The Offbeat Bride: Catherine
Her offbeat partner: Agustin
Date and location of wedding: Huron Substation Los Angeles, CA — May 18, 2013
Our offbeat wedding at a glance:
I wanted everything to be as hand-made as possible. I started thrifting plates and furniture as soon as I locked a location in January. I have a small succulent garden, so I started taking clippings and succulent soil and potting my own favors in baby food jars. I found a sewing machine in table at a Salvation Army, so I grabbed it and repainted the table, and then antiqued the whole thing for our gift table.
Agustin spent a few months rolling crepe-paper flowers that I would then hot glue to styrofoam balls to make our flower pomanders that lined the stairway, aisle, balcony, and tables. He also learned how to etch, burn, and cut with wood to make the “Señor” and “Señora” signs for our seats, the cards sign for the birdcage, and a cake topper that ended up not even on the cake because the flower on top was too pretty to ruin!
We focused on finding a venue with history and had indoor/outdoor options. Oh, and that allowed dogs, as our rescue shiba mix, Sakura, had to be in the ceremony. We adopted Sakura the day we signed our first rental paperwork. She’s been with us since we’ve lived together and has been the best surrogate child we could ask for. If she couldn’t be a part of our wedding then it just wouldn’t be right.
I wanted to incorporate some of the traditions and heritage of my husband’s Mexican background, as his parents don’t speak much English and I wanted them to feel very welcome. Instead of table numbers, we scanned Loteria cards (a form of Mexican Bingo), enlarged them, and cut them out in the shape of our invites.
My sister made piñata cookies, and we had a taco bar and a margarita bar. I also made signs in both English and Spanish, and part of my vows were in Spanish. Our caterer surprised us the day-of with Mexican blankets under all the food tables! The groomsmen secretly brought Mexican Wrestling masks at the reception, too.
Tell us about the ceremony:
I wanted to include my love for The Little Prince as well, since I practice my Spanish by reading it out loud to Agustin with my Spanish edition. Our readings for the ceremony were taken from the book. We included on the bottom of our programs the landscape of the desert with the Little Prince, and I brought my half dozen copies of the book in its different languages to include on our guest table and by the photo booth.
Our biggest challenge:
The budget was our challenge. The Dollar Store was my bff. I got all the jars, cocktail tableware, easels, and centerpiece supplies from there. The only thing I splurged on were the tables and chairs. I was hoping for farm tables, which are not cheap. But I got incredibly lucky when, two months before the wedding, the Huron Substation contacted me saying they were going to offer farm table rentals along with chair rentals. Apparently they had been building and staining them and they were ready in time for the wedding!
My favorite moment:
My necklace, earrings, and bracelet were all my maternal grandmother’s jewelry for her 1940s wedding. She passed when I was 12, and I was very close to her.
My funniest moment:
We had two characters from Game of Thrones in figurine form by our guest book, and they represented what my two-year-old lantern bearer thought was Agustin and myself when he visited our house one day. He saw the Khaleesi (blonde like I am) and said “That’s Katie. Where’s Agustin?” Then I showed him Khal Drogo, and he laughed, saying “Oh, there’s Agustin,” and then put us together. It was too cute not to use.
Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?
- Photography: Fash Photography
- Hair and makeup: Cici Andersen
- Dress: Moonlight Bridal
- Shoes: Rachel Roy
- Bride’s ring: Bandscapes
- Grooms and groomsmen tuxes: Friar Tux
- Groom’s shoes: Custom Converse
- DJ: My WeddingDJ App
- Venue: Huron Substation
- Caterer: Event Theory
- Cookies: Cookie Love STL
- Cake, cream puffs, and dog cake: Cakes by Roobina
- Toffee: Pop Candy
- Photobooth software: DSLRBooth
- Decor: the bride
