We KNEW that a rainbow of bridesmaids would get your attention when we previewed it on Sunday! This clever bride wanted something different. Ummmm … don’t you all? She decided to elicit the help of Cori Cook to capture the personality of each of her 13 bridesmaids and men! SO cool! What began as a whim, resulted in ~ a virtual rainbow!
OK … here ya’ go … the rainbow from Cori Cook!
images courtesy of Laura Murray
More of this fun, fun, fun wedding on Cori Cook’s blog!
I am one of those brides who has been planning my wedding in my head since before I can remember, but after the excitement from the engagement settled down… sheer fear took over! I had only planned such an event in my head and I was at a loss as to how I would begin to turn my dream wedding into a reality. I did not want to start off the planning process by giving our wedding limits and since I have never planned a wedding before I knew I had a challenge ahead of me. I began by creating a list of what we wanted and what we did not want. All I knew was that I wanted something elegant, fun, original and personal.
We did not want a particular “theme”or color (!) or a wedding that looked like any wedding our guests had ever seen before. In fact, many would call me crazy as I started the wedding planning process for our January 15th, 2011 wedding. We had thirteen bridesmaids and thirteen groomsmen all wearing a different color. (I assigned a color to each bridesmaid or groomsmen that I thought fit their personality!) I gave each bridesmaid a matching clutch and the boys wore a matching pocket squar. Our florist, Cori Cook Floral Design, took on many of the wedding details … in particular, the thirteen beautiful bouquet and boutonnieres pairs, each completely unique from the other.
For our wedding venue, the moment we saw the Grand Hyatt of Denver, we knew it was the perfect location for us. It had the perfect atmosphere ~ from the 38th floor, we were surrounded by a complete 360 view of Denver! Although our wedding featured a rainbow of colors, we didn’t want it to feel like a rainbow-themed wedding. In fact, everything besides the wedding party and our beautiful candy bar (also designed by Cori Cook Floral Design), was ivory, black, gold and champagne in color … including our five-tiered cake made by the Grand Hyatt. The cake was one-half carrot cake and one-half oreo cookie cake with a few thin black frosted swirls.
We chose champagne colored satin chair covers to compliment our centerpieces. I went to second hand shops all around Colorado looking for antique style tea cups to stack. Cori stacked the tea cups and created a flower arrangement with a little flag reading “celebrate”inside the top of each tea cup. They were everything I had hoped for and unlike anything I had ever seen before! They totally added the whimsy, vintage, elegance that I was looking for. We tied it together with the mad hatter character making appearances here and there. He topped the menus that my parents and sister made, complimented our black and white checkered dance floor and was the main subject in one of the five paintings I made to decorate the cocktail hour.
When I began our wedding planning process, I was relatively new to Denver. I was nervous about finding vendors that fit for me. Now, I truly feel like the luckiest girl in the world! I believe that I found the absolute best! The Grand Hyatt’s views, food and services out-did all of my expectations. Monsignor Peter Quang Nguyen was the perfect officiant for our ceremony at Our Lady of Lourdes Church. The Little White Dress, where I found my Chia Lieu lace dress made the day I spent shopping with my mom one of the most magical days to date. Our florist, Cori Cook Floral Design , encouraged and filtered my off the wall ideas and turned each of them into something more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. Our photographer, Laura Murray not only takes the most beautiful wedding photos, but helped coordinate a schedule for the day. She was a positive energy to have around and on point throughout the day and all the months leading to our big day. I feel so blessed to have found the vendors I did, it made the whole planning process one hundred percent enjoyable.
When I was tired and in need of inspiration, when I was confused and needed ideas … Style Me Pretty guided me through. I checked Style Me Pretty two or three times a day to see if there were any new weddings posted. Before I knew it, the year was over and the wedding of my dreams was here. I don’t think I would have changed a thing. My sincere thanks to Style Me Pretty!
Photography: Laura Murray Photography / Floral Design: Cori Cook Floral Design / Ceremony Venue: Our Lady of Lourdes / Reception Venue: The Grand Hyatt of Denver / Wedding Dress: Chia Lieu Gown from The Little White Dress Shop / Minister: Monsignor Peter Quang Nguyen / Linens: Chair Covers & Linens / Custom Clutches for Bridesmaids: Kristie Livermore on etsy – Chickbags