A few weeks back I had the absolute pleasure of working with JD Hudson who is a wedding videographer + photographer, for a super exciting project I have going with Cricut. He was referred to me by a close friend and while checking out his work, I stumbled upon the film that I’m sharing today. In my opinion, if a 3 minute wedding highlight reel can truly make you feel the love a couple has for each other while making you ball your eyes out because you’re so happy for them (when you don’t even know them) – the person behind the film has to be a genius. So of course I begged him to let me interview this gorgeous couple and share their lovely wedding story with you today… don’t forget to read the brides advice below, it’s awesome! – Jen

What is your favorite wedding day memory?

I’m sorry but I cant pick just one! The first would have to be our ceremony, which was led by two of our best friends. It was the most thoughtful, well crafted ceremony and fit us as a couple perfectly. It was funny, heartfelt, they sang to us (multiple times) and all of our guests pronounced us husband and wife in unison. It was magic, they should quit their day jobs and be touring wedding officiants. The second would have to be when Jake played Synesthesia by Andrew McMahon on his iPhone and we danced as the sun set on the top of the mountain that overlooked the entire ranch and coast. I felt like we might float off the mountain. It was just the ranch owner and our photo/videographer up there with us. Really amazing moment.

A few other details that I LOVE about our wedding…. we had both of our children before we were married, and they (along with our 8 year old dog) made up our wedding party. Cutest flower girls in history. At the time of our wedding our oldest daughter Harper was 3 and our youngest Hudson was 5 months. We are a vegan family, and it was really important for us to have a completely vegan wedding. Everything from our clothes, to our food and cake – it was all vegan. It was such a good opportunity to showcase how delicious vegan food is and highlight the importance of our lifestyle to our family and friends. It was our catering company’s first all vegan wedding and they killed it! We had fall inspired food and it was so good. We tried to reuse as many things as possible – I bought all of our staging decor couches/chairs/vases from the Salvation Army, we reused mason jars, built things from reclaimed wood, used recycled paper to print on etc. We rented a few airstreams that our friends were able to camp on property. Our long time family friends Ryan and Angela Norton (a husband and wife team) sang “She is Love” by Parachute as I came down the aisle. To check out images from our event you can look at our hashtag #hayjakerep!

What did you DIY for your wedding?

It took a village of DIY-ers! We (me, my family and friends) were involved in crafting every detail of our wedding, including creating our venue from a VRBO listing. We wanted to get married at a property with a large house so it could serve as a gathering place for our family and friends for multiple days. We have been a part of so many weddings, and know how quickly the day goes by and our biggest goal was to have a wedding “weekend”. We found a gorgeous ranch house at an avocado farm on the Central Coast of California and fell in love. But this meant that we had to do it ALL! Some details that stand out: Invites: our family friend watercolored gorgeous avocado and Golden Poppy artwork for our invitations and I designed the rest and my mom and I assembled. Our good friend and neighbor Larry built all of our flower boxes, cake stand and our alter using reclaimed wood. My aunt made our daughters dresses, my good friend did all of the flowers using flowers from the DTLA flower mart, including bouquets and flower crowns. My dad and husband made all of the light poles from wooden rods and umbrella stands and our good family friend did all of the lighting. My husband made a custom corn hole set and his mom made the beanbags with our initials on them. We created a photo booth from a vintage VW van that we took on a mini-honeymoon up the coast afterwards. My mom made all of the aisle runners, and the decor behind our dance floor, and pretty much everything else crafty you saw floating around the house. We made all of the “late night” food for our guests after the caters left. Even our DJ and hair & make-up team were family and friends. The only things we contracted out were food and transportation. Our seating cards were all mini succulent vases. My mom and I painted all of the vases and we picked ALL of the succulents from my moms garden. She is the queen of propagating succulents! My husband and I are photographers and our cake topper was a custom, one of a kind made by a good friend – it was a laser cut wooden camera – just perfect. I designed welcome tote bags and my mom designed avocado tags with a welcome note and we delivered them to all the hotels and houses our guests were staying at in town. We collected used glass jars and filled them with trail mix, water, and snacks for the hotel. I had so much fabulous help – I am still writing thank you cards!

What is your advice for current brides?

Do lots of yoga while planning your wedding! Don’t take yourself too seriously, it is ALL going to happen one way or another and stressing about making everything “perfect” will drive you crazy. A day of coordinator might be a good idea. When you’re DIY-ing it’s hard to keep track of everything. We forgot to put out table runners that we MADE/ironed to perfection and transported… there is just so much to think of the day of the wedding. And hire good photographers + most importantly please hire a videographer. The day goes by so quickly and you are only left with memories, photo and video. Watching footage from this day is worth more than anything. So budget accordingly! You wont ever think to yourself, “Man, I really regret capturing this moment on film.” – Haille, the bride

Event Credits

Videographer (including featured images): JD Hudson // Ceremony + Reception: Stepladder Ranch // Officiants: Keghan Hurst and Ryan Windish (friends) // Photographer: Pat Furey // Florist: Adrianna Quezada & Luz Garcia (friends) // Catering + Desserts: Splash Catering // DJ: Bryan Carpender (friend) // Transportation: Grand Cru Limosines // Rentals: All About Events // Invitations: Artwork - Laura Klepfer, Design - The Bride // Dress: Allure // Hair Pins: Melinda Rose Design // Shoes: BC Shoes // Bridesmaid Dresses: Kathy Davis // Hair: Beau Dieda // Makeup: Adrianna Quezada (friend) // Grooms Attire: Ted Baker