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Heather and Aaron

Orfila Winery, Escondido

By Megan Lyons

Photography by Jackie Wonders

HEATHER AND AARON QUACH TIED THE KNOT at Orfila Winery, while overlooking sun dappled hills and the charming vineyard, surrounded by an intimate group of friends and family. They were married exactly five months—to the day—of their engagement. In spite of little time and hectic work and school schedules, Heather and Aaron were convinced they could pull off an amazing wedding that communicated who they are as a couple. Using a vision board, they cleverly captured their mutual sense of design, style, and purpose to create the whimsical, romantic, and within-budget wedding of their dreams. With a head full of creative ideas, Heather knew she needed something to really keep her on track. “The vision board really did the trick. I knew the end goal: vintage, fanciful, colorful. But there was plenty of room to veer off track without this as my guide! Also, since there’s an upgraded option for everything when it comes to weddings, we needed to be careful not to fall into that trap.”

As the couple looked at wedding sites, their mutual interests inspired them. “We love being outdoors—hiking, running, walking—you name it. We didn’t want an environment that seemed like a typical formal white wedding. So it seemed natural for us to get married at a winery,” Aaron comments. The view and setting were perfect—but how to achieve the vision they both sought within a large 5,500 square foot white plastic tent? Heather thought pom-poms might warm things up a bit. 

Their DIY pom-pom project had the possibility of easily becoming a wedding nightmare, and it almost did. Luckily, when in over their heads, they had an incredible group of friends willing to lend a hand. Four hundred and eight pom-poms and a few paper cuts later, the ceiling of the tent was draped in yellow pom-poms interspersed with white twinkle lights over gorgeous turquoise tables. “A guest told us that she felt like she was on the set of a Hollywood movie. That’s when the pom-pom project paid off in my mind,” remembers the bride. 

Heather and her matron of honor, Tara, the creative behind Smitten Stationery, collaborated on other wedding details like the innovative invitation, backed with a highly stylized vintage floral fabric. The RSVP card was stitched with a zigzag to match the envelope and had charming little icons indicating guest meal options. A clever map offered directions to the wedding site. Charming vintage stamps served as a nice final touch. Tara designed every paper detail for the wedding—from the “Just Married” bunting to the signs on the dessert table.

“My mom was also a lifesaver,” states Heather. “She flew into town to help with all the DIY projects.” Paper butterflies dangled on plastic threads and hung in and about the dessert table. Using dowel rods and ribbons in a variety of colors and textures, they created wands for guests to wave at the bride and groom after the ceremony. A handmade sewing kit acted as a board for escort cards, featuring Heather’s mom’s wooden spools and old buttons. Personalized thank-you cards were placed at each table setting.

On the big day, guests played croquet on one of the side lawns during the cocktail hour. Dear friends had built a photo booth to use as part of the guest book. Old typewriters beaconed friends and family to write notes to the bride and groom. One of Aaron’s favorite notes mentioned how cool it was to be “Tweeting old-school.”

A gorgeous spread of wedding desserts, made with love by a another friend, included a fruit tart, a vanilla pound cake with raspberry sauce, chocolate cream pie, a limoncello cake, fruit cobbler, apple pie, chocolate cake, white chocolate cheesecake, and grandmother Peg’s famous pecan pie. Local ripe plums and pears in baskets offered a lighter dessert option. Guests danced late into the night to the band The Heroes under the twinkle lights and yellow pom-poms, with classic romantic movies playing on a screen inside the tent. 

When asked about the best part of her wedding Heather responds, “The most special thing was that we got married! Woo hoo! It was so much fun. More than anything, I love that despite the planning process, we never strayed from focusing on our marriage.”    

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