Intimate San Francisco Wedding
From exchanging glances to vows, these blind date darlings kept their day true to cherished cornerstones. Complete with wild Scarlett & Grace blooms incorporating the Bride's family wheat farm, Libby Siino coordinated a celebratory commitment. Loved ones gathered at Ella Dining Room & Bar for personal vows, warm laughter, and candid Docuvitae snapshots, and you can see it here.
From the beautiful Bride... We were strangers from opposite ends of the country, but had a quick attraction after being set up on a blind date. Stuart is from Dallas, I from Sacramento, and we both were spending our 20's in Washington, DC. We moved to Brooklyn, started building a life together, and got engaged in one of my favorite places in the world – back home under the lemon tree in my parents’ backyard. 8 years to the day after our first date, Stuart and I got married!
From the moment I said “yes,” we knew we wanted to have a wedding that felt 100% us and true to the cornerstones we cherished. We came up with three essential elements around which to base the wedding those being: (1) non-traditional, (2) simple and focused on our love and commitment, (3) celebratory through a fun, genuine experience with only our closest friends and family.
We put a lot of effort into creating a ceremony all our own, finding amazing food, and getting a good band that would keep us dancing all night long. We had a small guest list of 75 people and chose Ella Dining Room and Bar in Sacramento for both the ceremony and reception. The restaurant not only had amazing lighting, delicious food, and impeccable service, but also a modern look that fit our style. The space is cozy and welcoming, classy and elegant all at the same time, and has a certain “special-ness” about the place. It was also big enough to create several unique spaces for the ceremony, drinks, dinner and dancing.
Next came finding my wedding gown. I went to several boutiques and tried on over 100 options, but none of the dresses felt right. I dragged a friend up and down 5th Avenue in New York, hunting for a dress that felt more like me - fashion forward, a little sexy, definitely elegant. After searching most of the designer boutiques and department stores, I finally found a dress in a style I loved, but it was black. I wasn’t daring enough to wear black, so I emailed the designer (Temperley London) and was delighted to discover they had another version of the dress in blush and gold! I accessorized with 3 bracelets, each representing important people in my life - one from my maternal grandmother, one from my paternal grandmother, and one that my father had given my mother.
Documenting the wedding was really important to us, so we spent a lot of time searching for the right documentary style photographer. We wanted someone who captured candid moments filled with loving glances, sweet kisses, and pure joy. After combing through the portfolios of several photographers, we decided on Docuvitae, truly artists of their craft. Flying our photographer Hannah from Los Angeles was one of the best decisions we made, as she was able to capture the most amazing moments that we’ll cherish forever.
Erin from Scarlett & Grace in Sacramento designed our flowers. Even though we were coasts apart during the planning process, Erin was great at working off my Pinterest board for inspiration on the styles I liked. She did a stunning job creating wild and free arrangements with my favorite flowers. She even incorporated wheat grains from my Dad’s last harvest as a farmer, making the flower arrangements more personal and special.
The event turned out to be the perfect experience. We crafted the ceremony so that his sister Carrie would officiate and my sister Stacy and several friends would speak on our love story. We wrote our own vows, and I laughed with joy at the cheesy lines Stuart incorporated from Ryan Gosling’s character in The Notebook. After the ceremony, we slipped away to enjoy a minute to ourselves with glasses of our favorite sparkling rose. Next, we headed to nearby Capital Park for a few posed photos with our families before going back to the party. The rest of the evening was magic - amazing food, yummy cocktails, warm and hilarious toasts. or our first dance, the band, Radio, played a slower, soul-filled version of The Black Key’s Everlasting Light. From there, we spent the rest of the night on the dance floor, laughing and grooving. All in all, our wedding was exactly what we wanted, and will always be the happiest day of our lives.
From the moment I said “yes,” we knew we wanted to have a wedding that felt 100% us and true to the cornerstones we cherished. We came up with three essential elements around which to base the wedding those being: (1) non-traditional, (2) simple and focused on our love and commitment, (3) celebratory through a fun, genuine experience with only our closest friends and family.
We put a lot of effort into creating a ceremony all our own, finding amazing food, and getting a good band that would keep us dancing all night long. We had a small guest list of 75 people and chose Ella Dining Room and Bar in Sacramento for both the ceremony and reception. The restaurant not only had amazing lighting, delicious food, and impeccable service, but also a modern look that fit our style. The space is cozy and welcoming, classy and elegant all at the same time, and has a certain “special-ness” about the place. It was also big enough to create several unique spaces for the ceremony, drinks, dinner and dancing.
Next came finding my wedding gown. I went to several boutiques and tried on over 100 options, but none of the dresses felt right. I dragged a friend up and down 5th Avenue in New York, hunting for a dress that felt more like me - fashion forward, a little sexy, definitely elegant. After searching most of the designer boutiques and department stores, I finally found a dress in a style I loved, but it was black. I wasn’t daring enough to wear black, so I emailed the designer (Temperley London) and was delighted to discover they had another version of the dress in blush and gold! I accessorized with 3 bracelets, each representing important people in my life - one from my maternal grandmother, one from my paternal grandmother, and one that my father had given my mother.
Documenting the wedding was really important to us, so we spent a lot of time searching for the right documentary style photographer. We wanted someone who captured candid moments filled with loving glances, sweet kisses, and pure joy. After combing through the portfolios of several photographers, we decided on Docuvitae, truly artists of their craft. Flying our photographer Hannah from Los Angeles was one of the best decisions we made, as she was able to capture the most amazing moments that we’ll cherish forever.
Erin from Scarlett & Grace in Sacramento designed our flowers. Even though we were coasts apart during the planning process, Erin was great at working off my Pinterest board for inspiration on the styles I liked. She did a stunning job creating wild and free arrangements with my favorite flowers. She even incorporated wheat grains from my Dad’s last harvest as a farmer, making the flower arrangements more personal and special.
The event turned out to be the perfect experience. We crafted the ceremony so that his sister Carrie would officiate and my sister Stacy and several friends would speak on our love story. We wrote our own vows, and I laughed with joy at the cheesy lines Stuart incorporated from Ryan Gosling’s character in The Notebook. After the ceremony, we slipped away to enjoy a minute to ourselves with glasses of our favorite sparkling rose. Next, we headed to nearby Capital Park for a few posed photos with our families before going back to the party. The rest of the evening was magic - amazing food, yummy cocktails, warm and hilarious toasts. or our first dance, the band, Radio, played a slower, soul-filled version of The Black Key’s Everlasting Light. From there, we spent the rest of the night on the dance floor, laughing and grooving. All in all, our wedding was exactly what we wanted, and will always be the happiest day of our lives.