Brian Bengali and Trish Buendia's Wedding in Trabuco Canyon, California

The Band:One of the "must-haves" on our a list was to have the Motown/Jazz blend band, Dallas & Doll play at our wedding. This band is special to us because we used to watch them play in small speakeasy joint called Casa in Costa Mesa. We really love live music as opposed to a DJ, so we were able to book them for our wedding through Gigmasters.com. I must admit, this was the most expensive part of our wedding because our venue came with a DJ!

The Venue & Caterers:I was searching for venues left and right, and could not find one that met our budget. So I decided to work backwards, and I contacted and booked Summit Event Catering in Fullerton to see if they had any suggestions. They originally suggested Coto Valley Country Club, but we planned on having less than 100 guests and this venue felt a bit "big" for our needs. This venue ended up telling us to take a look at their sister location, Dove Canyon Courtyard, which was 5 minutes away. At first, I wasn't sure if I wanted to have it there because it was located in a plaza, but once you get inside the venue, it was really quaint with many features- the lighting, the waterfalls, the small house above the stairs, the gazebo, and the patio/deck area... It was pretty magical and when we found out the price, we booked almost immediately. I'm sure the prices have increased, but for a Sunday wedding, we paid $4,500 which included a DJ, and rentals like table & chairs. She let us drop off things at the venue by 10 AM, and the reception was over by 9 PM. The venue manager even allowed us to borrow her lanterns for centerpieces. Dove Canyon Courtyard also allows you to bring your own alcohol, as long as you have a professional bartender with liquor liability. For this, we bought our alcohol from Costco and hired Party Services So Cal from Gigmasters.com. We got four cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes for less than $300, and we had one full cake left over.

The Looks:Hair & Make-up for the bridesmaids and bride was done by Flawless Faces in Costa Mesa. My wedding dress came from Pebbles Bridal in Placentia, "Mirelle" by Maggie Sotero. My husband and I knew our wedding colors would be teal/peacock color because he's a huge fan of The San Jose Sharks. I purchased my bridesmaid's dresses from David's Bridal online in December 2016 when they had a huge clearance sale- I paid $170 for FOUR peacock color dresses WITH shipping! My husband bought his suit from Hugo Boss in Costa Mesa. And his groomsmen bought their 5-piece suits for $120 from a store called Max in Mission Viejo Mall.The Decorations:Because we were trying to cut cost where we can, I wasn't a bride who needed to have flower arrangements for centerpieces. Instead, we used lanterns and greenery. I ordered a 16-piece bridal set from http://www.weddingflowers4less.biz/ for $270, this included 4 bouquets, 1 bridal bouquet, a toss bouquet, two corsages, and 8 boutineers. The rest of the flowers were from the LA Flower District, which sells 100 white roses for $60. The rest of the details were DIY, and signage, programs, and guestbook were all purchased from Etsy.

The Photos & Videos:Our photographer was Allen Taylor Photography, and he charged us about $1850 for a mini engagement session and 8 hours of capturing our wedding day with a second photographer. My bridesmaid's brother is an amazing wedding cinematography, called The Racounteur Collective and he charged us $1,500 for a highlight reel. Here is their work:http://www.theracollective.com/blogentries/trish-brianhttps://vimeo.com/241103121

Disclamier: I do believe that all our the vendor's prices have increased since our wedding date!