Chelsea Nicole ~ of recent SMP Inspiration to Reality fame ~ is sharing one of her fantastic weddings that took place at Las Vegas’ The Springs Preserve. A GORGEOUS place to say “I DO!”
from the newlyweds, Whitney & John …
Since our wedding would be a destination wedding for at least half the guests no matter where we had it, we decided to pick a neutral destination that we knew everyone would enjoy – Las Vegas! In our search for the perfect venue, we wanted to stay close to the Strip yet feel a million miles away from Las Vegas. The Springs Preserve was perfect. The grounds are amazing, and there are so many options for the location of the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception—all designed with an eye toward sustainability and preservation. And the catering ~ by Wolfgang Puck ~ surpassed all expectations!
We chose to have the ceremony outside in their garden arboretum, which was so lovely that the only flowers we added were hanging white pomanders.
The bouquet was filled with irises, garden roses, lisianthus, dahlia, bavardia, spray roses and freesia variety of herbs as accent. We incorporated fern buds and sprigs of herbs to the bouquets and the boutonnieres, which added great texture as well as a wonderful scent.
It was important to us that our parents be involved in the wedding ceremony, but we wanted to find a unique way to accomplish this. After we said our vows, we had our parents come up one at a time to participate in a little ceremony. They each poured one of the ingredients for our signature cocktail into two champagne glasses, and we had a nice private moment with each of them. My husband and I then toasted to our marriage with the signature cocktails our parents had created, and our minister invited our guests to go out to the cocktail hour, take one of our signature cocktails (which were champagne-based) and do the same.
For the flowers and décor, we wanted to keep a very natural and colorful spirit to harmonize with and elaborate on the beauty of the Springs Preserve. We used purples and greens for our theme colors, and our florist created two different types of centerpieces: manzanita trees decorated with pomanders and hanging candles, and mossy terrarium-inspired displays in low, short bowls. In keeping with the garden atmosphere, we used small iron birds to hold the table markers, and old-fashioned bird cages to hold the programs. We also used a bird cage to hold flip-flops we gave away to guests to encourage everyone to get up and dance!
The catering ~ by Wolfgang Puck ~ surpasses all expectations!
We were very excited about our honeymoon, which included a week in Uganda visiting the mountain gorillas as well as a week in the Maldives. To include our guests in our excitement, we used the names of the different places we would visit as our table names. It took a while, but by the end of the evening most of the guests had figured out our theme.
I was well-prepared with my something borrowed (the purse my sister used at her wedding), something old (my mom had my grandmother’s old jewelry remade into a bracelet and decorations for my bouquet), and something new (the dress, of course!) For my something blue, I asked my cobbler to paint the bottom of my wedding shoes blue. They were my little secret most of the night, but they peeked out a few times while we were on the dance floor!
I loved all of the different laces decorating my wedding gown, and so I asked our bakery to incorporate these different laces into the decoration of our wedding cake. Each tier of the cake featured a different lace design hand-done in buttercream icing.
See more of Whitney & John’s wedding here!
LOVE LOVE LOVE being able to share Chelsea’s fantastic shots side by side with the story of the day! Congratulations and thank you to all!!
Photography: Chelsea Nicole Photography (www.chelseanicole.com)
Invitation and programs: Bella Figura (bellafigura.com)
Coordination: Stephanie Smith
Floral and Design: Jason Kenneth Designs
Hair and Makeup: Makeup in the 702
Cake: Leopold’s
Ceremony and Reception Location: Springs Preserve in Las Vegas, NV
Dress: Vera Wang
Shoes: Stuart Weitzman