A Festival-Inspired Wedding Chicer than Anything You'd See at Coachella
After a formal Greek Orthodox church ceremony, this gorgeous Bride and Groom decided to change things up with their cocktail hour and reception, drawing inspiration from the outdoor festivals they love. From the dancing under the stars to the whimsical touches throughout, this duo definitely achieved their vision of a "rustic chic day with a casual, yet elegant vibe." See how it all came together thanks to Lori Paladino Photography and Lovespun Handmade Wedding Films in The Vault!
From The Bride...Our vision for our wedding was rustic chic with a casual yet elegant vibe. How did we manage to come up with that one? I am from New York and Emmett is from Petaluma, so we each wanted varying elements incorporated. It also describes our personalities to perfection! Many of our guests were traveling from out of town so we wanted them to feel comfortable and be able to enjoy the entire day into the evening. Since we had a very formal ceremony at a Greek Orthodox church, we wanted to give our guests a change of scene for cocktail hour. Our inspiration was from outdoor festivals that we both really enjoy. We had lots of food and drink, a bluegrass band and very rustic décor. When moving over to the main reception, we still wanted to keep the casual vibe going which is why we elected to have the entire reception outside with no tent. Those California stars certainly helped make that decision!! We did a mix of farm table and round with varying arrangement on the table to give depth and a garden element to the evening. Lighting was very important to us, so went spent a lot of time designing the lighting over the table as well as around the entire space. The floating candles with the orchids and chandeliers gave us our elegant vibes. We also had a big band feel, with the stage and dance floor as the focal point of everything! We really wanted the whole event to be about everyone we love, who made such an effort to be there for us that day! We are so happy we decided to get a live event painter to capture our amazing day!! It was really fun for our guests to see it in action and it is now hanging in our home. We tried to time everything so that the schedule speeches and dances would be done throughout dinner so that everyone could enjoy the rest of the evening at their leisure. We has fire pits with s’mores, cigar rolling, port, dancing and plenty of dessert. We really wanted everyone to find something that made them happy! We decided to do a bubble exit instead of sparklers because of the drought. Plus, Emmett is a firefighter so the sparkler were a no go! Overall, we had a magical evening and could not have asked for anything more.
I wanted a really fun party that was beautiful, but encourage our guests to move around and be comfortable and social!
I really wanted a rustic chic with a casual elegance. I chose blush, champagne, peach and some natural greens. Those were the perfect colors for me! I did not want to overpower the gorgeous lawn with bright pops of colors, but I wanted soft element to highlight what was already a beautiful canvas.
The bar’s were definitely a highlight for me, and not I don’t mean the wine bars (those were cool too!). S’more’s Bar, Port Bar, Coffee Bar, Dessert Bar all brought different elements and activities for our guests. That was really cool to see come to life! I also really loved the lighting. From the up lite red woods to the grape vine chandeliers, everything really came together and my vision truly came to life!
One of my favorite moment was being with my new husband in our vintage car ride from the church to the vineyard! There was so much to be happy about, and yet still so much to look forward to. My heart was exploding!!! Another huge highlight for me was the traditional Greek dancing. To see all my guests come together on the dance floor was really special!
I LOVE flowers, but it was also important for me select a green florist. Heather and I worked together designing simple yet elegant centerpieces and many other design element for the space throughout. Heather grows many of her own flowers on her cutting garden, recycles, donates arrangement to charity after events and gives back to the community. These were all important to both Emmett and I, so this was a no brainer! In lieu of favors we decided to donate to charity. We chose Shriners Burn Center, since Emmett is a firefighter that was special for both of us as well many of our guests. Our cake was something that we wanted to keep very simple, which is why we decided to do a naked cake. We did an organic coco velvet, we only like to serve our loved ones the best ingredients! Our focus was definitely on the variety of the dessert bar. Last but definitely not least is the dress! I wanted something very simple yet elegant. My dress was Badgley Mischka, and my favorite element was definitely the ruffled back. When I got the dress is was plain and I did want to bring a little more of that elegant feel to it, so I decided to go to Britex in downtown SF and buy some French lace. I had that added to the bottom of my dress as well as to the veil I had made. (Irina’s Sewing Shop Walnut Creek) It was really awesome because I felt like I had added my own little design touch to my dress.
My advice to Brides would be to take it all in and enjoy the day. Planning a wedding can be stressful, but from the moment I woke up to the moment my head hit the pillow (much later) that night I didn’t worry about a thing. I sort of handed it over to the universe and it really was for the best!
I wanted a really fun party that was beautiful, but encourage our guests to move around and be comfortable and social!
I really wanted a rustic chic with a casual elegance. I chose blush, champagne, peach and some natural greens. Those were the perfect colors for me! I did not want to overpower the gorgeous lawn with bright pops of colors, but I wanted soft element to highlight what was already a beautiful canvas.
The bar’s were definitely a highlight for me, and not I don’t mean the wine bars (those were cool too!). S’more’s Bar, Port Bar, Coffee Bar, Dessert Bar all brought different elements and activities for our guests. That was really cool to see come to life! I also really loved the lighting. From the up lite red woods to the grape vine chandeliers, everything really came together and my vision truly came to life!
One of my favorite moment was being with my new husband in our vintage car ride from the church to the vineyard! There was so much to be happy about, and yet still so much to look forward to. My heart was exploding!!! Another huge highlight for me was the traditional Greek dancing. To see all my guests come together on the dance floor was really special!
I LOVE flowers, but it was also important for me select a green florist. Heather and I worked together designing simple yet elegant centerpieces and many other design element for the space throughout. Heather grows many of her own flowers on her cutting garden, recycles, donates arrangement to charity after events and gives back to the community. These were all important to both Emmett and I, so this was a no brainer! In lieu of favors we decided to donate to charity. We chose Shriners Burn Center, since Emmett is a firefighter that was special for both of us as well many of our guests. Our cake was something that we wanted to keep very simple, which is why we decided to do a naked cake. We did an organic coco velvet, we only like to serve our loved ones the best ingredients! Our focus was definitely on the variety of the dessert bar. Last but definitely not least is the dress! I wanted something very simple yet elegant. My dress was Badgley Mischka, and my favorite element was definitely the ruffled back. When I got the dress is was plain and I did want to bring a little more of that elegant feel to it, so I decided to go to Britex in downtown SF and buy some French lace. I had that added to the bottom of my dress as well as to the veil I had made. (Irina’s Sewing Shop Walnut Creek) It was really awesome because I felt like I had added my own little design touch to my dress.
My advice to Brides would be to take it all in and enjoy the day. Planning a wedding can be stressful, but from the moment I woke up to the moment my head hit the pillow (much later) that night I didn’t worry about a thing. I sort of handed it over to the universe and it really was for the best!