Brent Van Auken Photography » Blog

Inspiration came from every corner of my life, as well as my supplies. My mom had a collection of milk glass vases that became the candle holders, and all of the Mason Jars came from my photographer’s (Brent Van Auken) sister, who is a wedding planner. The Burlap was a fifty-foot roll I found on eBay, and the cupcake-tier we decorated ourselves (thanks Michaela and Joel!). The little birds that were on the cupcakes I found at the Dollar Tree and all our candles were from Wal-Mart. I went into a local antique shop, Antique Cottage & Garden in Shasta Lake, to see if I could rent a chandelier, and the lady who was working just so happened to have one at her house. She cleaned it up that weekend and rented it to me for less than it would have been through the store.

There are resources everywhere, be willing to ask for help and don’t go over your budget. You will find a good deal, people love weddings and will cut you some slack when you’re honest about how much you can really spend. But also remember to pass it on, refer everyone who made your day a success.

Everyone who was involved in making my day happen were all the most amazing people ever. My florist, Jeanine was the sweetest lady, referred to me by a friend who was recently married. She had never done a wedding like mine, but she was so jazzed about it. She described being so sick of doing “roundy-moundies” and excited to try something a little more wild. She did such an amazing job, I cried when I saw my bouquet, it was just perfect. My baker, Audrey, is a good friend whose family owns a local sourdough bakery. For it her first time doing wedding cupcakes she did an absolutely amazing job. There were so many more people who bent over backwards for us, each and everyone of them are absolutely amazing.

2. Favorite memory of the day?

My favourite moment for sure was right when I walked around the corner and I saw Mason for the first time, he started to cry and one by one, each of the bridal party began to cry. By the time I finally reached Mason, everybody at the front (all 17 of them) had tears in their eyes.

I loved the ceremony the best, looking back I spent so much time on all the details for the reception and decor, but my favourite part was when Mason and I read our vows to each other. Sharing what was in the deepest parts of our hearts, and what we vowed to give each other for the rest of our lives was one of the most powerful parts of the whole wedding. It was as if it was just the two of us, and everything had built up to that moment.

My photographer was brilliant and recently married( his wedding was featured here, Brent and Rachel’s wedding), so he and his wife were so wonderful helping us pose for photos while we were still dazed. I loved that they took just Mason and I for our couple shots first, it gave us a few moments before the craziness of group shots and the reception to relish the fact that we were finally married. That was absolutely another one of my favourite moments

3. Any advice for those planning now?

Go crazy! I don’t mean blow your budget and spend all your funds, I mean really invest yourself in making this day an expression of who you and your husband-to-be are individually, then as two individuals coming together as one. The way you combine what you each bring to the table will be so much better than anything you see in a magazine and try to reproduce.

Go together to search for inspiration, use this as a creative outlet where you guys can really learn more about each other. Most of the best ideas from the wedding were from Mason, and the theme slowly worked around his dream of a night wedding with candlelight everywhere.

Refuse to stress about the details. If anything is causing you stress, re-evaluate if it really is that important. Enjoy all the DIY projects you want to do for the wedding.

But start early, use movie nights to stamp envelopes or put together favours as soon as you can. You are gonna want to spend as much time with the people you love the week before the wedding, as well as make your week as stress free as possible for you and everyone around you.

Ask someone to run your day for you. The last thing you want to do the morning of the wedding is to be setting all your place settings, when really you could be getting your hair done and your feet massaged at the same time. Jessica Akers, I love you. She spent all of that day making sure I never knew that anything went wrong and that I had the most fun of my life getting ready for my wedding.

If anyone offers to help you, say yes. Find something that they can do, nothing is too small or insignificant. People who love you will feel loved and important on your special day if they see the cup-cake tier, cloth napkins, or favour bags they helped make for you. They will feel like they helped make your day happen for you and will feel proud to say they were a part of it.

A wedding is ultimately an expression of love between two people before the whole world, so allow the love that you feel to permeate everything that you do.

From this day forward,
You shall not walk alone.
My heart will be your shelter,
And my arms will be your home.