golden backyard wedding / dots + glitter + hearts

this is my cousin, tressa's, wedding and it was seriously to die for. she wanted her wedding color to be gold, with black and white accents. her mom worked for months to glitter and dot everything. she put so much work in to this wedding and it totally paid off. i'm going to start by giving you a sneak peak of our favorite part- the cake table! it is ridiculously awesome. but let's go through the wedding from the beginning. it was held in one of laura's good friend's backyards.

the entry:

lining the entry way laura made gold branches with twinkle lights in them, to create a pathway. the sign in table had not only the prettiest flowers ever, but an awesome sign made with gold fringe.

we lined the walkway with hanging lights.

once you got to the fence this is was you saw. to the left is the favor table where guests could take various golden candies.

to the right is the gift table- complete with cards basket and tassel backdrop.

then there is the ribbon walkway. we wanted to find a way to bring the guests eyes up, so tressa's dad built a structure out of pvc pipe. then, lots of helping hands tied ribbons along the entire walkway, with lights intermixed. along the sides are our trusty ikea tulle curtains (to hide the structure). it was the grandest and prettiest entrance i have ever seen.

this was the backdrop for the food area. we used our pink doors to cover the outdoor stone oven, and covered it in pictures of tressa and rylee. don't you love the tassel garland that laura made?

the food:

not only was this wedding adorable, the food was to die for. they served kabobs, greek gyros, hummus cups, caprese bites, and pasta salad. they displayed all of the food on these ikea bookshelves (all sprayed gold). it made it easy for guests to navigate, and spread the food out enough to prevent crowding. 

then there was a donut table (not to be confused with the dessert/cake table). everyone loved munching on these donuts throughout the wedding.

this is the 'bar'- where only golden drinks are served. cream soda, ginger ale, martinellis. we used an ikea expedit bookcase and our gold bar cart, and topped the whole thing off with a cute black and white umbrella.

here is another look at the cake table. we found the actual table at a thrift store- it is one of the coolest tables i have ever seen! we backed the table with black and white striped curtains (which also helped to block the house from guests). then we made a gold sequin heart using the oh joy confetti at target (it took forever but is obviously so worth it). we had a long wood box made and filled with the prettiest flowers hanging over the cakes. this was for sure the prettiest thing at the wedding- it stopped everyone in their tracks.

tress wanted simple cakes topped with pretty flowers. the central one was white and was poppyseed flavored, and the outer ones were light pink and were red velvet. ps. how cool is the actual cake stand. we found that bowl at home goods and had to have it for the cake.

there were also some delicious desserts on the tables- the chocolate mousse cups were my personal favorites!

the tables:

gorgeous right? we wanted long tables topped with white umbrellas. laura got some desk tops from ikea that we used with our door table stands (there are some door tables mixed in too).

for the centerpieces we used these wooden boxes. we had black and white runners down the table, topped with magnolia leaves and candles and flowers. we used gold vinyl to dot the tables. i love the way they turned out!

the dance tent:

and finally, we have the dance tent- where the real partying went down. we actually weren't planning to have a tent, but the threat of rain made us get one just in case. to spruce it up, we used long gold fabric and twinkle lights. we dotted the dance floor with big gold dots, and threw together a centerpiece made of lanterns and ribbons. 

wow! that was probably the longest and most picture filled post i have ever done! i just couldn't cut out any of the details! if you've made it this far i am seriously impressed. i hoped you have loved every bit of this wedding as much as i have!