Colorful Fiesta Wedding

Sometimes a wedding submission comes in that makes me so excited to do all the work it takes to feature a real wedding (and it is a lot of work for this one woman show of a blog called Oh Lovely Day). This is one of those weddings. From the amazing paper floral ceremony arch (DIY at it’s finest) to all of the fun little details and the personal story behind them, I am in love with today’s wedding. I know you’ll love it as much as I do.

I met Manda Wong, a talented artist, through one of my bridesmaids. I reached out to her about my vision for papel picado wedding invitations she told me that she did not have experience making invitations like that but that she was willing to give it a try. She was there by my side with every crazy idea I had and we both would be sending numerous messages brainstorming throughout the months trying to get our invitations, RSVP cards, envelopes, seating chart, and thank you cards completed. She also made the amazing Tapatio bottles that we gave to our wedding guests as favors. I couldn’t have done it without her help!

How stunning is the detail on that cake!?

Can you believe that backdrop and the flower arch for the ceremony were DIY by the bride!? They took her two months to create, and I think they were worth every second. She talks more about it below!

Some details on creating and sourcing the materials for their dream Mexican wedding (including that awesome ceremony arch and backdrop) from the bride:

It started with my husband suggesting we have a Mexican wedding so we could eat Mexican food… (brilliant!) During the early planning we took a trip to Zacatecas, Mexico to a little town called Cruz Verde where my parents are from. While we were in Mexico we bought most of our wedding decorations. We went to Guadalajara Jalisco to a Mercado called San Juan de Dios where we negotiated prices and bought so many decorations we couldn’t take it in one trip. It’s where we bought the Charro hats, luchadores masks, and most of the props. Before we left we visited a woman who works from home making personalized table napkins, pillowcases and other household items. We sat with her and told her that for our wedding we wanted personalized table napkins for all our guests and we wanted our names, wedding date and other decorations engraved in the napkins. At that time, we knew we wanted the royal blue and persimmon colors for our wedding so within 45 minutes with her old Singer sewing machine and a needle she engraved an example for us. We loved it and placed an order right there! After we left, my mom and I were on the phone every other day and as soon I would get more ideas I would ask her to purchase the items. One day, I saw a picture of a Mexican wedding on Pinterest and they had colorful papel picado as one of their decorations, I called my mom and told her about it and she loved the idea she immediately got in contact with several vendors until she found the right one. I told her we wanted our names and wedding date engraved in the papel picado and we were able to get exactly what we wanted. It took a month to complete because it’s a time consuming process involving chiseling delicate tissue paper with a small hammer and chisel. Houston (my husband) and I wanted to have tequila as toasts during speeches but due to restrictions at the venue we were unable to, so we started doing research on wine that tasted like tequila. Houston found “Agave Wine” as a replacement; it is made out of the agave plant giving it the tequila taste. We found an online vendor who carried this agave wine and it came to him directly from Mexico.

One day while I was online I found a beautiful paper flower backdrop made by a women named Tania Fischer so I called and told her about our Mexican wedding and how I was interested in ordering a backdrop from her. After she told me her pricing I was disappointed to find we couldn’t make it work with our budget. She was nice enough to tell me that she had a do it yourself step-by-step video on her website and I could possibly do it myself if I had the time. So I decided to give it a try. After watching a lot of YouTube videos I started doing several paper flowers (buying all of the paper from Michaels). The whole project took me about two months including the wedding arch. Almost every day after work I was doing 1-2 paper flowers and on the weekends that’s all I did. By the time I started the arch my mom was back from Mexico and she helped me complete it. 

I just love how everything came together and was such a group effort. It shows in the gorgeous photos and looks like such a fun and personal celebration. Congrats to Diana & Houston! Check out the vendors below if you’re loving what you see — lots of talent for sure.

{Vendors} Photographer:  Lady of Light Photography / Invitation Designer: Hungry 4 Design / Linens and Coverings: Pleasanton Rentals / Cinema and Video: Reel to Real Video / Event Venue: Retzlaff Vineyards Winery / Event Planner: Stylish and Savvy / Caterer: Taqueria Cazadores / Cake Designer: Three Little Birds Cakes / Ceremony Location: White Robed Monks of St. Benedict