Cherry Valley Wedding
The bride from this wedding sent to us by the incredible Brent Van Auken has not one, but two amazingly talented aunts — one of which arranged all of the flowers for her niece’s wedding day, and the other made the bride’s wedding gown, her veil, and all of the bridesmaids dresses! The newlyweds were married under a 1,100-year-old tree in California, and had a reception filled with personal touches. They even made these DIY wooden slice coasters we shared a while ago!
From the bride, Michelle: The style that I was envisioning for our wedding day was a romantic country night with candlelight and some adjectives that describe our wedding would be romantic, enchanting, and country. I had a theme of wood, burlap and lace with the colors of mauve and gray.
The whole wedding was a do it yourself project. We did everything on our own. All the decorations were put together by myself and my family. My sister, Nicole Amweg, was a huge help. We made all the signs (bar, love story, find your way, directions, dessert). All the centerpieces I put together myself. The gift table, the guestbook, the head table and the dessert table were a DIY collaboration.
Any advice for brides planning their weddings now? The best advice I can give a bride is to be organized! If you don’t have a wedding planner, like myself, just be on top of it. Make detailed instructions for each person involved and a detailed schedule for the day of. I even took pictures for the decorations before hand and packaged them in boxes with labels, so the people setting up had a clear instruction of what I wanted everything to look like.
View all images from this wedding in the gallery
Wedding Music:
Processional: Pachelbel’s “Canon in D”
Recessional: “Party Rock Anthem,” LMFAO
First Dance: “Then,” Brad Paisley
Father/Daughter Dance: “My Little Girl,” Tim McGraw
Groom/Mother-in-Law Dance: “Mama’s Song,” Carrie Underwood
Wedding Location: Cherry Valley, CA / Wedding Venue, Caterer, and Linens: Highland Springs Resort / Wedding Photographer: Brent Van Auken Photography / Florist: Bride’s Aunt Brenda Struiksma / Wedding Dress, Veil, and Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Made by bride’s Aunt, Linda Struiksma / Bride’s Shoes: 1883 / Bride’s Earrings: Isis Bridal / Makeup: Sara Quiroz / Hair: Kimberly Lyon of Lux Salon / Groom and Groomsmen’s Suits: Jean Yves / DJ: Paul Pierce with Music Unlimited / Wedding Invitations: Beth Cote
Love all the details – particularly the cowboy boots! What an incredible amount of time and thought has gone into every element of this wedding.
WHERE did you get that dress? i’ve been looking for weeks and that is the EXCACT dress i am wanting. 🙂 BEAUTIFUL wedding, btw.
In LOVE with this wedding, great inspiration! 🙂
I’m obsessed with this wedding on so many levels! The scenery, the ceremony under the giant oak, all the country/vintage elements-they’re all spectacular! And could the flower girl and ring bearer be any more adorable?!?
This wedding is absolutely amazing! I would love to know where you guys found the flower girl dress, I’ve looked everywhere close to where I live and can’t seem to find one like that. Everything about this wedding was just amazing.