Easy DIY Project: Dress up garden lights (solar string lights are an enviro-friendly option) in pretty cupcake liners. They’re not meant for long-term use though so better take off the liners once your event is done. See the tutorial at Family Chic.

Fab wedding: I’m 100% sure you will LOVE this retro-tastic Beatles-themed wedding complete with subtle nods to Fab Four mania, found on HiFi Weddings. (I’m not ashamed to say that hubby and I have those Yellow Sub McFarlane figurines in our toy collection being Beatles fans ourselves)

Custom watercolor invitations: Amy of The TreeSpace Studio is one of the very first friends I made through this blog and I’ve always been a fan of her art. Visit her newly-refurbished shop to see more of her lovely handmade watercolor invitations! She also offers special discounts via her Facebook page so please “like” it if you haven’t yet.

Art Inspiration: I’m in love with how Peruvian artist Cecilia Paredes seamlessly blends herself into various decorative backgrounds. Hmm, engagement photo session idea? Found on Design Taxi.

Green is In:  Eco-Friendly Wedding Exits – photographer Carolyn Scott (whose work was previously featured here) lists wedding exits that have impact and, more importantly, won’t harm animals or wildlife. (photo by Kristy Hogan)

Sneak Peeks: These pretties are just a few of what you can expect to see here this coming week so please stop by!

Heather and Aaron are both artists so it’s no surprise that their wedding is chock-full of creative details and lots of personal DIY touches. Nothing present in their wedding did not represent them, from their venue (it was held in their bungalow) to the artworks on the walls, to what they wore and who they spent it with. They kept it really small and celebrated among only the closest of friends and family.

I’m very thankful to photographer Carmen Salazar for sending this amazing wedding my way so without further chit chat, here are the photos.

What an adorable couple! Here’s Carmen to tell us more about the wedding and the awesome details:

Heather and Aaron are both artists and are very tied to the local art community in their town. Heather is a musician that has hosted her own local radio music show and Aaron is part of a cooperative gallery. Both wanted to make sure that their ceremony reflected their passion for art and sharing it with their closest friends and family.

Aaron and Heather decided to have their ceremony in their charming bungalow in Curtis Park. Their house is filled with great artwork collected from friends and they felt it was the perfect backdrop for their ceremony. In addition, the couple commissioned a local artist to create an art installation for their ceremony. A custom-made background was hand-cut from felt to create a beautiful and radiating design with which the couple would get married in front of. The artist also had balloons fill with hand-cut confetti that were all tied together with string. If you touched any strung balloon the motion would radiate around the room causing all of the balloons to dance. The artist wanted it to signify how interconnected every guest was and how impactful each person is to each other’s lives… pretty deep, I know! Each guest was also given a straight pin to pop the balloons as the bride and groom walked down the aisle creating a rain of confetti!

The bride’s dress was from JCrew and her boots belonged to the groom’s grandfather who had passed away recently which she wore with sixpence in it for good luck. The hair piece was from Etsy and the bride’s bouquet and groom’s boutonniere was handmade by the maid of honor as a gift. The groom’s tie was custom made by a local embroidery with the art direction of the bride. Apparently surfing is a big thing for the groom hence the shark. The maid of honor’s dress was vintage. I hope you enjoy the images of this wonderfully sweet couple!

I’m sure you’d like to know more about the couple and the artistic awesomeness so I’m glad the lovely Heather is here to tell us more about their special day.

Honestly, everything came together in a very natural and spontaneous way.  We never had a theme in mind or anything…

Aaron is an artist who runs a gallery in town and we met through a mutual artist friend, Gioia Fonda. Gioia offered to make the orange and white backdrop.  All that was required of me was to purchase a few yards of orange felt for the wall and she arrived at our house with boxes of little white felt pieces that she carefully placed over the course of 3 days on the orange felt wall.  Of course we knew the ceremony would have to center around this piece — no brainer!

Gioia’s next instruction: 40 balloons filled with “Heather and Aaron” typewritten confetti pieces and then filled with helium.  These tasks were so much fun with friends to do it with.  Upon arrival, each guest was given a pin with which to prick the confetti balloons after the ceremony ended — it was a blast!  Giving everyone fun “jobs” eliminated stale wedding manner behavior, for sure…

Heather shares some more details about what went on:

We had just a few rules that we stuck by: At all costs we would keep it small.  Immediate family only and one friend each — who had important jobs. They ran the ceremony!  Oh, plus Gioia who was the decorator and record player operator, and gave a great speech.

The ONLY thing we splurged on, as in, “We don’t care how much it costs, we want the best” was hiring Carmen Salazar.  We wanted someone to tell our story who would “get us” and love us, and love the whole thing right along with us.  So, Carmen was invited to be in the circle – and we were so right to put our trust in her.

