Top Ten Tuesday: Things I’d Have at My Bookish Party

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is about what we would feature at a bookish party. I’ve opted to go in a slightly different direction with it and feature my wedding because of course it had some bookish elements to it! We recently celebrated our 5 year anniversary so I’m even more keen to talk about that spectacular day. 🙂

Our wedding took place in my favorite town in the world, San Juan Bautista, California. Going to San Juan Bautista is like stepping back in time with so much of it still looking like it did 200 years ago. Even though the Mission there has a complicated past (and my ancestors were on either side of the cultural divide), it’s still a beautiful place of historical importance.

I’m mostly descended from Northern California Californios who have been in the state since the 1700’s. One of my ancestors, Tiburcio Vasquez, was even an influence for the character Zorro. Because of my deep roots to the state, places like the California missions are special to me. That’s why I was thrilled to be able to have my wedding at my favorite one.

Given the town’s history and setting, we opted for a rustic vibe for our reception decor. Since I also really wanted to have aspects of Alice in Wonderland incorporated into our wedding I had to find a way to make that work with the overall theme. The end result was old hardcover books tied in twine and topped with strands of pearls set alongside an eclectic mix of teapots and jars filled with locally grown flowers. We also had high tea set up in one of the corners with nibbles stacked on beautiful tiered cake stands.

It may not have been the most bookish of weddings, but I think the little literary touches we had added the perfect finishing flourishes to our day. Be prepared, some serious weddingposting is about to head your way!

Presenting Mr. & Mrs. A Little Nerd Told Me! (and my uncle behind us)

He’s no longer with us, but my childhood dog Ringo was our Ringobearer. I’m so grateful he was able to be there.

My parents are book hoarders like me so all the books on the tables were from their shelves.

My mom purchased the jars while the various teapots were from estate sales and antique stores.

I wish I had more photos of all the different teapots!

My three best friends and soon-to-be husband strutting through town like cowboy badasses.

My other BFF/Maid of Honor. My something blue were little blue buttons on the boot cuffs I crocheted for us.

Yay we did it! Now let’s get out of here.

Another teapot!

I think these books were thrown here as an afterthought because they don’t have pearls but I’m glad they’re there.

Dances with Books

Instead of an album of our wedding photos we opted to have a book made.

It’s my favorite book of all-time.

So that was our Californio wedding in San Juan Bautista! I hope you survived the weddingposting I just subjected you all to. To make up for it, here’s a fun fact about San Juan Bautista: one of the best Hitchcock movies ever, Vertigo, was filmed there. Some of its most pivotal scenes took place at the Mission. Give the movie a watch and see if you can spot the mission!

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Have you ever been here? Did you have any bookish themes to your weddings? What made it to your TTT this week? Let me know in the comments!