A DIY Wedding with a Mountaintop View: Larry & Chelsea

December 21, 2011

Have you ever seen anything as beautiful as Larry & Chelsea’s mountaintop wedding? Just look at that view! The lucky couple we’re married at the bride’s parents home (OK I’m now officially jealous) and although it doesn’t look like it, they had a small budget to work with.

“Although we had financial limits, hand making everything not only saved us money, but it made everything much more personal and special,” Chelsea told me. “I will cherish every hilarious moment I spent crafting and to finally see all our hard work come together was awesome. I never thought I could pull it off and I got it all done in time and I am damn proud of myself!! The essential item to a DIY wedding? Get a dang glue gun girl…Oh and start early!!!”

The bride wore two dresses, the first, from David’s Bridal for the ceremony, and the second, a one of a kind custom made dress by Deborah Lindquist.

“I don’t think we had a specific theme in mind, we definitely wanted to incorporate Larry’s love for skating but we just wanted everything to have a romantic old school vibe to it,” Chelsea continued. “My husband and I are old souls and our love of things with throwback flair came out a little bit. We still wanted it to look like a wedding though so I think that it made all the fun things pop. So we kept that in mind when picking everything out. We got lucky last minute on our cake table. My stepdad had planned to make a distressed and rustic table but didnt have the time with all the last minute stuff. He ended up working a job where the property owner was getting rid of a 1922 Wedgewood Oven. The thing weighs a ton but we got it moved in time. My husband then spent several hours grinding rust off of it and we realized that it was manufactured on our wedding day 90 years ago!”

“Skateboarding has been my husbands first love for the last 20 years, and if it hadn’t been for a taste of the good weather and skatespots in southern Cali, I never would’ve met him. In fact he used to give skateboarding lessons to little kids at one of our big local parks and he conned me into a date by having a 6 year old ask me out! What a cheat. I ended up taking a ton of his old skateboarding magazines and used a scalloped puncher to create all the paper flowers in the wedding. His boutonniere was a flower that I made out of an old photo of a Rob Roskopp Santa Cruz board that I found. It took forever to make everything but it turned out awesome. We also used a board deck as our guestbook which is now mounted up on our living room wall. Who really ever looks at the guestbook every again?”

“I think the most Rock n Roll thing is being true to yourself despite the norms or cliches,” Chelsea concluded “Never compromising your day for what others think it should be. So many people give into the hype and structure of what a wedding should be like. Between the stacks of magazines and where to seat your crazy Uncle its really easy to lose yourself in the process. Truth of the matter is that you found the one amazing person to commit to you through every crazy moment of forever. Who cares if the dress isnt white or if your first dance song was “Thank You” by Led Zeppelin. Your day should scream ‘you!’ and no Mom I will not be covering my tattoos!”

Utterly gorgeous! Thank you to Larry & Chelsea and their photographer Leila for sharing these today.

Supporting Cast:

Photography Credit: Leila Brewster Photography
Venue: Parent’s Home
Bride’s Dress: David’s Bridal & Deborah Lindquist
Bride’s Shoes: Steve Madden
Bride’s Headpiece: ban.do
Bride’s Jewellery: Betsey Johnson
Groom’s Outfit: H&M
Cake: DIY
Flowers: My Splendid Sentiments
Hair: Bekah Salazar
Make Up: Nina Angela Fojas
Band: The Trip
Stationery: Aprilink & DIY
Caterers: Jaramillo Catering
Lighting: Allie’s Party Rentals