This is the final day of Our Mini Wedding recap, if you missed Part One (click here) Part Two (click here). I hope you have enjoyed reading about our wedding so far. Below is a picture of our wedding invitations including the reception card. I added a lilac belly band with our monogram to keep everything together.
After we said our vows, we had a few moments to visit with guests and then take pictures with our family and then took some pictures by ourselves. If your getting married soon, make sure you scout out the area beforehand so your able to make the most of your time before arriving at your reception. We took several pictures in the Old Rose Garden, front of our states capitol { which is where the garden is located } and at the hotel.
The cocktail reception in our backyard was very relaxed, we had a mix of cocktail tables and long tables for family and friends to stand at or sit down. To light up the night sky we hung string lights and paper lanterns. The twinkling string lights look so pretty, so hard to capture on film.
As I mentioned above our tables were a mix of cocktail tables and long tables to sit at. For the centerpieces, each cocktail table had lilac hydrangeas and roses with eucalyptus branches that we DIYed and large pillar candles in vases. The long tables and had the flowers including a centerpiece of tea light candles on a cake stands. In addition to wedding cake, guests were also able to snack on lemon bars and fudge brownie bites.
Since we had a cocktail reception we decided to go for appetizer foods that were small bites but big on tastes. We used Off The Vine Catering and the food was so yummy! Are caterers were so good to us and set up the entire backyard for the reception and poured drinks all night long. For drinks we had White & Red Wine, Champagne, two types of beer and Lemonade and Homemade Sweet Tea. My mom made kindly made the sweet tea for the reception. My mom also helped me make all the favors. For the favors I bought small clay pots and painted them white and planted fresh flowers inside. Each favor had 'flying butterflies' and flag with the guests name on them. My mom cut hundreds of butterflies out for our big day, they landed everywhere on straws, favors and even the hanging lanterns!
For our wedding cake we went with Ettores European Bakery, hands down they have THE best cakes in all of Sacramento. Everyone raved about how yummy they cake was. The top tier of the was Princess Torte, the second tier Strawberry White Chocolate Mouse and the bottom tier Kahlua. Of course I had all three slices that night and ate lots of yummy food. Our cake was simple and white and decorated with pretty butterflies a gift a lovely bride that was planning her Wedding in 2009. Summer and I became friends via the Knot.com and bonded over butterflies and many DIY projects and of course wedding stress (we still talke all the time!). Anyways she found some pretty purple butterflies for my wedding cake and mailed them to me! It made the cake extra special.
I hope you all enjoyed hearing about our wedding, it was so much for to share some details from our big day and share a little more about us too!! We were able to save a lot of money by taking on DIY wedding tasks. Our three biggest expenses for the Wedding were: Catering, Photography and Rentals { chairs, tables, dishes etc } We also saved money by having our ceremony in a Rose Garden and the Cocktail reception in our backyard, both places were free.
Tomorrow I'll be back to all things home decor related and sharing a little project I talked that's making me smile. Thanks again for all your kind words about our story. 
