A Heavenly White Rose Explosion in the Pacific Northwest

Lauren Megerdichian
December 14, 2022
Categories: Real Weddings, Romantic, The Blog

Thousands of white roses from Seattle Floral Design, tons of DIY details, and an epic helicopter getaway you won’t soon forget – these are just a few things you can expect to fall in love with from today’s Pacific Northwest nuptials planned by Simply By Tamara Nicole. Trust us, you’re going to want to spend a little extra time pinning every last detail in the full gallery – all captured by Blue Rose Photography!

Julia & Sassa had a beautiful classic wedding filled with so many white roses !! Julia is an artist herself and she made her own crest, designed her programs, and also created the seating chart all using her own illustrations and designs. Her dress by Galia Lahav was out of this world and seemed to be made for her. Their cake by the Celebrity cake studio was like a work of art as well. With frosting that mimicked an oil painting set against a smokey blue background. At the end of the night they had a helicopter getaway ! That was a first for us and we hope not the last :)

From the Planner… Julia had such a special vision for her wedding, embracing the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, while maintaining the souther elegance of her Texas roots. As an artist, Julia wanted to have lots of texture throughout several different elements to really make things pop. From her dress, to her linens, to the cake and floral design, strategically placed textural elements were key to putting an artsy twist on her classic aesthetic. As an artist, Julia’s DIY components were top notch! She used her talents as a watercolor artist to create a wedding monogram that was incorporated throughout the details on her menus, programs, cocktail napkins etc. The couple also collaborated to make a gorgeous display wall for their seating chart that was a true statement piece at cocktail hour. The couple paid a special nod to the groom’s love of aviation with a helicopter sendoff, which was truly a highlight for guests and an unforgettable way to wrap up such an incredible day!

Proposal/personal Story:

From the Bride… I (Julia) am a Texas native and moved up to the Seattle area in 2021 so we could start our lives together after 3.5 years of long distance. The first weekend after we got engaged was the Seattle Wedding Show, and I went alone to start the planning process. It was overwhelming to say the least, but I found the venue of our dreams – The Golf Club at Newcastle. Since I am from Texas and Saša is a native Pacific Northwesterner, the venue was the perfect blend of the beautiful scenery the PNW has to offer with the classic southern feel of a beautiful ballroom reception. It represented parts of both of us and was the perfect place to start our lives together.

Inspiration/Vision/Color Palette/Etc.

My vision for our wedding was something timeless, romantic, and whimsical. Everything from the individually hung flowers dripping from the chandeliers, the classic checkerboard dance floor, to the touches of blue in the tablescapes and macaron favors, made us feel like we were living in a dream. I loved how light and airy the room felt from our choice of linens, classic warm uplighting, and small accents of gold and light blues sprinkled throughout. I knew I wanted flowers absolutely everywhere, and our florist, Lana, executed that vision to perfection. Our whole wedding was cohesive by the use of texture and depth in our design details. I love texture, as you can see from the layers of flowers and tulle in my dress, our sweetheart and cake table linens, the flowers cascading from the lights, and even the cake with buttercream flowers. The cake was the most delicious cake I have ever had in my life – two tiers of marble eclair cake with Bavarian cream. I had a vision of buttercream palette knife flowers dripping down from the top of the cake to the bottom tier. The design was so painterly – it felt like such a unique touch and a nod to my favorite hobby.

Unique/Special Details/Traditions:

My husband, Saša, worked for an airline (as did most of his family) and he has always loved aviation. Because of this, we thought it would be so amazing to exit our wedding in a helicopter – and it was! We got to fly around the city before landing. It was the perfect exit and perfect time to reflect on the most perfect night.

Another touch – Sasa is not a big fan of cake, so we had slices of apple pie served as well as cake just for him.

DIY Touches:

I had so much fun creating DIY details – it made the wedding that much more special knowing how much Sasa and I worked on ourselves. I am a watercolor artist, so I knew I wanted to create our wedding monogram – something that we would have forever. I designed the monogram and created the menus and the programs for the ceremony (I hole-punched and tied so many ribbons that my fingers were numb). We also used the monogram on cocktail napkins, in the welcome bags we made for guests that were full of Seattle goodies, and as stickers on the boxes of macaronwedding favors.

I made each guest’s place card by printing them on cardstock paper and putting a corresponding wax seal per menu choice on each name card.

I used gold framed mirrors for our welcome signs and our bar signs by writing with chalk paint. The easiest DIY there is!

I knew I wanted a focal point for the cocktail hour, and I love when people create beautiful escort display walls. Since we had wax seals on our invitations and I used them as the meal indicators, I thought it would tie in nicely to have guests’ names displayed in a way that looked classic and romantic. I found wallpaper I loved and Sasa and I went to work creating the wall. Sasa owns a 3D printer, so we got to print the words for the wall – he was even able to print my handwriting of “the best seat in the house.” I hand wrote every guest’s names on shiny gold cardstock, and created each seal before attaching them in alphabetical order. Both of us put a lot of thought and time into the wall design, and we absolutely loved the way it turned out! It was so special having something that we both worked on.

We also made our own photobooth floral wall – Sasa built the wood structure and metal pole, and we hung drapes and flowers I found online as a beautiful background.

DIYing is such a great way to add meaningful personalized touches to the day, not to mention you can customize exactly how you want it all to look!

Favorite Moments of the Day:

Favorite moments of the day include our first dance (even though I stepped on Sasa’s toes and got so nervous we had to end up swaying back and forth instead of dancing the waltz we learned)

Another favorite moment was walking into the ceremony for the first time and seeing each other at the ends of the aisle. Seeing the gorgeous flowers lining the aisle and dripping down from the chandeliers was also breathtaking – I hadn’t seen them until the moment I walked down the aisle. Walking under the flowers and meeting Sasa at the end of the aisle felt surreal, like we were in a movie.

Sasa’s favorite part was when he saw me walk down the aisle, and him being able to look out and see all the people who mean the most to us in this world.

Favorite detail: Hands-down, my favorite details at the wedding were the flowers hanging from the chandeliers.

Advice for Future Brides:

This is so cliche, but enjoy every second of the day. If I could have made the whole day longer I would have. Now that the day is over, we have the most gorgeous photos and videos to look back on and remember it by, so definitely make sure you find a photographer and a videographer that you love! (And a wedding planner like Jenna, wooo!)

Dress:

Fabiana by Galia Lahav

I absolutely loved my dress. It was the last one I tried on, and as soon as I put it on I had no doubts in my mind that it was the one. I didn’t realize it, but on my wedding pinterest board, I had pinned the exact dress about 10 times already – so I’m sure I subconsciously already had my mind made up. I love the flowers and layers. The dress has so much dimension and sparkle. I felt like royalty!