This wedding has a lot of gorgeous things going for it but one thing is for certain Fall and Wine Country are a lovely match. Like peas in a pretty pod those two are and all the fab images from Miki & Sonja Photography have us dreaming of a twinkle light filled dinner with lots of great wine and loved ones alike. And we can’t go without mentioning all of the autumnal florals by Jackie Combs Floral Design. Those beauties pulled us in at first glance and all of the fun details coordinated by Mary Sushinski of Occasions kept us coming back for more. Check out the gallery for the FULL cozy fête.
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From the Happy Couple…Whitney was bored at work on Valentine’s Day, 2005 and decided to enroll in an online dating site. That night, Alex came home from a dinner out with friends, saw Whitney’s profile and decided it was worth the dollar it would cost to email her — which means Whitney was on the dating site less than 24 hours before finding her match. After exchanging emails and talking on the phone, Whitney and Alex officially met for coffee on February 28, 2005 at a coffee shop near both of their houses. Alex proposed in front of this coffee shop about five years later on New Year’s Eve, 2009-10. They took their first post-engagement photo in the Rite-Aid up the street because it was the only thing open and, because Alex is a clean freak and a germaphobe, they do spend a lot of time in that drug store. Alex likes to make a silly face, known as “The Face” in our family (and captured on more than one occasion on our wedding day). He proposed by stopping in front of the coffee shop and pulling a box of mints from his pocket. “Do you want a mint?,” he asked Whitney. She said “sure.” Then he pulled out a ring box and said “Do you want to get married?.” Then he made “The Face”.
The first vacation Whitney & Alex took together was to the Santa Barbara area. This is also the first place he said “I love you.” They are also big foodies, so we wanted to have our wedding in a region known for its local flavors and seasonal ingredients. Alex and Whitney also like puns and the sort of idyllic notion of a rustic Americana. So we riffed on the idea of A&W Root Beer to play off our initials. Our wedding invitations incorporated that logo and theme and we placed A&W signs and bottles around the space. We even served root beer floats instead of a cake. But we knew some people would still want cake, so we had the cake designer also make mini treats to go with the Americana vibe, such as small Rice Krispie treats and ring dings.
We also used the A&W theme for our escort cards and we used twine to tie the escortcards around bottle necks of different sodas to note their menu choices. Those who ordered meat got an A&W Root Beer. Those who ordered fish got an orange soda (our fish dish was an orange-glazed black cod). The vegetarians got cream soda.
Alex and Whitney are both writers by profession, so we found a working vintage typewriter on eBay and let guests type their messages instead of using a traditional guestbook. Alex is a bit of a clean freak, so our wedding coordinator thought it would be cute to include handy wipes as part of the table settings. She even found wipes with labels that matched our color scheme! Whitney loves Jelly Bellies. In fact, gifting her with the beloved candy resulted in Alex receiving his first kiss from Whitney. Naturally we had to have jars of Jelly Bellies as party favors. We got colors to match our wedding colors — plus, of course, A&W Root Beer and cream soda flavors.
We also included classic rock ‘n roll songs in the evening. Whitney’s mother taught her to love The Beatles at a young age, so her parents escorted her down the aisle to George Harrison’s “Something.” We hired a rockabilly band to play our reception, pomodores and all, and our first dance was to Dave Clark Five’s “Because.” The band leader also sang the Beach Boys’ version of “I Can Hear Music” during the ceremony’s processional.
Whitney and Alex were both close to our grandparents and older relatives. But, as is often the case, most of our grandparents had passed on before our wedding. Whitney incorporated her “something old” by binding a ring from her grandfather and a necklace charm from her grandmother around her bouquet.
Coordinator: Mary Sushinski of Occasions / Venue: Firestone Vineyard / Wedding Photography: Miki & Sonja Photography / Catering: Duo Catering / Ceremony Music: Festival Strings / Music: Memphis Music Entertainment / Rabbi: Rabbi Eugene Levy / Wedding Cake: Decadence / Hair + Makeup: Malory of TEAM Hair & Makeup / Floral Décor: Jackie Combs Floral Design / Lighting: Ambience Event Design / Linens: Elegant Designs / Rentals: Classic Party Rentals / Invitations: 8 Illustrations / Transportation: EOS Transportation / Shuttles: Road Runner / Tuxedo: Rik Ducar / Sitters: Westside Sitters / Wedding Concierge and Event Resources: The Bridal Bar