Oh boy do I have the mother load of awe-inspiring mountain views and sweet handmade details for you today. Let me first say it’s always a pleasure to publish weddings from the Eastern Sierra, especially Convict Lake. It is one of the prettiest views I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been every where from the Smokies, to Glacier National Park, to Yosemite, to Patagonia. I’ve seen a lot of mountains and this area is by far one of my tippy top favorites. But you’re in store for so much more than eye-candy today. Want some real, down-to-earth honest advice about what to do and what NOT to do for your mountain wedding? Scroll down to Rachel’s Hindsight Interview
♥ Check out part two of this DIY mountain wedding ♥
And now some fantastic hindsight advice from the bride:
Briefly tell us a bit about your wedding:
I had my wedding at Convict Lake in Mammoth Lakes, Ca. on September 18th. I had the best time planning the wedding and loved every second of it. I’m a designer and I felt like it was my time to shin with this event. I was some what inspired by the story and surroundings of Convict Lake. Our invites were done with a old time western mountain feel that reminded me of the story of Convict lake. My husband and I went to Mammoth on October 1st to scout places for the wedding. At that time Convict lake was blooming with foliage that had a bright yellow flower and the color kind of stuck in my head. I love the color yellow and thought it would be a good accent color for the event. I also choose ivory and gold as you can see with the bridesmaid dresses. I felt these colors complemented each other well and the time of year.
I had a lot of fun with the DIY projects and loved look at Martha Stewart’s wedding magazines for ideas. I made the invites, place cards, guest book, outside center pieces, gift bags, gift bag information cards and other details. Plus all the decoration for the rehearsal dinner. My husbands best friend does metal work and I asked him to make the cupcake stand and numbers on the wood boxes in the center pieces.
Things you’re glad you did
- I’m glad I did a destination wedding because it was a joy to have everyone around for the weekend. I feel like our guests made a vacation out of it and had fun exploring the area. Convict lake is such an easy venue to use. Dealing with Mike Melin on organizing the event was such a pleasure. He really acted as a wedding planner for the day of and didn’t mind how many times I called or emailed with questions in the months leading up to the wedding. Also Matt the head chef is a culinary master. The food was the biggest hit! Everyone couldn’t stop talking about how tasty it all was. I was also happy that I had my ceremony and reception in the same place so that my guests didn’t have to drive to a different location.
- I’m glad I had an amazing photographer! I feel that the wedding pictures are one of the most important components to a wedding. It’s the one thing that you will have forever from that day. You might not keep your dress and the cake in the freezer will get thrown out but your photos you will visit time and time again.
- I’m glad I got the perfect music for the wedding and our guests. I LOVED our DJ Rodey O from Mammoth. He played the perfect music to keep everyone dancing until 2:00am. He didn’t play anything we didn’t want to hear and played everything we asked him too. I’m glad we picked him and not someone else.
- I’m glad I had someone video tape the ceremony. We weren’t going to and at the last minute we had a friend bring his camcorder. I do wish we would have had spent the money on a professional but glad to have the home made video at least. It’s amazing what you can do on a mac.
Things you wish you had done?
- Had a professional videographer
- Spent more time picking out my shoes. I didn’t really think too much about it cause my dress was long and they would never be seen. My shoes were really uncomfortable and I switched into flats right after the ceremony. I’m short and would have liked to have the height in the photos.
- Taken my dress to a better seamstress. I didn’t get my dress at a traditional wedding dress shop and had the lady that does all of my alterations on regular clothes do my wedding dress. I feel like the dress could have been altered better and the zipper broke one week before the wedding. I’m just glad that I have tried it on again and it wasn’t on the day of. So spend the extra cash and go to someone who does gowns. Also try the dress and go over it with a fine tooth comb a week before the big day.
Things you wish you hadn’t done
- Wish I hadn’t stayed up so late the night before the wedding. I’m from Florida and had a bunch of friends in town that I don’t see often and I stayed up way to late socializing the night before. I should have gone to bed early but I just couldn’t pull myself away. I was having way to much fun.
- I wish I hadn’t purchased a dress the same day I tired them on and had taken less people with me. I ended up with 2 dresses! The first boutique I went to the sales lady told me that one style of dress works best with my body type and that I should stick to trying that style on and I listened to her even though it really wasn’t what I wanted. So the next day when I went with 3 bridesmaids and my mom I stuck to the one style of dress. I found one that everyone loved and was in my price range. I placed my order right then and there. They maid me pay 60% up front and the rest when the dress cam in. I wish I would’ve taken more time trying to find the right dress. I think that I felt a little pressure cause I had been to 4 stores and should have found the perfect dress. Make sure when choosing a dress it’s the one you want and that you feel like a million dollars in it! I was happy with the second dress but had to really lower my budget cause I had spent so much on the first one I didn’t like.
- I wish I hadn’t not gone on a honeymoon! We were in the middle of remodeling our house at the same time as the wedding and didn’t really even think about a honeymoon. I still wish we would have taken a few days after the wedding and gone some where….. Anywhere….. That would be my biggest regret of the whole wedding.
Things you wish you hadn’t worried about
- My biggest worry was about what everyone else wanted. I wish I didn’t spend so much time on that and just worries about me and my husband
- I was also a little worried about not having a full bar. We didn’t have the money for a full open bar all night. So we just did beer and wine and it turned out fine.
- Other than that I feel like I didn’t have any huge worries. Everything went very well and according to plan.
What is your very best hindsight advice?
It’s YOUR wedding and do what you want. Have fun with it! Everything doesn’t have to be perfect and if you expect that it’s going to be then you’ll be let down for sure. I think the three most important things you need to insure your guests are going to be happy at your wedding are amazing food, fun music and an a good location. Three things that a bride needs to be the happiest at her wedding would be an amazing dress, an amazing photographer and all the people that you love!
Team Wedding:
- Catering/Cupcakes/Venue Convict Lake Resort
- Photography Vallentyne Photography
- Hair Meghan Klammer
- DJ Rodney O
- Flowers Patricia at Red Lilly
- Bridesmaid dress were from Anthropology sashes were fabric found in china and made
- Brides dress from Tadashi
- Flower girl dresses JCrew
- Jake Wreesman Cupcake tree and numbers on wood boxes
DIY
- Invitations
- Bags
- Info card in bags
- Place card settings