Photographs by Aubrey and Blake. 

What were your most memorable wedding moments? 

Spending a quiet moment alone together during our first look. Our surprise first dance and how much our guests enjoyed it. The incredible love we felt throughout the entire day, and all of the joy and laughter we shared with our family and close friends. -Allison

Inspirations that helped create the vibe of your wedding?  

We started with a particular vision in mind: an intimate wedding that completely embodied who we are as a couple. We’re fun and playful, share a love of good books, and try to fill each day with joy and laughter, and we wanted our wedding to be an outpouring of love, a time for our closest friends and family to gather around us and celebrate with us as we embarked on this journey. We began with a beautiful and intimate family-only ceremony and followed this with a larger reception for our close friends and extended family at my parents’ house. Everything was simple, relaxing, and comfortable. There were no escort cards or assigned seats, no tall champagne glasses or five course meals. Just close friends and family laughing and enjoying each other’s company, eating good food and surrounding us with love.

You can also see “us” in many of our wedding details, most of which we created ourselves. Every detail was specifically chosen because it was special to us, from the vintage editions of our favorite books to the mason jars and striped straws that reminded us of our childhoods. We wanted our wedding to be as personal as possible, so we chose things that were meaningful to us.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?   

Photography was our biggest splurge, and obviously we have no regrets! We wanted to capture every moment of our day, and Aubrey and Blake went above and beyond – they captured the heart and spirit of our wedding, each individual’s distinct personality, and all of the joy and love we felt. We also splurged on my dress. It was absolutely perfect for me, and I’m thankful we were able to fit it into our budget. We saved on everything else by doing as much as we could ourselves or enlisting friends and family to help. We also searched for the best deals on vendors, and we got incredible prices on our ceremony venue, buffet dinner, rentals, and my hair and makeup artist.

DIY elements (also what were the funnest, hardest, and most rewarding)? 

Our wedding was absolutely filled with DIY details. We designed our invitations and the paper products, and we made all of the decorations, including our wedding signs, bunting, cake topper, card box, clotheslines guestbook, and favors. We bought our flowers from the San Francisco Flower Mart and assembled the bouquets, boutonnières, and floral arrangements the day before the wedding. Jordan even put together our entire music playlist with the help of a college roommate. It was a lot of work, but everything came together exactly the way we envisioned. And when our guests raved about how much they loved everything, we enjoyed telling them that we had done it all ourselves. The funnest: I loved making all of our bunting. I was obsessed with bunting and wanted to incorporate it everywhere, and I love seeing it show it up so many of our photos. The hardest: Our favors. My cousin and I spent an entire afternoon making homemade granola for our ninety guests. But it wasn’t all hard work - we had a lot of fun watching old movies between batches. And thankfully, everyone loved our yummy treats!  The most rewarding: The flowers and photo booth. I had never been able to find the perfect floral inspiration, which was part of the reason why I decided to do them myself. I chose flowers and colors that I liked, and we played around with the arrangements until they captured exactly what I had been envisioning all along. Jordan actually made my bouquet, and I’m still in awe of how beautiful it was.  The photo booth was an absolute hit - our guests couldn’t get enough of it! We were thrilled by how much everyone enjoyed playing around with the props we’d made and taking funny pictures, and we loved having photos to take with us on our mini moon.

Favorite Blogs or Magazines used in planning the wedding 

Weddingbee, Style Me Pretty, Ruffled, and Green Wedding Shoes. I also combed Jerry’s blog for inspiring photos – there are so many to choose from!

Advice that you’d give to other Brides? 

Before you start planning your wedding, take a few weeks or months to simply enjoy being engaged. Engagement often goes by too fast, so cherish this special time with your partner without all of the distractions of wedding planning. When you do start planning, remember that there’s no right or wrong way to have a wedding. Listen to others’ wisdom and advice, but plan the sort of wedding that’s best for you and your partner, the sort wedding that you’ll look back on with a full heart and happy memories. Above all else, when your wedding day arrives, remember to have fun, laugh, and surround yourself with joy!

Venue: Bent Creek Winery, Allison’s parents’ house

Dress: Maeve, Priscilla of Boston

Shoes: Talbots

Jewelry: Moon River Pearls (earrings) and a family heirloom (necklace)

Veil: Rohm on Etsy

Groom's suit: Tommy Hilfiger

Table rentals: A Grande Affair

Sound system rental: SoundWizard Productions

Videography: TwentyTwenty Studios

Hair and Makeup: Beauty by Sisters

Caterer: El Balazo - Assorted Mexican food (buffet)

Drinks: Bent Creek Winery & Beverages and More