our wedding day #cerriouslyafaulkner

09.30.2017

Whoa. It’s already been an entire year! It feels so cliché to say but it really did fly by. Don’t get me wrong, A LOT has happened over this last year, but that’s a post for another time. Today, it’s all about our wedding day! When I think back on the day, there is one word that comes to mind: fun. We had a super fun wedding. So many people told us to make our wedding a reflection of us as a couple — so we took their advice and did a few things a little less traditional. We just wanted to have the night of our lives, and we did! Don’t get me wrong, we still had a ceremony and dinner, but the small details made it so us.

Here is how the day went:

ceremony

Our ceremony started at 4:00 and included the following: proud parents, vows we wrote ourselves, an exchange of something sparkly, laughter, and one life-altering smooch. We kept it short and sweet - we wanted to get on to the fun stuff.

cocktail hour

After the ceremony we held some of our family members hostage for photos. Since we did a first look, we were able to get most of these out of the way beforehand but had a final few before we could drink and dance the night away. 

Friends were able to head over to the reception area for drinks and tasty snacks. We did a taco bar for dinner, so appetizers included taquitos, bean dip, and mini tostadas. Drinks were beer and wine only - we didn't need anyone getting too crazy. 

dinner

Again, we wanted the night to be fun - something more relaxed and laid back than your traditional wedding. So food was served buffet style with no assigned seating or timeline. We didn't have a set dinner time except that the taco bar was open for 2 hours. People could grab food when they got hungry, go dance when their song came on and/or play some games outside. We had baggo and jenga set up outside plus a photo booth next to the dance floor inside - gotta love all kinds of activities. 

reception

The only traditions we kept during the reception were first dances and speeches. We wanted our first dance to start off the rest of the dancing for the night and we both looked forward to having that moment with our parents. I’ve never been a big fan of cake cuttings or the bouquet/garter tosses, so we just said skip it. It’s our day! Also, I told the DJ we wouldn’t pay him if he even thought about playing the song “All the Single Ladies”. Okay not really, but it was definitely on the no play list.

Our first dance song was by Darius Rucker called History in the Making. We had signed up for dance lessons when we first got engaged (thinking we'd want to do something elaborate) but let's be honest, I get stage fright and that was never going to happen. So we had them play the song for about a minute or two and then moved on to the next. The idea behind these first dances is great, but I had enough "all eyes on me" for one day that I didn't love people standing around to watch me again. Plus the strap on my dress broke during our dance, so there's that. 

The speeches were from my dad, as well as our best man and maid of honor. All three had the right amount of humor, honesty and love. They were a perfect way to step back and reminisce on how we all got to where we were that day. I always thought the speeches would be one of my favorite parts of the wedding and I was not mistaken. 

The night ended with a dessert bar filled with mini cupcakes, macaroons and whoopi cookies. Neither of us have a big sweet tooth so this was not something we were super in to, but man that table was empty by the time we came around to try some of it! All good in my book; I did not want to take any of that home!

All in all it was #cerriously the best day.

Below are some photos from the day of as well as our vendor list. Leave me a comment if I missed any details you wanted to hear about!

vendors

I had the most amazing vendors and I would give a glowing recommend to all of them. If you are in the market for wedding vendors - definitely check them out and feel free to reach out to me with any questions!

venue - Stemple Creek Ranch

photography - Vera Frances Photography

planning - Heald Wedding Consulting

catering - Los Tres Chiles

dessert - Sift Dessert Bar

hair/make-up - Maise Lane Styling by Lindsay Delagarza

music/photo booth - Cal Mobile DJ

dress - BHLDN

shoes - Beek

rentals - Encore Event Rentals

flowers - my amazing mother (and no, she's not for hire)

decor/invitations - DIY (and by do-it-yourself, I mean have your crafty bridesmaids and mother do it for you. thanks again ladies 😘)