This darling Casa Feliz wedding is all about the sweet, sweet details… and I don’t have to tell you just how much that makes me swoon. From the cute tandem bike to the vibrant purple and orange hues to the fabulous vintage vibe, every.single.moment has special meaning to the uber-adorable bride and groom. And what better way to celebrate your big day than with a celebration of YOU? Amalie Orrange Photography was on hand to capture all of the lovely, including that beyond gorgeous gown and the beautiful blooms by Jonathan’s Flowers. Click here for more!
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From the Bride… Zack is Jewish and I am Catholic, so we decided to forego a traditional, religious wedding in favor of a vintage-themed party with a Southern influence. Shortly following our engagement, Zack and I found Casa Feliz, a Mediterranean-style farmhouse built by James Gamble Rogers II during the Great Depression. Zack and I visited Casa Feliz once and were in awe of its Spanish tiled roof, whitewashed bricks, vaulted ceilings with huge, exposed beams, hand-carved, antique furniture, and immaculate landscaping intertwined with the old southern oaks. Without visiting any other venues, Zack and I decided Casa Feliz was the perfect location for our wedding. Once we established the venue, Zack and I wanted to personalize the space. When we started dating, Zack and I rode my parents’ vintage, tandem bike as often as we could. Because riding a tandem, especially one as heavy as my parents’, takes extreme teamwork, we figured it drew a great parallel to marriage and should be the focus of our theme. Additionally, Zack and I met on a camping trip, so we also wanted to incorporate rustic, outdoorsy details in the décor. I adore antiques – from Victorian to art deco to retro — I love everything vintage! Zack consented to including vintage details in our décor as long as he did not have to wear a stuffy tux, bow tie or suspenders; points I gladly conceded. From there, we based our color palette on our favorite colors, orange and purple; which happened to work really well with the season and Casa Feliz’ brick backdrop.
Zack and I were intent on making our wedding as personal as possible. We wanted every detail to reflect who we are as a couple. We started with the invitations, which turned out to be a group effort: I designed our invitation suite by combining a variety of free clipart: an old tandem, art deco accents, and vintage fonts; Zack printed them on DIY invitation/response card paper; and my mom tied, stuffed, addressed, and mailed them for us. With my parents’ tandem on display, our wedding day turned out even better than we had hoped. For the ceremony, our guests sat in the garden facing the front of Casa Feliz and the wedding party stood beneath the balcony, which my sister, Jenn, decorated with an “M & Z” garland she’d made. The girls’ vintage-inspired, orange dresses complemented my wedding dress, an ivory ball gown with lace half-sleeves, an embroidered lace bodice and cathedral train, which was, of course, also vintage-inspired and made me feel like a princess and a proper bride. To accent my gown, I wore a tulle, birdcage veil I made, my great-great-grandma’s engagement ring, my grandma’s pearl and diamond earrings, and my maternal grandma’s wedding garter. In addition, Jonathan’s Flowers designed the most gorgeous bouquets for me and my bridesmaids, using Queen Anne’s Lace, lisianthus, bells of Ireland, blue thistle, and pincushion mums — flowers that remind me of my late grandma.
After the ceremony, the staff at Casa Feliz and Arthur’s Catering arranged different food stations and high-top cocktail tables around the house to encourage mingling, as well as areas inside and out for those guests who preferred to sit. My mom and sister designed our rustic, outdoorsy centerpieces. For the cocktail tables, they bought a variety of lanterns from Ikea, which we filled with potpourri and tea lights. For the seated tables, Jenn ordered raw wood platters made from slices of logs that we sealed with polyurethane and topped with a trio of orange, green, and clear vases (also from Ikea), which our florist filled with seasonal wildflowers. Jenn also commissioned a friend to paint a canvas with two bikes leaning against a leafless tree for us to use as a guestbook. Instead of leaving their names and well wishes like in a typical guestbook, our guests were asked to “leaf” their fingerprints on the tree’s branches in orange and brown inks. For our toast, Zack and I used “Red-Neck Wine Glasses” (Mason jars mounted on champagne flute stems) as a semi-classy nod to the South. Zack designed our delicious wedding cake: a chocolate frosted cake with three topsy-turvy layers decorated with a tiny tandem bike that was made to look like it was riding up an autumn bike trail. Zack and I were thrilled with our wedding ceremony and reception, especially because our guests all seemed to have a lot of fun. What’s best though, is all the special details of our day were beautifully captured by our photographer, Amalie Orrange, so we can enjoy them for years to come.
Wedding Photography: Amalie Orrange Photography / Wedding Venue: Casa Feliz / Flowers: Jonathan’s Flowers / Officiant: Ron Rosenzweig / Caterer: Arthur’s Catering / Cake: Party Flavors Custom Cakes / DJ + Band: Thompson Entertainment, L.L.C. / Hair: Katie O’Brien, Bride’s Friend / Wedding Gown: White by Vera Wang for David’s Bridal / Bride’s Shoes: B. Makowsky / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: ASOS / Bridesmaids’ Shoes: Nine West / Groom’s Suit: Tommy Hilfiger / Groom’s Tie: Vintage / Groomsmen Ties + Bow Ties: Vintage / Wedding Invitations: DIY, The Bride & Groom