This wedding is loveliness defined. The beautiful, fresh color palette, the sweet DIY details and the oh-so-fun florals from Daisy Rose Floral Design all make it the perfect wedding for the pages of SMP. But it’s the love between these two cuties that really makes us giddy, and you can see all the perfect moments snapped up by Carmen Holt Photography right here. And be sure to stick around to watch their special video from IQ Videography below…
[iframe http://player.vimeo.com/video/76194429 600 338]
From the Bride…From the very beginning, my relationship with Jamaal moved quickly. We were dating for less than a year when we knew we wanted to get married. And when Jamaal proposed after 14 months of dating, we gave ourselves 4 short months to plan our wedding. We knew that we wanted the wedding to be sweet and simple, and we had only a few requirements: (1) that the ceremony be outdoors and (2) that the reception incorporate elements that represented us as individuals and as a couple.
For me, that meant a lot of DIY. I love anything that lets me exercise my creativity, so I took the lead in creating our wedding decor. Jamaal and I bought ream upon ream of cardstock and, with the help of some friends, created dozens of paper wheels and paper roses that we hung as backdrops for the reception. We stamped and filled favor bags, designed and created our table signs, cut and strung name-tags onto mason jars, wrote our own chalkboard signage, and much, much more.
Beyond the crafts, we found other ways to make sure that our wedding had a personal touch. Jamaal loves milk and cookies — it’s his nightly ritual. So we set up a delicious milk and cookies bar. To make sure that I was represented too, we included almond milk and vegan cookie options in addition to the whole milk and buttery cookies that Jamaal loves.
While Jamaal’s nightly ritual is milk and cookies, mine is a glass of piping hot tea (like every true Persian) and a vegan cupcake from Whole Foods. So as part of our wedding favors, we filled cotton bags with some of our favorite loose leaf tea blends, including Monk’s Blend, White Jasmine, and Persian Amber tea. We made sure to include brewing instructions so our guests could get the most out of our gift. We also had a tea bar onsite to keep our guests caffeinated and satisfied throughout the evening.
As for the cupcake-lover in me, we decided to serve our guests cupcakes in lieu of wedding cake. Our cupcakes were catered from Whole Foods in Davis, CA, which is essentially my second home. Even before we hired Whole Foods Davis as our dessert caterer, the bakers there knew me by name because every day, without fail, I would purchase one (or two) of their delicious vegan cupcakes. At the wedding, we served some mine and Jamaal’s favorites: vanilla, red velvet, and carrot cupcakes with both vegan and non-vegan options.
Jamaal and I not only wanted to represent ourselves at the wedding, but also where we came from. So we decided to name our tables after cities with some significance to us either individually or as a couple. We included our places of birth, our hometowns, our college towns, the city where we met, where he proposed, where we would honeymoon, and more.
Also, Jamaal and I are both Persian, so to represent our heritage, we decided to cater Persian food for dinner. We served three types of Persian rice, traditional herb and eggplant stews, and kabob as our main dishes. For appetizers, we served dolma, herb yogurt, an assortment of nuts, and feta cheese with lavash bread. We also served an array of traditional Persian pastries, including baklava, rice and pistachio cookies, and more.
Another way that we personalized our wedding was through our guest book, or rather, our guest quilt. I’m a quilt-lover and, as it happens, Jamaal’s mom is the Quilt Queen. She makes quilts for him and all her loved ones for various special occasions. At the wedding, we had all our guests sign fabric blocks that Jamaal’s mom later sewed together into a beautiful wedding quilt that reflects all the love and support we felt throughout our special day.
The four months of wedding planning were a whirlwind, but everything came together beautifully the day of. We are so happy to share it with you now.
Photography: Carmen Holt Photography | Videography: IQvideography | Flowers: Daisy Rose Floral Design | Ceremony Venue: Chardonnay Golf Club | Reception Venue: Chardonnay Golf Club | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Donna Morgan | DJ: Sound In Motion | (some) Bridesmaids' Hair & Makeup: The Traveling Stylist | Accomodations: Holiday Inn Express & Suites | Bride's & (some) Bridesmaids' Hair & Makeup: Beauty by Lia | Bride's Dress: Mori Lee | Cake & Cupcakes: Whole Foods Market Preston | Day-Of Coordinator: Events by Satra | Groom & Groomsmen's Suits: Men's Wearhouse