Once in a while Darleene lets us take over her blog with a guest post, and today is one of those days! So thanks, Darleene, for allowing us to share a beautifully handcrafted wedding we recently photographed (my husband Keith and I are Orange County wedding photographers—Lori Anderson Photographers).

Cate and Ian are a cute couple who met while in college in Florida. They are also both quite tall, which Keith, himself six-foot-four, enjoyed, but that’s not what made this wedding so special. For this budget-beautiful wedding in Huntington Beach, bride Cate did most of the planning—and therefore the decorating (or at least the imagineering)— herself, with the help of her family and fiancé.

You can see from some of these photos that she stuck to a charming Southern theme, complete with buckets of lemonade and accompanying sweet tea—and not just plain pitchers but actual buckets with chalkboard signs.

Perhaps the biggest challenge was coming up with all the pinwheels. They were everywhere! And we hear her dad made them all by hand.

Her flowers were elegant with natural succulents playing a prominent role, interspersed with pops of country-summer color (we loved the bursts of orange and yellow). All the credit for this gorgeous bouquet goes to Kim Sanders at Art With Nature Floral Design, based in Fullerton, CA. Cate’s bouquet also had an extra special touch: a handkerchief that belonged to her grandfather, embroidered with the wedding dates and names of all of “Grampa’s Girls,” was folded around the stems.

The whole affair came off like a Southern backyard wedding—if your Southern backyard had a water tower, bistro lights, and an In-n-Out truck to cater the festivities!

Keith and I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the coolest couples as wedding photographers. It’s amazing how a little creativity can really make a wedding stand out. Cate certainly did a great job designing exactly the day she envisioned and it came off gorgeously. Head over to our website to see more images from this Huntington Beach wedding, or if you happen to be planning a wedding at this same location check out some of our tips to help you make the most of a Newland Barn wedding at our site as well.