I have to mention Stephanie Rea and John Serences, Our two friend guests. Stephanie flew in from Boston.  She hand-crafted my bouquet out of buttons and fabric and ribbon (it will always be as fresh as day one!) and played the “rhumba” version of “Here Comes The Bride” on our little organ.  She also helped run the ceremony and gave a spontaneous heartfelt speech.

John had obtained a mail-order ministry title: “Apostle of Humility” in order to legally marry us.  He had written a secret speech for us and — not two minutes in — had us crying.

A few more words of advice from the bride:

What I would love for brides to think about is trying to keep everything “in the family.” There wasn’t anyone involved who “had done this a million times”– we all felt like we were inventing something for the first time ever.

Also, my husband Aaron was so good at spotting something that didn’t ring true for us.  It was due to his ability to spot the “real deal” that we found Carmen.

Up until the very last second of planning, we were tossing things out the window that weren’t “us.” To be honest, we had to say “no” a lot in order to preserve what we most wanted above all… As Aaron put it, “we don’t want to lose each other in this process”. In the end, I would call it success on this point because Aaron described the whole thing as almost like being alone with people watching, but without any self-consciousness.  We didn’t want this to be a “blur”… and I think sticking to our guns and going with our guts made it possible for us to enjoy every minute of the ceremony.

I love this wedding and I appreciate that Heather was generous enough to share a lot of insight on how they made their celebration unique with all the crafty details while keeping it meaningful and representative of themselves as a couple.

A huge thank you to Carmen Salazar for the gorgeous photos and congratulations to Heather and Aaron for having such a beautiful celebration. Thank you for allowing us a peek into your special day!

Photographer:  Carmen Salazar Photography
Venue: Private residence (Sacramento, CA)

Image submission via Two Bright Lights

Here’s what Eddie had to say about the wedding:

All weddings are special. Whether it’s attended by a handful of people or 200 people they’re all important days for everyone involved. Then there are those that have just a little something extra special that you can’t quite put your finger on and this was one of those weddings. At the risk of sounding like a complete cheeseball I think it was the love that everyone who was there has for Isabel & Arturo. I felt it from the moment I walked into the home of Isabel’s parents to very end of the night. The ceremony was beautiful and the reception held at the Zhou B Art Center in Bridgeport was so much fun that the world ‘fun’ doesn’t do it justice. There were mariachis, the groom being tossed in the air, the bride being hoisted up by some of her bridesmaids and more mariachis. No one wanted the night to end including me. It was fantastic.

Having just finished choosing photos to include in this feature, I completely agree — I couldn’t stop posting images myself because Eddie did a marvelous job of capturing all the raw emotion and infectious happiness that was present in this celebration. You’ll know what I mean once you scroll down.

It’s time to meet the handsome couple. The lovely Isabel is here to tell us more about her and Arturo and how they got together.

I’ve known Arturo for almost 9 years and we have dated for 8. We met through my sister and his cousin who were in college together. At the time my brother who was a student at Columbia College in Chicago was shooting a music video at an abandoned warehouse. My sister invited her friends (who all happened to be in a band) over to see the recording of the video, Arturo was the drummer in the band. Interestingly enough, the warehouse where the video was shot is one block away from our wedding venue, the Zhou B. Art Center. After years of concerts, trips and great dinners he proposed after we both ran the Chicago Marathon in 2008. Two big accomplishments in one day, we were happy and exhausted. I added a picture just for fun.

Aww, so sweet!

Isabel on their wedding’s theme:

We really didn’t have a theme when we started, but after several conversations over wine with my hubbie, my sister and great friend Zenia from Flor del Monte we decided on a green forest/elegant/traditional Mexican (if this makes any sense) wedding. Our venue was an art gallery with raw floors and white walls, I thought it would be challenging to make it look great, but Flor del Monte did an awesome job of combining the shades of pinks and greens. To our surprise the work exposed at the gallery for that month was amazing and fit perfectly with our theme.

I think it was all about the small details. Putting on a wedding is really overwhelming no matter the size (we had about 200 guests). Although our wedding was very traditional, we had a lot of small details that made it special. Some to share:

• Arturo and I are both very close to our families (this includes our extended family), so we wanted them to be part of our wedding party.
• We had our Mariachi play towards the end of the night as opposed to during cocktail/dinner time. People feel a bit more gutsy to sing and dance then rather than when the party has just started.
• When the Mariachi started playing, we decided to walk in with the group and I had remembered that morning to pack (along with some comfortable flats) a handmade silk scarf that my mom had given me when I turned 13. I’ve only worn it on very special occasions and when my aunts and cousins saw me wearing it they started crying because they knew how special it was for me.
• We didn’t serve Mexican food. We instead went with catering from a close friend of the family David Jensen catering. He whipped up amazing appetizers and a fabulous dinner.
• We took into consideration everyone’s style of music when we created the playlist for the DJ. Music is really special for both of us and we wanted everyone to have a great time and they did!

