When Ashley Bartoletti is involved, we’re listening. And when it’s pink, full of beautiful flora, and has a few of the cutest flower girls you’ll see today? Well we’re begging for the gallery. And since we’re sharers here at SMP, today really is your lucky day!
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From the stunning bride… Mike and I met in our freshman year of college but didn’t start dating until 4 years after we graduated! After two years of dating, Mike surprised me by proposing on the beach during our annual family trip to north carolina with his grandmothers beautiful 1939 vintage engagement ring. Needless to say, this beautiful ring became the inspiration for all of our wedding plans.
Our venue was the perfect example of vintage romance with beautiful dim lighting and a romantic feel with wooden bookshelves and walls. We wanted every little detail to have a story behind it and for all our guests to feel the love that we had for each other and our families. Pink is my favorite color and I always knew that I wanted to use it in my wedding color scheme. Since we were getting married in the fall, I thought a dusty rose pink would be perfect addition to gold and ivory tones. It was important to me as an event planner to make sure that my guests felt the love and romance in the room and of course, notice all of our personal touches.
To incorporate my husbands Native American culture and his birth name which means “maker of good arrows” we used a wire arrow cake topper which we spray painted gold. Because we were getting married the weekend before Thanksgiving, we thought it would be fun to incorporate breakable wishbones as escort card holders which we also spray painted gold. My grandmother, a seamstress, made my beautiful veil which we hope to pass down to my sisters and cousins in the years to come.
We wanted our centerpieces to be beautifully simple with different shades of pink peonies, ranunculus, dahlia’s and astilbe flowers. On our family vacations to North Carolina, we always drink Bulliet Bourbon and thought it would be fun to ask our family members to help us collect bottles so that we could use them as vases in our centerpieces. In addition to the bourbon bottles, we added a mix of regular and quilted mason jars for a vintage flair. To add some gold tones to the mix, we used clear glass votive candles and painted the rims with gold glitter along with hand painted oval mirrors which were used as table numbers.
One of my most favorite parts of the day was seeing mike for our first look! I was nervous that it would make our ceremony less memorable but seeing him beforehand calmed my nerves so much and allowed us to have some private moments of happiness before the craziness of the day began! Listening to our two amazing Spanish guitar players during cocktail hour was absolutely wonderful as a surprise to our guests and especially to my grandparents who were born and raised in Puerto Rico. In the end our wedding was full of love and warmth and we even had some snow flurries that night to make the night even more special.
My advice for all brides, especially DIY brides is too have faith in your vision and the choices you make, it’s your day and if you love it, so will everyone else!!! Also, don’t get caught up in making everything perfect, take some shortcuts for the small things and take time for the things people will remember.
Photography: Ashley Bartoletti Photography | Cinematographer: Kiss The Bride Films | Floral Design: Clores Flowers | Dress: JLM Couture, Inc | Invitations: Shine Wedding Invitations | Shoes: Louboutin | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Dessy Collection By Vivian Diamond | Catering: The Manor | Makeup: House Of Luciano | Hair Stylist: Christina Aprile | Dj: Aria Melody DJ | Bridesmaids' Robes: Victoria's Secret