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Mammoth Mountain Wedding with DIY Style | Part 2

Adrian + Mikki
August 25th, 2012 
Mammoth Lakes, CA 

As promised, here’s part two of this lovely Mammoth Mountain wedding, in Mammoth Lakes, CA {where I live!!!}. And, as promised, it’s full of sweet DIY details and real Hindsight Advice from Mikki. Don’t forget to check out the gorgeous wedding video from part 1 of this gorgeous Mammoth Lakes Wedding.

Bride and Groom sit in the Westin Breezeway in Mammoth Lakes

Bride and Groom in a canoe on Twin Lakes

burlap table runner and wooden round Mammoth Lakes Wedding

gourmet beef jerky favors

burlap flags with painted hearts

escort cards on mini logs

Parallax at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area

escort card and treasure chest card box

Bride and Groom Thank You Signs on Mammoth Mountain

Why a Mountain Wedding?

My husband has been coming to Mammoth since he was a kid and his parents had been coming since they were kids. So for them, it was a very special place. We’ve gone there every year with family since we’ve been together (about 10 years) and so it has become our special place too. We got married at the forest chapel because we camp in Twin Lakes every year, and it is a place we will continue to visit every year for the rest of our lives. And since we are avid campers, we actually made it a week long family affair and invited everyone to come and camp with us. It was really nice to spend quality time with all of our family and friends together in one amazing place celebrating with each other and not feeling rushed. A mountain wedding was appealing to us because it was totally us.

Where did you find your inspiration?

We used what nature gave us. We didn’t use a ton of flowers because we wanted to let forest speak for itself. My husband’s grandfather cut up wood rounds from his backyard to use as centerpieces, and we used the branches from that tree as place card holders. When you’re doing a mountain wedding, we felt it shouldn’t be too fussy. The other inspiration was family- we are big on that and so we included our grandparents wedding photos and part of the décor.

What Decisions Are You Glad You Made?

  • Glad we hired a week of coordinator– she took care of the wedding while we visited with family and friends.
  • Glad we hired the photographers we did- they were very professional and they did an awesome job. And they recommended the videographers we used which are equally awesome and create some really special wedding films. Thanks to all of these vendors we had a really special day that we will remember for the rest of our lives.
  • Glad we did a lot of the décor ourselves. Our grandparents felt special to have been behind the centerpieces, and we felt that all of the other items- lanterns, favors, welcome packages, save the dates, all of it was a true reflection of us. (and it saved lots of money…)
  • Glad we stuck to our guns about the way we wanted our wedding to go. I walked down the aisle to “Landslide”- Fleetwood Mac, against my mother’s wishes. We don’t really enjoy cake too much, so we instead had apple crisp and peach cobbler served which also went well with our bbq dinner. We also didn’t want to do the traditional garter toss/ bouquet toss, or parent dances because it really wasn’t us- and ultimately we had a great time.
  • Glad we “gave ourselves over to the day” Our ceremony was really sweet and full of love because we were both present on that day to just get married. The rest was just icing on the cake.
  • Glad we didn’t get married somewhere that didn’t mean as much to us- we really are in love with Mammoth and we will bring our kids here one day and get to share that with them- that’s pretty cool.
  • Glad we didn’t rush the process- we had an 18 month engagement and I started the projects and planning very early on. We remained stress free during most of the planning.
  • Glad we didn’t let our wedding be anything but that- my husband is truly my best friend and he really grounds me. During the planning process he was awesome at reminding me that “we” were getting married- so when anyone else tried to change my mind about a color or a song he really helped keep us true to what we wanted.

Three things you wish you hadn’t worried about?

  • I wish I hadn’t worried too much about all of it- ultimately the day was gorgeous, everyone had a great time, and my husband and I got married! That’s the whole point of the day. We got to share our special place and our love with everyone there and it was amazing.

What is your very best hindsight advice?

I would say to any bride planning a wedding to relax. Even the most planned wedding will have some mishaps. The DJ may play “sexual healing” right after your first dance… not exactly what we wanted played, let alone to start off with, or your bridal party may forget to toast after the speeches, or you may forget to use your toasting flutes for said toast once someone remembers. The point of any wedding I feel is the getting married part. But if you have a few key things that are important to you, don’t be shy about saying exactly what you want. Ultimately it’s your wedding.

Team Wedding

Team DIY:

  • Burlap Table Runners
  • Table Name Cards
  • Wood Rounds for Tables (the wood was not treated, so after it shrank down I had to glue the bark back on and add moss…)
  • Place Card Holders
  • Welcome Letters
  • Save The Dates
  • Mom and sister’s hair and make-up.