Family-Filled DIY Wedding Video in Tahoe

A Mary Kate and Ashley-inspired proposal story, a gorgeous Sierra Nevada venue, and a fabulous DIY wedding with only two vendors, but a whole lot of family love — Chrissy and Travis’ WeddingMix wedding video in Tahoe is down right priceless. Plus, their wedding cake smash (0:57) is one of the funniest we’ve ever seen!

All photos via Jessica L Photography

Travis and I met on January 23rd 2011, at Ferrington’s bar in Pleasant Hill California. I was on winter break from college and decided to go out with a friend of mine for my last night before returning to school. That same night Travis was also in town visiting for a golf club event and decided to go to the small bar with his brother for a drink after the tournament. We kicked it off immediately and Travis even referred to me as his “ future wife”, his brother happened to be living in Chico (where I was going to college) so Travis and I began dating the following weekend. That following weekend, we went to the movies and a family dinner for his cousin’ s birthday where I met everyone including his mom. I guess they liked me because we have been together ever since!

After dating for 2 years, Travis and I went to the Bahamas for vacation and he proposed on a rope bridge over a sting ray aquarium. I had always wanted to go to the Atlantis resort ( I’ve always been a huge Mary-Kate and Ashley Fan) so he really chose the perfect spot to pop the question. After arriving and settling in at the resort, Travis told me he wanted to walk around the hotel for a while, during which he met a family and told them his plan to propose. When Travis walked back for us to take our photo on the rope bridge, the couple began snapping photos as he got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. It was beautiful movement and I was so surprised that I didn’t even answer him! The answer was obviously “yes” because on April 26th 2014 we were married.

Travis comes from a beautiful small town in the Tahoe Forest of around 250 people and his only requests for the wedding was we get married in the town where he grew up. It was a completely DIY wedding and we will forever be indebted to our friends and family for all their help and hard work. From my grandfather officiating the ceremony, my bridesmaids wrapping bouquets the night before the wedding, and my cousin stacking the tiers of the cake 20 minutes before the ceremony started (everything was done without vendors) it all came together and was amazing..

We paid for the majority of the wedding ourselves and found that one of major expenses of getting married in a small town in the middle of the forest was the travel fees required by vendors. The only 2 vendors we ended up using for the wedding were Kyle from Kyle Brock productions, who was a breeze to work with and kept our guests on their feet all night long.

The other vendor we used was Jessica from Jessica Lillian Photography, who provided us with all day coverage and well into the night, making sure every detail and special moment was captured. Both vendor’s were amazing and willing to whatever it took to make the wedding go off seamlessly.

The only wedding expense we didn’t have covered was the videography and, given our budget, it had been the one thing we were going to forgo. Yet I knew we would grow to regret not having any wedding video footage down the road. Fortunately, I discover WeddingMix by Storymix Media on Pinterest and they were simple to use and affordable. It was a great way to get our guests involved in capturing of our wedding which was fun for them and amazing for Travis and I to see our wedding through the eyes of our guests.