A D.I.Y., Vintage Cincinnati Celebration: The Wedding of Madison and Jake Trejo

Madison and Jake matched on Bumble and decided to meet in person. Jake actually rented out the bar where they had their first date in order to propose. "It had a beautiful courtyard where we spent hours talking the first night," Madison gushes. He had their families, a photographer friend and an arrangement of candles waiting for Madison!
 

Though she wasn't sure what she was looking for, Madison knew she would recognize the right dress when she found it. "I found it spontaneously as I was about to settle for another," Madison shares. "I just knew. It was as if the dress was inspired by me." We are in love with the off-the-shoulder sleeves and floral detailing on the bodice!
 

Being a designer, Madison made mood boards for everything to begin her planning process. She drew inspiration from Pinterest, wedding magazines, European style and some of her own vision. Madison raves, "I appreciate many styles so it wasn’t until we chose the venue that I knew what to do." The vendors Madison and Jake decided to use came pretty easily since Madison works in the wedding industry. Many were friends, and others were found through tags and online searches.

On top of Madison's design skills, Jake does woodworking, too. Therefore the couple was able to do many D.I.Y. projects to add their special touches to the wedding. "We designed the cocktail hour bar (well my husband built it), all the signage, invitation suite design, programs, napkins, I even painted and illustrated the venue, and so much more," Madison explains. 
 

 

What We Love

For more personal touches, Madison and Jake exchanged personal vows, added foot washing to show their servant hearts and had a three string quartet. They also found an opportunity to save money to donate. "Since we got married on 9/11 we wanted to honor it by trading normal favors to using that budget and donating to Tunnel to Towers Foundation," Madison says.
 

 

Advice from the Couple

Madison and Jake advise, "It’s all about you so do what you want. And hire a planner. Budget it, do what you need to do to hire one. My mom and I are rock stars at designing and coordinating but we waited too long to hire our planner (day of)."
 

 

 

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