Many thanks to Eddie of Luzco Photo for sending in the absolutely gorgeous images, and congratulations and thank you to Isabel & Arturo for allowing me to share their awesome wedding on the blog!

Photography: Eddie Quiñones of Luzco Photography
Second photographer: Patrick Farhner
Flowers: Zenia of Flor del Monte
Catering:  David Jensen Catering 773-456-3681
Venue:  Zhou B. Art Center
Bride’s dress: Weddings 826
Spinning: DJ Persist
Mariachi Music: Mariachi Perla De Mexico

Image submission via Two Bright Lights

For now, I thought it would be nice to look back and take inspiration from our January weddings — okay I included some from December that were too cool not to mention — on how to incorporate who you are into your wedding. In case you were too busy looking at the gorgeous photos and missed some of the brilliant ideas shared by our featured couples, don’t worry because I’ve isolated them in this dedicated post for your easy reference.

1. Instead of the usual guest seating cards, do as Katherine & Brad did and tie ribbons around cute, inexpensive toys (which can double as favors)

DIY Inspiration from Katherine & Brad’s wedding (photo by Carrie Wildes)

2. Here’s a wonderful table number idea: if you’re flexible like Joanna & Jan, why not pose as your table numbers and have a friend take your picture? Frame them and voila! Personalized guest table numbers.

DIY Inspiration from Joanna & Jan’s wedding (photo by Tessie Reveliotis)

3. Can’t find wedding shoes that fully expresses your awesome self? Be inspired by Kelly who bought plain “old lady” shoes from Sears which she glittered, painted and transformed into the sparkly blue pumps she wanted.

DIY Idea from Kelly and Matt’s wedding (photo by JamieY)

Mica, meanwhile bought simple ballet flats in the color she wanted and embellished it with matching felt flowers she made herself.

DIY Inspiration from Mica & Marc’s wedding (photos by MangoRed)

Kerry stuck the words “I Do” under her stilettos for a nice under-the-shoe surprise.

DIY Inspiration from Kerry & Szabolcs’ wedding (photo by Melinda Le’ Photography)

4. Instead of having a wedding cake, do as Lissa and Brian did and make lots of homemade pies and serve them to your guests. Cut a heart shape into the crust for added flair.

DIY Wedding Inspiration from Lissa & Brian’s wedding (photo by DMPJ by Glen Cooper)

5. If you’re having cake, here’s a cute idea: get one in a solid color and top it with toys of your choice. Fill piping bags with colored icing in your wedding’s color scheme and have your guests “decorate” it. Check out Mica and Marc’s super cool cake below.

DIY Inspiration from Mica & Marc’s wedding (photo by MangoRed)

6. Another simple but creative guest seating card idea: get a framed photo or painting of a tree and then stick your guest’s names on it.

DIY Wedding Inspiration from Lissa & Brian’s wedding (photos by DMPJ by Glen Cooper)

7. Allow your groom to express himself through his fashion! Tori & Adam crafted bouts out of superhero action figures and Christmas trim for their December 26 wedding.

DIY Inspiration from Tori & Adam’s wedding (photo by JoPhoto)

Katherine & Brad also embellished their boutonnieres with little Lego people that they love.

DIY Inspiration from Katherine & Brad’s wedding (photo by Carrie Wildes)

8. As mentioned here before, bouquets don’t have to be made of flowers so it can truly reflect who you are. Tori made a bouquet using Christmas ornaments for her December 26 wedding.

DIY Inspiration from Tori & Adam’s wedding (photo by JoPhoto)

Katherine compiled love notes and passages from books she loved. Her mom reproduced those pages and fashioned them into a very special paper bouquet for her.

DIY Inspiration from Katherine & Brad’s wedding (photo by Carrie Wildes)

Kai collected heirloom brooches and created a unique and personalized bouquet out of them.

DIY Inspiration from Kai & Cy’s wedding (photos by Mango Red)

9.  For an outdoor wedding, do as Kai & Cy did and line your aisle with colorful handmade pinwheels which should spin gently in the breeze.

DIY Inspiration from Kai & Cy’s wedding (photos by Mango Red)

10.  A great and simple signage idea is to get a large chalkboard and wrire/draw on it with colored chalk, as in this cute welcome sign from Rene & Adam’s wedding.

DIY Inspiration from Rene & Adam’s wedding (photo by Sikora Photography)

Chelsea and Andy had chalkboards in many different sizes and used them to label food and stations at their reception.

