Rachel + Dustin know a thing or two about throwing a bright, modern, big family dinner party wedding, which isn’t surprising if you know Rachel through her thoughtful, crafty blog, Heart of Light. Using lots of movement, turquoise, coral and yellow, they were able to incorporate some of Dustin’s Mexican heritage without going too literal and making it look themed. Modern invitations, the prettiest paper flowers, an incredible streamer backdrop, terrarium centerpieces, and a gourmet food truck – sounds amazing, looks amazing, and we’re so excited to share it with you!
Our wedding was a completely collaborative effort. I always knew that Dustin would be on board and interested in all the design aspects (there are advantages to marrying an architect!). The hardest part was restraining ourselves from diving into half baked projects. We made ourselves sit down and design the invitations first, because we wanted everything to feel cohesive and felt it should start with the paper. From there we discussed an overall look for the venue and decided which projects would be worth our time. We ended up with just a few really big projects and a small handful of smaller easy ones.
We started by separately pulling images from various blogs, and then examining them together and discussing why we liked different aspects of photos. We talked about how we wanted our wedding to feel (inclusive, big family dinner party, fun) and look (bright, playful, modern). We kept things fairly open until we found a venue that worked for us (the venue search was the hardest part of planning, hands down) and then solidified our ideas.
If only we knew how Rachel made this amazing streamer backdrop…just teasing! Come back tomorrow to check out her DIY tutorial. It’s actually pretty darn easy. Or for those of you who aren’t interested in getting familiar with a glue gun, you can buy Rachel and Dustin’s in our Marketplace!
We both love working on projects, so we knew we were going to want to get creative. But we also both work full time and we have a lot of family commitments. We decided to maximize our efforts by allowing ourselves to choose a few well planned, high impact projects. Everything else would be kept as simple as possible and with an eye to logistics.
If you’re dying over these napkins like we are, just wait until tomorrow’s post when Rachel shares her DIY tutorial. Or get lucky and buy the entire set in the marketplace! AND she made those pretty flowers too.
Hello, cutest cake topper ever. Rachel made it, obviously.
Oh, and the painted table cloths… yep. Made them. We’ll have that project this week too. OR you can just buy them in our Marketplace! Along with her assortment of painted picture frames.
We’re not done with this wedding yet. Stay tuned for more posts this week as Rachel shares a few DIY tutorials + her tips on budgeting and planning a DIY wedding. You can also follow along on Heart of Light as Rachel posts about the craziness leading up to the wedding, how she did her own hair and make-up, designing the dessert buffet, and their photobooth details.
And remember, if you get super lucky, you can buy Rachel’s streamer backdrops, her hand-dyed napkins, her painted table cloths, her paper flowers, glass vases/cylinders, kraft paper table numbers, white votive candles, and her painted picture frames in our Marketplace right now!
Photography: Fresh in Love / Venue: George C. Goehller Alumni House at Cal State Fullerton / Wedding planners: Love and Splendor / Catering: Border Grill Truck / DJ: PropsFX / Photobooth: Red Cheese / Bartender: Party Staff / Rentals: Create a Party / Bride’s dress: Saja / Groom’s suit: N. Hollywood
Black
Pink
Metallic
Red
Green
Yellow
Rings
Dresses
Bridesmaids
Accessories
Flower Girl
Hairstyles
Those terrarium centerpieces are so cool! Can’t wait to see how the streamers came together. Very cute wedding.
rachel is the queen of spectacular tutorials – i can’t wait to see how she put everything together! (and R? you continue to stun me, lady!)
I love her jacket, and headband. Everything is so pretty, great wedding!
Love this wedding! And if you want to make streamers like that, Oh Happy Day has a great tutorial on how to make them! I made them for a party – so fun!
http://ohhappyday.com/2011/02/fringey-streamers-diy/
Love her shrug too. Would love to know where that is from!
Those wonderful little details—the invitation, the iWelcome board, the menu with the pencil name cards, the streamers, the food cart—they all made this wedding look absolutely wonderful! C: Loving it!
Nicole of JAF Gifts
Those streamers are amazing, and love the succulents! This is such a fun, cool look for young couples.
Thanks, ladies! We had fun putting it together.
Karrie – I used Jordan’s tutorial as well! Don’t worry – the tutorial I’ve made will link to it, so she definitely gets credited, but it’s mostly about assembling the backdrops so that they can be made ahead of time, stored and transported.
The shrug is by Alice + Olivia, but it’s no longer sold. : ( I bought it last holiday season, though, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they come out with a new version for this year. This is definitely the time of year to be shopping for sequined, sparkly things!
Pretty prettiness everywhere
Love all the colors mixed with metallics!
