I think we can all agree this interior designer-turned-bride knows a thing or two about throwing a killer party. She gathered friends near and far for a flower crown + champagne-themed luncheon in Napa with Jacin Fitzgerald Events by her side. And the results? Pure gorgeous. Tec Petaja was on hand to capture the festivities and the gallery is bursting with more girly goodness than you can even imagine.
From the Bride… From the beginning of my wedding process, there were two things I knew for sure. That there would be an amazing bridal luncheon and that there would be flower crowns. I also knew that in addition to having bridesmaids (because for a Vanderbilt sorority girl, a mere ten person attendant party really is not enough), I would embrace the southern tradition of having a house party, composed of close friends and family, with whom I had cherished relationships, to which I desired to honor and pay tribute to. After living in Cincinnati, OH for all of my pre-college life’s entirety, I decided to make up for lost time by becoming an urban nomad and jumping around residences, between Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago, all within 5 years post graduation from Vanderbilt. All of this moving made for many a best friend in many a different city. Add to this a continuously migrating group of childhood and college friends, as well as a sister in law in Hong Kong, and getting all of my favorite girls and family together in Napa Valley was a challenging feat yet true treat.
As an interior designer, I had many a specific vision for not just the style, but feel of this event. This was both a blessing and a curse but luckily I had my amazing wedding coordinator, floral designer, and now, friend, Jacin Fitzgerald, to execute, style, and plan my dreams into fruition (she really is the best). Jacin suggested Domaine Chandon’s Étoile Restaurant as a venue. This ended up being the perfect setting as the beautiful gardens and barrel-vaulted patio evoked a true aesthetic of wine country that uniquely differed from any of our other wedding venues. Also Domaine Chandon is centered on the art of champagne, which really was perfection, as I cannot imagine anything more perfectly girly than an afternoon on a covered lanai, laughing with friends and sipping bubbly beverages.
Because the flower crowns were a definite, the style of the entire event really evolved from there. Since all the ladies would be provided with flower crowns, I thought it would be fun and really beautiful if the guests of honor, all of my ladies, donned shades whites, pinks, and florals. With this in mind, the amazingly talented Chelsea Petaja, of Oh My Deer! Handmades, penned custom invitations in rose gold foil on pale pink card stock with a request for all those in attendance to dress in their “prettiest pinks, loveliest whites, or most beautiful blooms!” Thanks to Chelsea, each one of my guests felt special and honored, prior to even arriving in wine country, as the luncheon was given an aesthetic theme to parallel it’s inspiration of cherished love and friendship.
The luncheon began with lots of laughter and story telling as everyone gathered together to kick off a wonderful weekend. An abundance of girl talk was accompanied by an education and tasting of some of Chandon’s most covetable bruts and rosés The afternoon progressed and were seated to officially become ladies who lunch as we intimately dined at one large rectangular communal table. Here, the theme of allowing for the crowns take center stage, also carried through as Jacin made the brilliant decision to allow for the flower crowns at each person’s seat to speak for themselves with a very simple name tag as a place card. Due to smaller size and scale, the luncheon ended up lending opportunity to embrace floral themes and aesthetics that I loved but were unable to incorporate into our actual wedding ceremony and reception. This rang true in the incorporation of the Jacin designed gorgeous garland runner to ornament the table. Simplistically beautiful yet dramatic in statement, the perfectly scaled garland ideally juxtaposed the bold florals of the crowns to make for a beyond picturesque tablescape and setting.
With every completed beautiful course, the afternoon became bittersweet as I wished this idealistic afternoon might last forever. After gifting all of the ladies in attendance with wedding appropriate palette themed gifts of metallically monogrammed cream grass cloth totes, rose gold Jack Rogers, and Pretty Plum Sugar getting ready garbs, the afternoon came to close and I felt a sense of pure happiness. I had successfully taken advantage of the opportunity to throw a fun female-centric event, in honor of my close family and friends. The event allowed the opportunity to make each person in attendance feel the reciprocation of specialness and love that they had granted to me over the years, in each of our uniquely close relationships. Add to this the laughter accompanied by champagne and attempts to successfully don oversized flower crowns and there are few other things a girl could ask for.
I am forever grateful for all of our amazing vendors that made this small little event possible and with all of the above said and done, I must admit that second to getting to wed my handsome husband, I would have to say that my very favorite thing about getting married was the multitude of quality girl time I got to spend with all of my nearest and dearest ladies. Most simply put, this bridesmaid luncheon at Domaine Chandon successfully epitomized my vision of chicly flower crown powered bliss.
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Photography: Tec Petaja | Event Planning, Design + Florist: Jacin Fitzgerald Events | Hand-Lettered Place Cards: Chelsea Petaja | Venue: Etoile At Domaine Chandon | Champagne Tasting: Domaine Chandon