{Real Wedding} Guerrilla Style Wedding In LA | Little Revel

Impromtu or guerrilla style weddings are such a great idea, I swear I wish I would have done one. I love the idea of planning something in a short amount of time and having it be a surprise to your guest or at least giving them the less amount of information possible about it. I know sounds crazy but imagine if you could pull it off.  Today’s couple actually were able to pull it off and it turned out to be fabulous.  Please I absolutely love that she used Pretty Pear Bride to plan it all.  That’s one of the best feelings.

Kelly & Matthew

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Personal or handmade details: We made the invitations; I wore my favorite cowboy boots that Matt bought me for a Hoedown party we went to. He splurged on the boots, but I just loved them so much! I only wore them once, and I was so happy to wear them with my dress at the Arboretum! They were perfect because I didn’t want to wear heels walking around in the gardens.

Describe your Flowers: Perfection! Mostly white flowers, with green leaves, a pop of burgundy, and a couple peacock feathers. (The Arboretum and Arcadia is known for its Peacocks!) The boutonnieres also had a white flower, peacock feather and a pop of burgundy.

self love handbook for plus size brides, self love for plus size brides

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Your advice for other plus size brides: Love your beautiful self! Splurge on the dress! There is so much inspiration on the Internet too! I am so happy with the dress I chose, and I felt SOOO beautiful on my wedding day, I was just beaming and smiling the whole day. I just wanted to express the way I was feeling inside, so I did!

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Memories and Stories about the Day: After our toast, just after I had thanked all my family and everything, my son shouted out, “And thanks to me because I’m the reason all of this happened!” (Which is completely true! Donovan told us we had to get married, so we did!) I was also worried that the cake wasn’t going to get eaten because we were having such a huge lunch, but it DID! And we also had a little cake fight, which I will never forget! My friend brought her whole (2 babies and hubby) family over to my mom’s house to do my make up and hair, it was so sweet!! I am so grateful for it! It was my first time wearing falsies J (Well, second because we did have a tester night 😉 Then the anticipation of driving to the arboretum to meet my husband and our son was awesome!

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How did the two of you meet? We met in 2007 at Panera, we were both new hires. At first he thought I wouldn’t be interested because he was a little older, but I was in to him the first moment I saw him! It was love at first sight. After hanging out just a few times, we were in love, and the rest is history. Our little boy came 3 years later, along with our engagement, and in Oct. 2015, we decided it was finally time to tie the knot!

Describe your engagement: It didn’t take long when we first met to know that we had something special; I knew that I would be with him forever. About two years into our relationship, I think Matt would ask me to marry him about every time we were together! I would always tell him different answers, just for fun. We didn’t plan on getting rings but once I became pregnant, he put a ring on it!

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The thing that we would have done differently is? I kept going back and forth between writing individual vows or just following a short and sweet script. We went with the short and sweet script because we ran out of time. So if I could go back, I would want to write out my own vows.

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Your first dance song: We ended up going to a dive bar in Pasadena after the reception (completely impromptu) and there WAS a live band, but it’s a little fuzzy as to what songs they were playing!

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What has surprised you most during the first few months of marriage? The sense of fulfillment. I feel like I am starting a new chapter, and it feels great! I finally did the thing I had been avoiding (due to insecurities and budget). But it all finally clicked, and I was just ready!

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If we could have spend our wedding dollars differently, we would have: I would have spent less on the dress and reception, so that we could go on a honeymoon! We did have a tight budget, and my husband was scheduled for knee surgery the Monday after the wedding. So I didn’t think a honeymoon was in the cards for immediately after the wedding.

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From the Bride: What started out as an impromptu or guerilla style wedding, became one of the best days of my life and a dream come true. I always wanted to get married at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden. It is my family's favorite local place to go on a nature walk, and both my husband and I grew up going there. I knew that an all encompassing wedding there would be way out of my budget. We considered just showing up there for a guerilla wedding, but decided we didn't want to cause any trouble, since our wedding party of our closest friends and family was no less than 50 people. I discovered that we could have a vows ceremony and a photography session there at a price my parents and I could handle! We kept it as simple as possible, the wedding was planned in less than 2 months, and I focused on only the top priorities I wanted for the wedding. I could not be happier with the way everything turned out. Our wedding was part planned and part impromptu, and I wouldn't have it any other way! 
Vendor Love: Photography: Emily Gann of Little Revel | Dress and Veil: David's Bridal, Monrovia | Reception: Northwoods Inn, San Gabriel | Flowers: Gilly Flowers & Events | Hair: Pin Curls done the night before at DryBar Pasadena | Nails: Olive & June Pasadena | Necklace & Earrings: Certified Sofia Cultured Freshwater Pearl Drop 14K Necklace and Earrings | Boots: Boot Barn San Dimas (Brand: Dingo) | Groom’s Attire: JcPenny J.Ferrai | Groomsmen Attire: n/a – Ring Bearer: (Our son) Isaac Mizrahi | Ceremony Location: Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden

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Shafonne Myers is a certified wedding and event planner who longed for bridal inspiration that looked like her. She has created a website and magazine that brings bridal inspiration to plus size brides. She does speaking engagements educating the world about plus size brides and self confidence.
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