DIY Inspiration from Chelsea & Andy’s wedding (photo by Jackson Wright Photography)

11. Here’s a lovely way to pay tribute to family members at your wedding: hang old family photos on pretty ribbons with clothespins as Rene and Adam did.

DIY Inspiration from Rene & Adam’s wedding (photo by Sikora Photography)

12. A simple and meaningful reception decor idea is to do like Morgan and Jim and make a handmade banner spelling a favorite lyric, saying, or anything special to you!

DIY Inspiration courtesy of Morgan & Jim’s wedding (photo by Carolyn Scott)

13. A funky way to introduce your bridal party is to make flair buttons for them identifying their roles in your wedding, as seen in Karin & Craig’s celebration.

DIY Inspiration from Karin & Craig’s wedding (photo by Bowerbird Photography)

14. Photo booths are always fun. Martha & Neil had a guest message station where they could stick the photos and leave their messages beside them.

DIY Inspiration from Martha & Neil’s wedding (photo by Charo Photo)

15. For rustic weddings, make personalized wooden signs out of tree trunk slices like Sara & Jack did.

DIY Inspiration from Sara and Jack’s wedding (photo by Click Photo Designs)

16. Instead of a guest book, Sara & Jack had guests write messages on fabric squares which can be turned into a memory quilt to decorate their home after the wedding.

DIY Inspiration from Sara and Jack’s wedding (photo by Click Photo Designs)

Kelly & Matt had the same quilt guest book idea but implemented it differently – they painted embroidery hoops in their color motif and used them to hold the fabric pieces taut as guests wrote on them.

DIY Idea from Kelly and Matt’s wedding (photo by JamieY)

I hope you were able to get some creative ideas that you can tweak and turn into your own! (Hopefully I can do this monthly roundup from now on! *crosses fingers*). Remember to keep an eye on our Real Weddings and Engagements sections for more fresh, creative and wonderfully quirky wedding inspiration.

I am in love with these photos because they not only showcase the magnificent Whistler winter scenery, Anastasia also deftly captured such spontaneously sweet, tender moments between the couple.. it’s almost as if they didn’t know she was there taking pictures.

Anastasia remembers this wedding with fondness:

There are just some weddings where you know the connection is deeper and this was one of the weddings.

They were an adorable couple. They were from Australia, and she had NEVER seen snow before. This was a bit of an elopement for them with only a handful of friends and family with them. I remember the whole ceremony. It was intimate and beautiful with tears all around.

After the ceremony I took them to a huge meadow in Whistler and we went for a walk next to a river. They had a snowball fight and played in the snow. I was so worried about her getting cold but she was not at all bothered by it… just completely in the moment. I remember at one point asking them to hike a little to one location and she was knee deep in snow and he came up behind her to kiss her neck… honestly it was just authentic and gorgeous.

Such breathtaking shots!  It’s time to meet our lovely duo. Leighton is here to tell us more about him and Daisy and their wedding:

There isn’t a lot to tell about how we met as it was through mutual friends at a local nightclub in our home town. At the time, Daisy was an aspiring graphic designer working in a clothing company called Edgeless (she has since moved into her current project Idols and Anchors). I was in a rather successful local band about to embark on our first national tour. There was a lot of chemistry between us. Daisy is rather funny, bright and a very intelligent person. I’d like to think of myself as somewhat charming. While I was on tour we spoke almost every night and found that we were missing each other the longer I was away.  When I came home we started to date and began to fall for one another. Things took a sad turn when we were faced with a few life challenges that we never thought either of us would have to face but it brought us together and strengthened our relationship even more.

The idea of being married so far away from home came from the actual planning. We found it hard to find a place locally that we both liked and we fell in love with the idea of doing something so different to the usual trend in Australia, which was to get married in the sun on a beach or an island close by.  So we chose Whistler. The planning was done with our travel agent,  she had great insights and was very accommodating to our needs and what we wanted, and the day couldn’t have gone any better. It didn’t snow while we were away until the morning of the wedding which made the day even more incredible.

More from Leighton:

 The only piece of advice I can give to people looking at getting married in a place similar to Whistler is to do a lot of research and to think outside the box. Our biggest accomplishment was finding a fantastic photographer and makeup and hair stylist who not only know the places to go but are just incredible in their respective professions.

A huge thank you to Anastasia Chomlack for sending in the beautiful photos, and congratulations and thank you to Daisy and Leighton for allowing us to share in their special day!

Photographer: Anastasia Photography (Whistler BC Canada)
Event Planner: Harvey World Travel (Australia)
Floral Designer: Eufloria (Australia)
Dress Store: Dress of Your Dreams (Australia)
Event Venue: Pan Pacific Whistler Village Center (Whistler BC Canada)
Hair and Makeup: Brenda Bakker  (Whistler BC Canada)