Lush greenery, gold candlesticks, soft candlelight - the wedding of Caleb and Catherine Avendaño was an absolute dream! Here at Dainty Jewells, we love a good wedding, and the Avendaño's created a stunning celebration. We were thrilled to have Catherine share her wedding photos and some highlights of her wedding day. Welcome, Catherine!
SI: How would you describe your wedding decor/theme/vibe?
CA: At first, I wouldn’t say I really had a theme - or at least I thought I didn’t. All I knew is that I wanted tons of greenery and string lights. While wedding planning, I ended up collecting tons of gold and brass candlesticks of all different shapes and sizes, which ended up being my favorite part of the wedding decor. I decided after the wedding to keep my favorites and now use them as decor for our home (which is so special to see daily). By the time it was all said and done I would say the theme/vibe ended up being something like garden party.
SI: What are some of your favorite/special memories of your wedding day?
CA: A special memory from my wedding day would be when I walked down the aisle, and my husband surprised me and sang "Endless Love" by Lionel Richie as I walked down the aisle.
A little back story is that I’m from Arkansas and my husband is from Oregon. We were in a long distance relationship. One night on the phone, towards the beginning of our relationship I randomly asked him to sing me a song, and it kinda just became our thing. Every night without fail Caleb would sing me a song before bed. I even remember a night that I accidentally fell asleep before he could call, and I woke up the next morning to him singing me a song via voice memo.
So, flash back to when the doors of the church swung open and there he was at the end of the aisle singing to me; my heart just melted.
SI: Were there any funny moments or things that didn't go according to plan?
CA: Yes! A funny moment was, as the bridal party was walking out, one of my flower girls (Coraline, age 3) did not want to leave and started crying and refusing to walk. Ana, the other flower girl, tried to get Coraline down the aisle which then prompted a small fit. Lucky Coraline’s father (who was also in the bridal party) swept in and scooped Coraline up and all was well. Thankfully the photographer captured the funny moment on camera. I giggle every time I look at the pictures.
SI: How did you find the perfect wedding dress?
CA: I really found the perfect wedding dress because I took my time.
Going into it I didn’t really know what I wanted. The first store I went to I probably tried on 10 dresses, and I really wasn’t happy with any of them. I felt super pressured by the clerk that I had to find my dress THAT DAY within the allotted hour that I had. I even said “yes to the dress” on a dress that I didn’t love. I left and kept looking at the pictures of it and just wasn’t happy. So I ended up calling to cancel and looking elsewhere.
The day I actually said “yes to the dress” and meant it, I went in with two pictures of the dresses that I had tried on previously and told the clerk that if I could have the top of this dress and the bottom of this other dress, that would be my wedding dress. She looked at the pictures and said, "I think I know exactly what dress is yours". I tried the dress on and instantly fell in love. I tried on a couple more just to make sure, but I knew my dress was the first one I tried on.
SI: Any advice you have for future brides?
CA: My advice would be to remember that it’s your wedding, and it’s okay if you want you do something a little different. My husband and I don’t really care for cake but we LOVE cheesecake. So we decided to throw out the traditional wedding cake idea and have cheesecake instead. Caleb also requested a groom's coffee bar instead of a groom's cake. Looking back at our wedding/reception, those things we did a little bit different made our wedding reflect our personalities.
My last piece of advice that no one shared with me, is that it isn’t a good idea to try and steam your own veil. Leave it to the professionals. Or you could end up like me - two weeks before your wedding with a hole in your veil. Thankfully a seamstress from my church was able to fix it promptly.
SI: Who was your photographer?
CA: Ashley Kematick - https://ashleykematick.com