Rustic Charm Meets Magic: The Perfect Wedding

Nancy & Ruben

August 13, 2022

It is finally here! A glimpse into our special day! I still can’t believe how fast everything went by. We got engaged in December 2019, right before the pandemic hit. There was a lot of uncertainty and of course all the travel and venue restrictions it came with didn’t make it any easier, so planning had to definitely wait. Initially, we moved our date to August 2021 in hopes everything would be better but we ultimately settled for August 2022. 

For our day, I wanted the theme to be a timeless romantic modern-vintage wedding. My husband and I always love to be out in nature, so we wanted to keep things simple to appreciate the nature that would surround us in our day with a soft earthy palette and a touch of rustic decor. I also opted to do some DIY (Do It Yourself), I wanted to be hands-on and due to the size of my venue my guest count was limited. This offered the opportunity for my husband and I to roll up our sleeves and put on our wedding planner hats. Throughout the process we kept in mind the importance of also supporting small businesses, from our venue to our cake topper.

I want to give a special thanks to our photographer/videographer Emil Siapno, he captured beautifully and thoughtfully every detail of our magical day. I hope you enjoy!

The Church

We chose to have a traditional Roman Catholic mass in Spanish at St. Josephs Catholic Church in Auburn, CA. It was a way to fulfill that childhood dream of mine. I always wanted to walk down the isle and have God bless our marriage and feel the love of those who witness and celebrated this moment with us.

Reception

The venue was a dream. We opted for Newcastle Gardens, not only because of their beautiful rustic barn and location since it was less than 10 minutes away from our church, but also because they literally are an all-in-one deal. The venue counts with an in-house florist, in-house catering and a Loft Showroom with an array of decor options to pick from! Their inventory consist of centerpieces, lanterns, mirrors to furniture options. This meant we would save money and stress, specially when you’re your own wedding planner! When everything is in-house you don’t have to worry about delivery fees, etc. It was a pleasure working with Matt Mermod, Newcastle Gardens’ in-house chef and owner of the venue and his wife/ in-house florist Jessica Mermod. Matt’s cooking was absolutely exquisite and a topic of conversation among our guests. The flower arrangements were gorgeous, my idea was perfectly captured by Jessica, it was all about earthy colors! Our cake was from Divine Desserts by Aguirre, a local Latinx owned bakery. This was the only delivery fee we couldn’t escape from and our custom made welcome sign that was from Rentals and Ink, a small business in the Sacramento area.

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Hair, Makeup, Bridesmaids, Flower girls and Details

I really wanted to try something a little bit more bold, yet still stay authentic to myself. And by that, of course my winged eyeliner couldn’t go missing! But I also decided to add a bit of eyeliner to my waterline. I have a tendency to part my hair to the side but I decided to add a bit of volume in the front area. My makeup was done by Angelica Marie, a makeup artist based out of Sacramento, California and her team did my hair. The hair piece on the side I purchased from HairComesTheBride, a small shop in Etsy.

My dress was from Pronovias, I actually traveled to Guadalajara, México to get the dress. I knew it was the dress once I tried it on and couldn’t stop thinking of it regardless of how many dresses I tried on during that weekend trip. My phenomenal bridesmaids, my high school sweethearts! Their dresses were from Azazie, they have so many options! And our robes, including the ones from my flower girls were from ElegantCalifornia, another small Etsy shop.

I wore my favorite perfume Idôle by Lancolm, and my arras and lazo were from Los Callejones in Los Angeles, also known as LA Fashion District. If you haven’t been, you must. It is quite an experience!

Lean into your family! I didn’t have many madrinas and padrinos really (if you need an explanation to what that is, Brides has an explainer here), looking back I should have asked more people to pitch in but one thing I did ask my cousin for was his truck! It is one of a kind! With that bright orange color, perfect for our theme and season. He drove us in for our grand entrance in his 1975 Ford.

These gold acrylic sign holders I bought a pack of 6 from Amazon and I created the signs myself using Canva. The gifts provided to our guests were artisanal hand fans from Arteemes in Tonalá, México and stamped individually by yours truly! The custom wood branding iron is from this Amazon shop. Check out the video below! I was visiting my grandma in México and made good use of her stove. I ended up with a blister or two after doing 80 of these!

Groom and Groomsmen

My husband and his groom party looked sharped on their day! My husband wore a custom made suit from Anatolys in Oakland, CA. The groomsmen rented theirs from The Black Tux.

Traditions

Here I highlight two traditions we incorporated from each of our cultures. My husband is Catalan and I am Mexican-American. In Catalonia, Spain, traditionally the cake is cut with a sword, yes a sword. On my end, the Money Dance, is a cultural tradition where guests offer the newlyweds money to dance with them.

Wedding Highlight

I hope you enjoyed this wedding diary post now here’s a treat!