u/chellefsh

Hi everyone! I had a lot of fun making little DIY projects for our whimsical forest wedding and wanted to share :)

1. Velvet mushrooms: bases are glass vases filled with plush stuffing & rocks, then covered with velvet. Caps are plastic bowls covered with velvet. To decorate, we added flat-back pearl beads or pearl trim or charms.
2. The velvet mushrooms were used to line ceremony aisle, then repurposed for reception & a fairy ring photo op
3. Mirror welcome sign: mirror found on FB Marketplace, Cricut’d wording
4. Invites and programs were drawn by me, then printed at a local print shop. Envelope liners were cut out with my Cricut
5. Programs included a note from us, schedule, wedding party line-up, bar menu, and the seating chart. Basket sign was Cricut’d on some linen
6. Cake topper (our zodiac animals!) was made from Sculpey clay, the wood base they're standing on is from Etsy
7. Table number holders were wooden animals (from FB Marketplace, Etsy) that we cut a notch in
8. Menus (and table numbers) were printed at home on handmade paper from Etsy
9. Bar menu was made on Canva with some pet art by me, then printed at Walgreens
10. Temporary tattoo bar included our actual matching cat tattoos and a cute drawing of us by my 5 y/o niece and were printed through Etsy sellers
11. Giant crossword was created using an online crossword maker, assembled in Canva, and printed at Walgreens. The big frame we found on FB Marketplace. This was super fun to see everyone working together
12. S'mores kits had to be assembled the day before so they wouldn't get too stale, these were a hit

All in all, we probably did NOT save much money doing these, but they were fun to make and added personalization to our day!

Hi everyone, we graduated April 25th at Deer Park Villa in Marin County, wanted to share our budget & vendor recap in case it's useful to someone! We were pretty on-target with our budget, since we didn't originally count rehearsal lunch and tips anyway.

Guests invited: 161
Guests attended: 122
Target budget: $65,000
Actual spend: $71,143

REHEARSAL LUNCH: $1,300
We had rehearsal the morning before and then had lunch at Laos Kitchen in San Rafael for 32 people. Everything was super delicious and reasonably priced, highly recommend.

VENUE: $17,440
Deer Park Villa felt like an enchanted courtyard in a fantasy forest. It was so beautiful that we decided we could scale back on the florals and let the surroundings speak for themselves. The cost includes their inventory of tables, chairs, wooden arch, barrels, easels, etc. We also added on the Bridal Cottage rental, which was VERY worth it for our bridal party. It was spacious, well-lit, and provided an extra 3 bathrooms.

The venue manager, Vivian, was always responsive and helpful so it was a great experience with DPV. We were able to drop off our items the day before (during rehearsal) and pick up the day after (before noon).

FOOD: $14,000
Trattoria di Vittorio is a preferred caterer with DPV. We had passed appetizers, plated salads, 4 family-style entrées, and tiramisu for dessert (served alongside cake). Vittorio also provided all necessary staffing, dishware, and linens. Everything was tasty with generous portions (and refills!), which was important to us.

DRINKS: $7,912
The bar package is through the venue (no outside alcohol). We opted for the beer+wine package with 2 signature cocktails and a champagne toast. The bar service was amazingly smooth, our guests have commented how surprised they were that there was almost never a line!

PHOTOGRAPHER: $5,250
We loved our photographer Hyemee (merrydio.photo on IG)! She is so experienced, understood our vision, and kept things running with us when the day-of coordinator was busy doing other things. We asked for mostly candids with some posed photos, which she seamlessly directed us through. The package was $5,000 for 8-hour coverage with a second shooter, plus $250 add-on for an extra hour. Our full album isn't back yet, but she was so generous with the sneak peeks that I had plenty to add here already :)

DJ: $2,295
Runaway DJ is the preferred DJ with DPV, so they knew the venue like the back of their hand while also having great pricing so it was an easy decision to go with them. DJ Dom MC'd announcements for us and kept the dance floor bumping with our favorite songs.

VIDEOGRAPHER: $2,000
We wanted to keep the memories of important events but didn’t care too much about getting the edited videos or content, so we asked a talented filmmaker cousin to take raw videos for us so we could have them home movie-style.

HAIR & MAKEUP: $1,975
This includes bridal hair & makeup as well as hair & makeup for 3 other people and one service (hair or makeup) for 4 other people. Bridal hair & makeup was done by BeautywithCherie and she made me look like a fairy princess! Cherie was meticulous with the details and worked with me to make sure everything was exactly to my preference. She brought along 2 assistants so we could all be done in a reasonable timeframe.

A couple women weren’t 100% satisfied with their results with the assistants, but they were also working on much more of a time crunch with no trial, so I think it’s par for the course. Everyone still looked beautiful and elegant!

FLORALS + DECOR: $3,375
Our florals (by eventful_studios on IG) were heavy on the greenery with an assortment of white flowers (mix of real + faux per my request) to stay within our budget. The cost was $2,375 for the arch, aisle markers, bridal bouquet, 6 bridesmaids bouquets, 7 boutonnieres, 2 flower girl crowns, and centerpieces (head table + 13 guest tables).

I estimate ~$1,000 was spent on miscellaneous items (candles, vases, mirrors, signage, baskets, pens, wooden animals for table number holders, Instax film, etc.)

CAKE: $932
Strawberry shortcake from Satura Bakery in Los Altos - so good!! We got a 7" cutting cake and sheet cakes for the guests.

ATTIRE: $3,953
Wedding dress ($1,900), veil ($200), and alterations ($600) were from J'aime Bridal in Pleasanton and their in-house tailor, Janis. Shoes were $88, the Naturalizer Vera Sandal was so comfortable I didn't even need to change out of my heels! Halo headband was from Cayla Couture ($165) and jewelry was kindly gifted by my mother.

Groom's custom suit ($800) and bow tie and groomsmens' matching ties ($200) were from Hong Kong.

DAY-OF COORDINATOR: $2,750
Erin with Riley Reece Events was a preferred planner/coordinator with DPV. Nothing went wrong, which I will attribute to her hard work behind the scenes! There were some details with decor that didn't turn out exactly as communicated, but nothing ever goes 100% according to the dream vision. We didn't have to think about any logistics on the day of, so I'm happy!

STATIONERY: $674
Invites ($130) and programs ($319) were drawn by me and printed at a local print shop. The programs included the seating chart inside so we didn’t need to make a separate one. Menus & table numbers were $185 for the paper and printed on a used color printer ($40 from FB Marketplace). Envelope liners were also DIY.

RINGS: $1,900
$1,600 for my wedding band from Mist Fine Jewelry in SF, $300 for his wedding band from Hong Kong

SHUTTLE: $1,657
We used Umbrella Global Bus for our shuttle service to & from our hotel blocks in San Rafael. Of note, they ran a little late which made guests nervous that they had missed the shuttle altogether. But everyone was picked up and made it to the ceremony on time so all was fine in the end.

MISCELLANEOUS: $3,830

• Tips: $3,300
• Late-night snacks (s'mores kits, instant ramen bar): ~$100
• Temporary tattoo bar: ~$100
• Giant crossword: $30 for the frame (FB Marketplace) and $20 for the poster (printed at Walgreens)
• Dance classes: $280 for 3 lessons from Park Avenue Ballroom in San Jose. Highly recommended for beginners! We wanted a relaxed, not-too-choreographed yet polished first dance and got exactly that
• Outside help: so much personalization was only possible thanks to a kindly gifted Cricut from my sister!! The materials for our DIY velvet mushrooms were purchased by my amazing bridesmaid