Hector and Clarisse had a rainbow wedding in Huston, Texas. “Our rainbow wedding theme was vibrant and lively, like the fun, colourful journey we have had over the years”, said the bride. “I have loved rainbows and colour for a very long time. The weather was dreary the week of our big day, but that Saturday morning, the sun came through for us!”
Her dress was vintage and she added the rainbow train and made her own veil. She carried a rainbow rose bouquet and even had rainbow-inspired eye make up! “We loved the vintage feel and intimacy of St. Joseph, where we had our ceremony. It has gorgeous stained glass. Getting a traditional Catholic church on board with our rainbow wedding was tricky, since there are wardrobe requirements, decor restrictions, etc. We asked all our guests to come in bright colours for their attire and opted not to do any decor aside from the flowers we offered. Our bridal party was dressed in one colour each to create the rainbow effect when standing together at the altar and for photos.”
Clarisse used to work in the wedding industry so she used a few tricks of the trade to save money. “We chose a full package with the reception venue that included delicious food (even a carving station!), lighting and a DJ”, she explained. “We also booked them during an open house event so we got a discount on the prices. Successfully executing the event for almost half of the estimated national average American wedding cost was something I took pride in. The best part of it was that our guests loved our wedding so much and were talking about it for a long time after. It’s that much more rewarding to see your hard work pay off when people appreciate it.”
ll the DIY decor was inspired by rainbows and they even had a rainbow cake! “So much of the wedding was DIY. We utilised things we already had. I painted the bird cage, folded the origami fortune teller dinner menus, created the table numbers, wrote on the entryway chalkboard, created heart banners… essentially everything crafted was made by me with help from my bridesmaids. We already owned all the props and toys we had for the photo booth and to decorate the hall.”
“Our favourite part of the wedding was our first dance, which was to Love You Madly by Cake”, she concluded. “We are both big fans of this band and it’s not your typical sappy first dance at all. We pretty much winged it, danced ourselves silly, and everyone thought we had choreographed it! The toasts and speeches our close friends made for us also meant a lot to us, as well as our family members who had flown in to come to our big day: California, New York, Nevada, and my aunt from Japan.”
