Is it just me or is this bride not a dead ringer for Grace Kelly? She is beyond gorgeous and wearing her grandmother’s wedding dress which we so adore. She also happens to have been wed in the very city that stole my heart many a year ago — good old San Francisco. With its rolling hills, perfectly vintage trollies, and gorgeous architecture by the sea, this little spot is completely magical. And paired with a blue and yellow infused wedding styled by Amy Nichols Special Events? Now that is a match made in California heaven. Branch Out Floral Design lent their eye for the perfect floral arrangement to this affair as well as Coba Images who snapped a bazillion lovely images all for you to devour inch by pretty inch. You can catch a glimpse at the rest of the day here!
Click here to see the entire gallery of images!
From the Bride…My husband surprised me with a romantic proposal so there was no master plan in place. Since we attended Mass at St. Dominic’s and are close to our pastor, we knew that we wanted to celebrate the wedding in the beautiful, gothic church. At the time, I lived in Fort Mason, a former US Army post in San Francisco. The officer’s club there was a beautiful, historic building and only a few feet from my house. As luck would have it, the church and the officer’s club had only one matching date open for the next year. Perfect!
The short (four months) notice ruled out any long lead times for a dress, so I decided to try on my grandmother’s dress. It was the only dress I ever tried on! As soon as I put it on I knew it was right—I barely had to have it altered even though it had been 53 years since my grandmother had worn it at age 17. I added a veil worn by Nick’s grandmother, making what I wore very vintage and even more meaningful—combined over 100 happily married years represented.
I work for a stationery company and stationery is my obsession. The heirloom dress and the historic locations set the tone as Erika Givens and I spent hours brainstorming and trading ideas. We settled on a ‘nuptial proclamation and summons’ modeled after stock certificates from the turn of the century. Each was individually addressed, serialized, and punched to indicate the wedding date. Underneath the invitation was a stylized map of San Francisco, designed by Erika, with notations for the church and ceremony locations plus other personal spots like where we first met, the beach where Nick proposed, and our favorite taco spot (Nick’s Crispy’s – no relation).
We both love to cook and entertain so we had a lot of fun putting the menu together – I especially enjoyed dreaming up personal touches to include. Nick loves beer so we offered guests the choice of a beer or wine pairing with each course. We had Red Sox cracker jack mix in our wedding colors of blue and yellow because my husband’s family is from Boston. My dad loves to fish so he caught all of the Alaskan King salmon that we served. My aunt, who also made my mother’s wedding cake, made a carrot cake from a recipe that has been in the family for generations.
As far as the details go, I loved having so many flower girls! All four girls wore hand-smocked plaid dresses that we had made by a grandmother in Atlanta. We used the same fabric in the ring bearer’s pillow, bow tie, table runners, and wrapped around the stems of all the girls’ bouquets. I had lemon notecards made up at Minted (where I work) as favors to tie in with the lemon granita cocktails and lemon centerpieces. We tied them up with ribbons, which were also hung as streamers in entry ways and made into tabletop lattice. A sign said ‘Keep in Touch’ which was fitting because nine months later we moved to Hong Kong! I blog about our adventures here at HK Housewife
Venue: Fort Mason / Wedding Photography: Coba Images / Floral Design: Branch Out Floral Design / Band: PopRocks / Wedding Planner: Amy Nichols Special Events / Wedding Invites: Gleaux / Other Printed Materials: Minted