Kayla and Kyle’s wedding is proof that sometimes it takes a village! Don’t have a huge budget? Read below for Kayla’s inspiring words on how this wedding came together with the generous help of friends and family.  Ian Andrew was there capturing not only all the beautiful DIY efforts (love the Victorian-style photo booth!), but also all the fun everyone was clearly having!

What was your vision?

My vision for the day was that I wanted everything to have our own personal flare, a healthy mix of practical and DIY. We were working on a budget, so I saw it as a challenge to be creative with what we could. I had a really hard time defining the style of the wedding, mixing the elegant crystals and chiffon draping for the ceremony, to the lace, mason jars, burlap and vintage windows at the reception. It was really a group effort. My florist, my mom and Kyle’s mom were all able to take my blurry, very hard to pinpoint vision for the day and turn it into the beautiful finished product that had our names all over it.

Any DIY projects?

Kyle’s mom got the awesome old windows for the seating chart, and his sister wrote all the names (and stayed up with me until 3 am organizing the mason jars into the appropriate tables because this genius wrote all the names BEFORE she made the seating chart).

My mom, Michelle (our florist and family friend), Kyle’s mom and I spent two separate days walking through a design warehouse searching for the perfect materials to make my vision come to life. Michelle was such a huge part in making this vision perfect, because she had an eye for the bigger picture that I just didn’t. Our biggest secret of the day, that very few people actually know is that ALL of our flowers were silk. I actually never thought I would go for it, there is just nothing quite like the look of fresh flowers, but with a December wedding and the type & color of flowers I wanted, silk was the way to go. Michelle actually looked at a picture I had found when we were in the warehouse and literally just walked through the aisles and whipped together my bouquet – everything I wanted!! It was fantastic. Silk flowers totally saved our budget, too!

Another fun part was our dessert menu. We went back and forth between sheet cake, then cheesecake, then my dad (who was another critical part of making this day a success) thought about dessert bars. He and my little sister put their baking selves to work and tried recipe after recipe of homemade dessert bars. They even froze them and thawed them to see which ones would last best after being frozen. Once the winners were decided, we had family friends that all offered to make them, freeze them and bring them to the wedding. And they were ALL amazing. We had: Snickerdoodle bars, Lemon brownies, Cranberry Bliss bars, Spice Bars, Caramel Morsel Bars and Rice Krispie Treats.

The dresser we had on stage was Kyle’s great grandma’s – his mom refinished it and made it PERFECT for our setup.

My uncle had just gotten married a few weeks before and he and his wife let me use a lot of their stuff, including the chalkboards, wine barrel for the cake, easels for the windows and the old suitcase for the cards! I’m not kidding about true group effort!

What was the most meaningful part of your day?

Obviously making a covenant before God and our family and friends to commit to my best friend was kind of the biggest moment, but reflecting back on the day, both Kyle & I cannot believe how much help and support we got from our friends and family. From our GIANT bridal party helping with setup and take down, to other family members and friends making our desserts, to all of our guests who showed up to celebrate with us, we are truly blessed! Not to mention our wonderful parents who played a HUGE part in making our vision for the day a reality!
Did anything funny or out of the ordinary happen?

We wanted to take communion during our ceremony, it was important to both of us. Somehow in the craziness of the day, everyone forgot to get the bread & juice. We had catered food for lunch, so the bread ended up being a garlic breadstick and all they could find for juice at a gas station was some sparkling drink. So after the prayer, it took a little more chewing to get it that breadstick to go down, and there is actually a picture of us laughing. While we still participated in our communion, and the bread and juice served their symbolic purpose; it was fun for us to share that moment.
Tell us details of the events surrounding the wedding…

Being that it was Christmas, it was pure madness in the weeks before the wedding. But all worth it in the end. Our honeymoon was spent in Rome & Paris!! AMAZING! We were in Rome for Christmas and Paris for New Year’s, talk about the trip of a lifetime!

How did you know your partner was “the one”?

Kyle will tell you he knew when he met me. He actually proposed to me every day for two weeks before we were dating (and I always said no). One of the proposals was on Thanksgiving, and he called when I was with my family, so they all gave him the nickname “Marry-Me-Kyle”, even though I swore we were just friends. Our entire relationship, that’s how he has been referred to by my family. After dating all four years of college, we became best friends and when he proposed on our four year anniversary (in New York!!), he finally got the yes he was waiting for. As far as how I knew, I just knew we got along amazing, he was a fantastic man and were both willing to go into marriage selflessly and with Christ at our center, that makes all the difference.

Any advice you’d give new brides who are just getting started?

Always remember what the whole day is about. You are planning a party to celebrate you and the love of your life. While it is SO easy to get carried away with details and thinking about what other people want, always remember it’s about you and your man. If you have to make compromises, do it, it’s not worth surrounding your day with unnecessary conflict! At the end of the day, you get to leave with your HUSBAND, and that should be your priority in planning. But don’t think for a moment that I didn’t have conflict moments, just they were over things I’m pretty sure I haven’t thought about since the day was over! Learn from my silly mistake!

Vendors:

Photographer: Ian Andrew Photography

Venue: Living Way Church, Poway, CA

Dress: David’s Bridal

Shoes: TOMS

Accessories: David’s Bridal and my mom’s earrings
Catering: El Ranchito Mexican Food, Poway

Flowers: Michelle Bellmyer,  Orange Blossom Floral Design