride was so intimate, simple and soft, with the couple surrounded by their 150 favorite people.
Our day wasn’t 100% perfect, some of my plans didn’t follow through, and I wish we had more time, but Zach and I now get what they mean when they say your wedding will be the happiest day of your life.
The first major vendor we booked was our venue and the place was an absolute dream. Le Sangreal is a private estate in Malibu and is surrounded by Tuscan-style rolling vineyards and formidable mountaintops. It is the perfect outdoor setting for an intimate wedding! The wonderful owner, Leslie, definitely sealed the deal. After that, we made sure to book vendors who were either friends or people we had a connection with. I know everybody advises against hiring “friendors” but we were lucky this time!
We had a two-year engagement which gave me plenty of time to figure out which projects I wanted to make myself and which ones I had to leave to the experts. It was tough deciding between living that YOGMO (You Only Get Married Once) mentality and trying to stick to a budget. It helped to remind myself to invest in things that really mattered to us and whether or not we could reuse things after the wedding.
Zach is a musician so he was in charge of the music. One of my favorite decisions we made together was our first dance song, which was Aaliyah’s version of At Your Best (You are Love). I’m a photographer and digital artist, so naturally, I handled everything stationery from designing to printing and assemblage. Get ready, this is going to be a long list! For the Save the dates, I made magnets out of our engagement photos. I couldn’t decide on one photo so I sent out four different versions. I did something similar for my RSVP cards, except it was a bit more ambitious. I turned them into postcards, each with a different image of us from our engagement shoots and vacation trips! I then had them all displayed during the reception. I Loved everyone’s song requests and messages in the back. For the invitations, I commissioned talented friends to create florals, an illustrated version of Zach and I, and a watercolor map of our venue.
Our seating chart was my toughest wedding project but it’s definitely my favorite! I used my Cricut machine to cut the names on white adhesive vinyl and stuck each name one by one on these pretty cloches I got from Ikea. One of the reasons why this was tough was because I had to wait until the week of the wedding before I could make the final seating plan, which ended up with me rushing the seating chart. It was definitely worth it! I used my awesome Cricut machine for the table numbers as well: I got rose gold floating frames, put pressed flowers and used adhesive vinyl for the numbers. I bought gold frames that fit photo booth strips, designed and printed the inserts that had each guest’s name and a reminder to visit our photo booth. I wanted the design of our actual photo booth strips to be minimal with just our names and our illustrated selves on it. I also designed and made the ceremony program fans with rose petal-filled envelopes for tossing. They were more tedious to make. I bought roses every other week and dried the petals. After failing at using wax stamps to seal the envelopes, I opted for stickers with our initials on them. Everything was made possible by my lovely bridesmaids who spent endless nights helping me assemble everything!
But my most favorite project of all was my surprise video for Zach that I slaved over for months. I compiled clips from our trips, engagement shoots, and basically every important/funny moment in our relationship. I had to wait until he fell asleep every night so I could work on the video in secret. The look on his face while he watched it made it all worth it! Obviously there are many more details I’d love to share! Our wedding may not be the most glamorous or the most unique, but it was a labor of love and it definitely brought not just Zach and I closer, but all of our favorite people.