Colorful DIY Wedding with Paper Flowers

When photographer Ann Keen met Vicki and Jon she knew that their outdoor Sacramento, California wedding would be a blast to shoot. The couple was playful, creative and nerdy, in an extremely cute way. The couple’s vision for the day started with conversations about everything they loved – space, cephalopods, games, and books. In the end, they knew they couldn’t make the day overly nerdy so they needed to get creative in how they executed the event. The two started by selecting orange and teal as the colors, added even more bright colors and went onward making sure every touch screamed: “let’s party”.

There were many decorations that were handmade, including the amazing paper flower arrangements that helped to create a colorful garden in the space. The bride is allergic to pollen so had to think of alternative flower options. After many ideas like hops, succulents, and silk, she and ended up choosing paper. The bride’s extremely artistic mother put her studio on hold for a year to focus on creating all the paper decorations, bouquets, and men’s thistles.

There were other DIY elements at the wedding too. The linens were all purchased then hand died to get the ombre effect on the tables. The lanterns were spray painted. The bugs were all created by the bride’s father. her stepdad helped design and create the save the dates and invitations, food was prepped by family and friends. Everyone helped. It was a huge undertaking but it was a blast for the bride and groom.

The Bride’s Thoughts

Really in the end, we decided the most important part of our wedding was our guests. We knew it was a big event. Our families, friends and coworkers meeting for the first time. We wanted them to be entertained and talking about it for years to come. So every decision we made we though about our guests and if they would enjoy it.

The Reception

The whole day was kind of amazing but i think the reception was the best. Getting to talk with everyone and eat the amazing food. We had some crazy moments. The maid of honor almost gave the ring to the wrong person. Jon’s younger brothers look similar. The groom was late for pictures and his father was even later. But in the end it all turned out. It really was so amazing to see all the family and friends getting along playing games conversing and just acting like they had known each other for so long. You could feel the love. We were lucky to be married by my dad’s best friend and the person who introduced my parent’s Devin. He seemed so nervous we had a 10 minute ceremony that included walking in and out. My mom’s best friend and my pretty much second mom Evelyn did a Space inspired reading. It was all just so incredible and so “us”.