Our Wedding

Date: June 11th, 2011
Colors: Blue and Orange
Location: Pismo Beach, California
Attendance: About 100 people

Matt and I got married in a simple cliff side ceremony overlooking the ocean in Pismo Beach, California. And it was everything we could have asked for. We planned everything on a pretty tight budget ($5,000 excluding the honeymoon) and, in the end, came in at just above that. Not too shabby. There was a lot of do-it-yourself projects and I had to call in a few favors but I wouldn't change a thing!

Photography

For me, this was one of the most important things. I wanted to be able to cherish and relive as many memories from that night as possible because I knew that it was going to go so quickly. Luckily I am blessed with an incredibly sweet and talented friend who began doing wedding photography several years ago. He did an amazing job and it was so great to be able to share that day with someone I had known for over a decade! Dan was fun, professional and did everything he could to capture even the smallest details of our day!

http://ballesterosphotography.com/

Venues

We were originally planning an on-the-beach wedding but, let me tell you, on the beach weddings in Pismo are EXPENSIVE. So, we did the next best thing. We rented out part of a public park on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. The park had a cement amphitheater that worked out so well. You could hear the ocean in the background and I had some amazing friends and family that were willing to help with set up. We rented chairs through Taylor Rentals (http://www.taylorrents.net/). They were able to drop the chairs off and pick them up, they were prompt and their pricing wasn't too bad.

As for our reception site: Best choice I could have ever made. Guiseppe's is an Italian restaurant that is located just down the road from our ceremony location. My mom and a friend had had their receptions there in years prior and I'm so glad I followed in their footsteps. They are by far the BEST priced location on the central coast and the food was terrific. We had a seated 3-course meal and Jamie, the event coordinator, was so accommodating. Not to mention the venue is gorgeous.

My little projects

I did a heck ton of do-it-yourself projects for my wedding, but there were a few that definitely stood out for me, and for my guests.

1. My veil. Oh man, I ended up loving my veil. Because I didn't want to spend a bajillion dollars on one of the really pretty blingy ones at the bridal shop, I decided I'd try my hand at making mine. Well, kind of. I bought a 2-layer elbow length, ivory veil at Michael's Hobby Shop for $14 (that's right). Then I purchased a few packs of rhinestones and some fabric glue and TA-DA my veil was born. It took so many hours I lost count, but in the end I only spent about $30 on something that would have cost me $200 in a shop. 

      2. Our "guest book." I knew from the start I didn't want a traditional guest book so I started looking
          into other options. I found a frame (again at Michael's) on sale for $9.99 and using my ultra-
          awesome camera went downtown to snap a few photos. I used Photoshop to edit them together and,
          using my newly found matting skills, surrounded them in a black mat. Add some silver pens and
          you get this:

      3. Lastly, our centerpieces. Because florists are so freaking expensive, we decided to buy our
          flowers from a local farmers market vendor. I ordered my cobalt blue, cube vases (which I adore)
          from eBay and purchased some 12"x12" square mirrors to put under them. Combine that with some
          small tea-light candles and a little orange ribbon and there you have it!

The cake

Who says you need a gigantic, multi-tiered wedding cake? We opted for 2 cakes (a large sheet cake and an 8" round cake) stacked on top of each other and decorated beautifully by Madonna Inn. We got a total of 2 different flavors: black forest, pink champagne and raspberry delight, all of which were AMAZING. The best part is, we only paid about $175 for the entire thing. Add our pretty little cake topper and it was a success!

The wedding party

The day wouldn't have been complete without our wedding party. My maid of honor was my "sister" Leann. I put sister in quotes because technically we're not related, but close enough. Matt's best man was his friend Drew. I was very happy with the choice, he's one of very few of Matt's friends that I truly like. And, of course, there were our beautiful little flower girls, my neices, Sophie and Cherise. I ordered their dresses from a vendor on eBay and they turned out beautifully!