Our DIY County Fair Wedding

It has been so hard to write a wedding blog- what do I focus on? The preparations, the party, the way it feels?  Everything was magical and perfect, but it would also be about a billion words to type it all out.  Not quite blog-friendly.  So here’s a list of all of the things.  All of them.

We met:

In 2010 when I was a guest co-host on his show.

We re-met:

And we started dating:

…and discovered we fit in each others clothes. Turns out we had a lot in common.

The Proposal:

Engaged at LA Zinefest 2013!  Here’s that story.

So then the planning had to start.

We started a pinterest board with my mom and my best friend Aurora.  We opted to skip renting a hall and chose the far more personal route of inviting people to our place.  That meant a lot of work was ahead of us though.  We picked a county fair theme.  Well, I picked it and he went with it because I told him he could drink out of a mason jar.

The Engagement Photos:

We asked my cousin Brittany to run around downtown with us to get some cute photos of us in our element.  In this case, running from the DA’s office.

The Invitation:

Aurora may be my best friend, but she’s also my best artist.  Earlier in the year I’d commissioned a piece from her that incorporated my cat Pokey and Downtown Fresno.  It was a no brainer to have invitations created by her as well.  If you want personal and perfect wedding invitations, get in touch with her.  We could have ordered invites from a catalog.  Oh wait, no we couldn’t.  When you get engaged at ZineFest that sets the bar high, our invitations had to be full of handmade goodness.

The Dress:

Alika Dress from the Bettie Page Store. I found it when we were on vacation in San Francisco and had to have it.

The Bachelorette Party:

Not so hot on traditional “bride wears a crown of penises” bachelorette parties, Aurora threw me an Anne of Green Gables party, complete with Cherry Cordial and frocks.

The Hair:

I had no plans to go all bridezilla on errbody, but I did want the best hair ever.  There’s only one person to call for the best hair ever and it also includes a trip to LA.  For color that is an inspired work of art, I knew I would be in good hands with Tanya Ramirez.  Read Aurora’s blog to get more details about my day of color perfection.

The Shoes:

Chuck built his outfit on the shoes we found at BeBe O’s in Fresno’s Tower District, I unfortunately had a much harder time finding the perfect pair.  So after 6 days of fruitless shopping I went to the craft store and grabbed the exact shade of orange spray paint I was looking for and painted a pair I already owned.

 The Groom’s Haberdashery:

That handsome man I now call my husband was entirely clad in vintage finds from BeBe O’s.  They’re the best, we’d asked them to keep their eyes open for the kind of suit we wanted and they found it, with pants and even a matching belt!

The Wedding Party:

Being that we’re a blended family, we wanted to make sure our kids were a huge part of the ceremony.  Nikk was Chuck’s Best Man and Cary and Mollie were my Best Man and Maid of Honor.

The Bouquet:

Aurora and I had planned on making these during my Bachelorette Party but we got drunk on cherry cordial, so Aurora took matters into her own hands and created this beautiful display using the same paper my mom used for the decorative bunting. They were perfect and unique.

She also made Mother-Daughter floral cat ears for Mollie and I:

And my veil:

The Decor:

Checkered tablecloths, bright paper bunting, mason jars and hay bales were everywhere!

 

We put some of our engagement shots on bamboo skewers and put them into the floral arrangements.  We also made sure everyone knew our hashtag for the wedding.  Important details for today’s modern couple.

 The Ceremony:

 

We asked my dad to officiate our ceremony.  In addition to being the best dad in the universe, he and Chuck have become great friends, it felt right to have him be part of our wedding in this way.  Plus, we knew he wouldn’t wanna do things by the book.  And he didn’t.  Our vows included Beatles and Beach Boys lyrics, he threw in jabs at us when he could and had everyone in attendance experiencing severe mood swings- he took everyone from hysterical laughter to sentimental tears.  It was perfect.  But probably the most memorable part of our ceremony was….

The Unity Margarita:

It started as a joke while my dad was over one night before the wedding and we were all sitting on the tailgate of the pickup.  He said we should make margaritas during our ceremony as we were brainstorming things that my mom would never approve of.  Then we all stopped and said “Wait, we can make Margaritas relevant”.  If people can mix sand or light unity candles, we certainly could do something like that.  Mixing tequila and margarita mix didn’t seem too far fetched- I mean, sand?  Really?  At least this was functional.  Then we took it to the metaphorical level- a blended drink for a blended family.  We had our moms pour the mystery liquids into the blender, the smaller kids dumped the ice and Nikk salted the rim of our mason jar.  Those of us over 21 had our margarita, and my dad had capri-sun pouches for Cary and Mollie.  It was kind of awesome, in that total lush sort of way.

Our wonderful friend Pieter Moerdyk played “When I’m 64” after we were pronounced Man and Wife and we danced off the flatbed trailer stage.

The Reception:

Because I wanted a baked potato bar I spent the morning scrubbing potatoes with my sister and her mother-in-law.  Most brides spend their wedding morning in the beauty parlor.  I spent mine scooping dog poop and scrubbing potatoes.  I hope Chuck appreciates that about me.

Our dinner spread was delicious- Salad bar, potato bar and the requisite tri-tip for the omnivores among us.

The Band:

Motel Drive!

The First Dance:

My dad jumped on stage and took the mic from Motel Drive and sang his own rendition of “Paint it Black” by the stones.  It was so much fun.

The Cake:

A sweet little vegan chocolate cake from Charlotte’s. <3

Bouquet and Garter Toss:

The ladies actually behaved themselves pretty well, and after my first failed launch of my bouquet, my cousin Stacy caught it!

Chuck looking for it more thoroughly than necessary.  This may have scarred Cary for life.

The boys were a little more grabby.  Look at these two.  It’s because they both have really rad lady-friends, I’m certain of it.  Anyway, H. caught it!

And then the band took a break and Nikk and his friend Xelsta took to the stage:

And freakin’ killed it.

All the while, the drinks kept flowing:

Thanks to my sister Amanda, her husband Chris and our friends Shelby and Doug, no one was thirsty!  Mojitos, margaritas, tequila sunrises and Shirley Temples for all!

The Guest Book:

My mom had this brilliant idea to put out a box of Jenga blocks for our loved ones to sign.  The messages on each block range from touching to humorous and they’re perfect mementos of our big day.

It’s at this point that I have to stop and thank my mom.  She’s awesome in so many ways and she took the ideas we had and made them a reality- even with a broken foot!  She’s the best!

Our celebration was perfect and we want to thank everyone who has offered us support and congratulations.