I love the centerpieces! They are the perfect inspirtation for a wedding I’m planning. Thank you so much for sharing this gorgeous wedding!
How pretty !! LOVE all the bright colors
xxLily
goldandgray.com
I have been in love with Rachel and her blog for about two years now and I was so excited to hear that she got engaged and then…more excited when she blogged that she was planning to DIY most of it. Excitement plus much to my boyfriend’s chagrin. I have been anxiously waiting for the wedding posts to arrive and they are finally here and I know, I really now know deep down inside that when I get married I will be doing the exact same thing by creating most of those special touches. Thanks Rachel. You’re made me realise that a little crafty can go a long way. Oh, and you look amazing as always! x
Aw, thanks April! That’s so sweet of you. Annnnd, there will be a bit of DIY logistics information posted, so be on the lookout for that. I’m a huge fan of DIY but also will really strongly encourage you to realize that you can’t do EVERYTHING. xo
We love the eclectic color palate and the food truck is amazing! The wedding looks beautiful. Congratulations!
Oh my god, exactly what a wedding should be – so beautiful and so happy! I am obsessed with those stunning flowers – please please please say you’ll post a tutorial for those too?
Oh my GOSH! Everything is so beautiful!! I am in love with those napkins, sooo amazing! Thank you for sharing with us!
Gorgeous wedding! I’m hoping to DIY most of mine too, but like you, life is getting in the way. However, I would love to buy those cake plates from you if you’re selling!
Beautiful! Those paper flowers are so sweet and creative!
Pretty sure I just pinned this entire wedding to my wedding board on pinterest. LOVE LOVE LOVE everything about this wedding!!
Fabulous ideas~I LOVE everything about your wedding details~So special~the prettiest paper flowers are nice! I really feel your little happiness~
So many gorgeous details!
The streamers are amazing! I am excited for the DIY!
I think we all knew Rachel’s wedding would be stunning…love this recap!
yay! so so so well done you guys
a million congratulations.
What a beautiful wedding, congrats! Rachel, did you make or buy your headband? I love it!
@ The Pink Peony – There will be a flower tutorial over at Heart of Light this week!
@ Amanda – Ha! I should probably sell the cake plates, but they’re actually my personal collection. I didn’t have to buy a single one for the wedding, which probably just shows how big an addiction I have. I am considering renting them out, so that they’ll get a bit more use, but that would only work for local events.
@ Shiri – I semi-made my headband. I purchased (ridiculously expensive but so lovely) crystal trim and then just added a bit of elastic at the bottom to make it a headband. I originally thought I would use the trim for a belt, but my rib cage is not my narrowest area, so adding sparkles there ended up looking a bit strange.
Love, love, love all of the creative elements! Those paper flowers are so well done, and well so is everything else!
xo, Ara
Cakes are beautiful and I know for a fact that Vanilla Bake Shop in Santa Monica made them not Rachel. Love them.
This post goes straight to bookmarks! I’m loving every picture.
Thank you for wonderfull ideas! Unconventional, simply refreshing!
All the best to the loving couple!
@ Rumy – You’re right! Sorry if I didn’t make that clear in the post – Vanilla made all our cakes and I made the cookies. We love Vanilla and even gave them a shout out on our dessert menu, but it’s kind of hard to read the print on the pictures! Here is the detailed post about how we put together the dessert buffet, along with the cost breakdown. We ordered off their standard menu rather than doing a custom wedding cake, which was great because it meant we didn’t have to place the order until the week of our wedding, so we could adjust it for the number of guests who actually RSVPed.
What a lovely wedding! Wondering who did your invitations?
@ mina – Thanks! We did our own invitations. We designed them together in Adobe Illustrator and then D printed them on the Gocco + home printer.
What a lovely wedding! really love it.
We love the stationery used in Rachel + Dustin’s wedding. The big and bold font really makes it stand out.
You will find some very good photographers from this source and make a short list of the best photographers. Thanks for sharing.
Tutorial on the paper flowers? Thanks!
What a stunning wedding! It is clear that all the thoughtfulness really paid off. What font did you use? I LOVE it.
WHERE is the flower DIY.. i’ve been on here for 30 min trying to find it!
We’re so sorry Jessica! We assure you you’re not going cray. There’s actually not a DIY tutorial for these flowers. But, you’ve given us a great idea to possibly get one started. Stay tuned, and we’ll be in touch if we create a tutorial for these flowers.
*jillian
Hi! Does the venue allow outside catering? I love the idea of having a food truck as my caterer! But they gave me a listing of pre-approved caterers..
The font on those invitations is fantastic – does anyone know what it is? Thanks.