This wedding is a day all about perfect contrasts. Black and white. Lush greens and a desert setting. Modern and sleek yet classic and refined. It’s exactly the vibe Vanessa and Kelly envisioned for their Palm Springs destination affair and Ashley Kelemen captured every moment just right. Peek below for so much more!
From the bride… We first met at the University of Oregon — although we had several classes and many mutual friends, we like to say it all started one fateful night over dollar beers at our favorite campus bar. After close to a decade together, we got engaged in front of our favorite spot near our home — the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco, complete with a surprise party with all our closest family and friends.
We’ve both traveled to Palm Springs extensively and love the weather, the vibe, and the design — we decided to pick a venue there so that our wedding would truly feel like a vacation for our friends and family (most traveling from New York, San Francisco and Portland). Colony 29 was the first venue we saw, and nothing else compared. We were floored by the incredible ceremony and reception venue, but most importantly we loved that we could host our entire wedding party in the amazing casitas on the property.
Choosing Rachael as our wedding planner was easy — we had never met before, but after seeing a few Palm Springs wedding she had done in the past, we knew she would immediately understand the look and feel we were going for. And wow, did she kill it. We knew we wanted it to be black-tie since we loved the contrast of the black and white with the desert background. And we wanted our florals to feel lush and green — not too many colors, not too structured.
The people around us are what makes us, us. We cherish our relationships and part of what we both love about each other is how much we value our friends and family. So it was important to us that the wedding felt intimate (just 115 guests), and we went about choosing our vendors (including the amazing Ashley Kelemen) and planning the day with that in mind. We had a really great friend officiate, two childhood friends do a reading, and made sure to incorporate a lot of time for dancing, cocktails, and conversation (our friends LOVE to dance).
Music and food were other very important things on our list. We worked closely with our DJ to come up with a list that would fit the mood and feel meaningful to us. All of the music played during the ceremony and for first dances were artists that we had seen live together. And Miho was absolutely the right catering choice. Their food is absolutely ridiculous! Our catering manager was incredible to work with and even came up to us right after the ceremony (literally right after) with a much-needed cocktail, without being asked. We can’t even count the people who told us it was the best wedding food and service they had ever had.
It’s hard to pick the single moment — the entire wedding was a beautiful, amazing whirlwind. It was perfect in every single way. Our first look was so special, and it’s impossible to forget how it felt standing up there and saying I do in front of the people we love most. Ending the night with Shout and Sweet Caroline (University of Oregon musts) was just the cherry on top. We couldn’t be more grateful for a day that we can cherish forever.
Photography: Ashley Keleman | Floral Design: Siren Floral Co. | Hair + Makeup: Nancy Z Beauty | DJ: Red Shoe LA | Venue: colony 29 | Catering + Bar: MIHO | Dessert: Swiss Donuts | Event Planning + Coordination: Lace and Likes | Paper Goods: Emily Brunner | Rentals : Planks And Patina