Real Wedding: Kim and Clayton

Today’s wedding is a lovely vintage ranch wedding in beautiful Carmel Valley. All the DIY details are so sweet and the bride is just beyond stunning!

The gorgeous Kim shares all the details:

Let me begin by saying that our wedding was everything and more than we had ever dreamed of. With the help and love of many friends and God we had our perfect wedding. When beginning the planning, my husband and I wanted to create an environment that was beautiful but also relaxing. We wanted to celebrate our wedding day with the ones closest to us in an environment that felt comfortable and fun without taking away the romance of our love. The one place we felt like we could create that environment was at our dear friends ranch in Carmel Valley California. A place I dreamed of getting married at since the age of seven.

With the current economy, my husband and I had to pay for the wedding on our own. In doing so, we took on many DIY projects to help cut costs. We had fun doing the projects together and felt like we appreciated our wedding that much more. Here is a list of the DIY projects we did: My jewelry – I made it out of several different salvage jewelry pieces to create a unique look. My veil – It cots me $13 to make and only a few hours of sewing to create a veil identical to one I saw at the bridal store for $180. My bridal bouquet – I hand glued the gems onto pins that went inside the center of the roses in my bouquet. I also soldered the picture charm that hung on my bouquet that held a picture of my grandparents on their wedding day on one side and my parents on their wedding day on the opposite side.

The chalk board signs – My husband and I searched the thrift stores in the area for old picture frames. With a little paint we were able to create custom chalk boards. The hanging pomander balls – This was probably our favorite project because we had to shop at every Michaels Crafts Store from southern California to central California in order to find all of the flowers needed to make the balls full. The flower girl baskets and ring boys pillow – I made them custom to match our wedding from fabric and baskets I found at the thrift store. The pillow was made from extra fabric from one of the flower girls dresses that had to be taken in.The plates – My husband and I found it cheaper to buy plates and china from thrift stores instead of renting them. We collected them in white and cream. Some with patterns and some without. We were able to keep some of our favorites and sell the others afterwards to make a profit!

The whole day was such a dream come true and filled with so many great moments. One of my favorite moments of the day was when I was driving out to the ranch to get ready in the morning I saw a sign that said “I love you Berly (My nickname)” from my husband that he had gotten up at 4am to put up for me. That was the beginning of the tears. A moment that we both treasured so much was taking communion together when the pastor asked us to feed each other. He emphasized the fact that we were now each-others husband and wife. One of my husbands favorite memories was playing baseball in the field with our ring boy and dear friend. We both love to have fun and we both love kids. That was certainly a highlight for us.

Photography | Jessica Velarde

Rentals | Hodges Rentals