Floral Prints and Organic Texture at Black Swan Lake

Lauren Megerdichian
August 2, 2023
Categories: Real Weddings, Romantic, The Blog

[section title=”The Planning”]

[field title=”Wedding Colors”]With such a lush backdrop at the venue and having a summer wedding, we

wanted to keep the colors light and bright and romantic. Sara fell in love with having a pop of

lilac here and there, and working with our wedding planner and florist, they were able to come

up with a gorgeous color palette full of ivories, peaches, lilacs, and greens to really pop.[/field]

[field title=”Design / Vibe / Vision”]We’ve both lived in San Francisco for over ten years, and when we got engaged we

knew immediately that wine country was where we wanted to get married. We had spent so

much time there over the years, and celebrated so many special occasions there, we knew it

was the perfect place to gather all of our friends and family to celebrate. We loved the idea of

using organic elements for our design inspiration, and really wanted to focus on florals and

leaning into the lush landscape of wine country. Our design aesthetic was for the wedding to

feel like an intimate dinner party in a flourishing garden setting.[/field]

[field title=”Proposal Story”]After two years of dating, Noah got Sara’s father's blessing to ask her to marry him on a trip back to her parents’ house in the summer of 2019. He then worked with an old friend from New York and jewelry designer, Zameer Kassam, to design a custom engagement ring. The ring was finished at the end of 2019, and Noah was planning for the right moment in early 2020 to propose. COVID added an unexpected twist to his plans, but once things started opening up again, Sara and Noah planned a trip to one of their favorite places, Inverness, for Labor Day weekend. Noah told Sara he wanted to take sunset photos with their dog, Indy, on the pier at Manka’s Boat House where they were staying and caught her by surprise when he set up the camera and got down on one knee. After the shock settled in, Noah gave Sara a note he had her parents write for the special moment since they couldn’t be there in person. It was the perfect moment, and a celebratory champagne toast paired with local oysters (and lots of FaceTime calls to family and friends) followed to round out the perfect night.[/field]

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[section title=”The Fashion”]

[field title=”Wedding Gown”]Sara worked with Samantha Levis of The Bold & Bridal to create a custom

gown with Laura Vassar of Brock Collection and Patricia Voto of One/Of. Sara had sketched out

a rough idea of what she wanted, and the incredible design team was able to bring it to life. The

lace gown was fit to perfection, with a low scoop back, structured bodice, and a delicate

grosgrain ribbon at the waist that extended all the way down past the train of the dress for a

feminine yet dramatic impact. Sara’s classic veil with blusher was custom made by Heidi

Johnson of The Wedding Detailor. She complimented the gown with Aquazzura’s So Nude

pumps and the Kate diamond studs from Verstolo.[/field]

[field title=”Bridesmaid Dresses”]We worked with her four bridesmaids and one bridesman to ensure that

everyone felt comfortable and beautiful in a look of their choosing that still aligned with the

overall aesthetic. Sharing the color palette and garden party-theme of the wedding with them,

she was able to create a cohesive bridal party vision that still highlighted each individual's

personality and style. Her brother and bridesman wore an ivory tuxedo jacket accented with a

black lapel, while her bridesmaids chose various colorful and floral gowns from Cara Cara,

Reformation, and Sabina Musayev.[/field]

[field title=”Groomsman Attire”]To achieve a timeless look, Noah chose a classic American designer, Ralph

Lauren Purple, for his black tie attire. He wore the Gregory Shawl-Collar tuxedo, paired with a

custom tuxedo shirt from J. Hilburn. He elevated his look with the Dandelion patent loafers by

Christian Louboutin and a Tag Heuer watch that belonged to his late father and served as a

reminder of him throughout the day.[/field]

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[section title=”The Details”]

[field title=”Food & Drink”]As an ode to some of their favorite desserts as kids, Sara and Noah worked with

Alison Okabayashi of Pretty Please Bakeshop to create a nostalgic dessert bar featuring

chocolate chip whoopie pies, chocolate ding dongs, key lime mini pies, and mocha, raspberry

lemon, and pistachio lime twinkies. Sara had custom treat bags made featuring a gold

embossed image of their dog and cat, Indy and Bruce, to use as “doggie bags,” so that guests

could take desserts with them.[/field]

[field title=”Florals & Decor”]Kaella of M&Co brought our decor vision to fruition pulling together the rentals, decor, florist. Our florist, Amanda Vidmar, truly brought the floral vision to life. She and her team

created the most stunning bouquets, aisle design, and arrangements for the ceremony and

reception. It was everything we wanted and more, and with florals being our main design

inspiration, we couldn’t have asked for a better execution of the garden party aesthetic.[/field]

[field title=”Wedding Cake”]-Custom Groom’s Cake: Sara worked with their friend and cake artist, Camisha Greene, to

create a surprise groom’s cake of their dog, Indy, and cat, Bruce. To offset the light and airy

lemon wedding cake, Sara and Camisha opted to use chocolate and red velvet, the groom’s

favorite flavors, for the custom cake. It was a hit with Noah and was a fun way to incorporate our

pets![/field]

[field title=”Readings, Ceremony Music, Reception Songs”]We were able to work with our DJ, Evan Phillips (@truthlive), before the wedding to talk

to him about our style and what we were wanting for both the ceremony and reception. We love

Motown, and incorporated some of our favorites into the ceremony for a non-traditional touch,

like “Today I Met the Boy I’m Gonna Marry” by Darlene Love for the groom and bridal party

processional, and “And Then He Kissed Me” by Stumbleine and Violet Skies for the bridal

processional.

For the reception, we told him that we wanted it to be a party and we wanted all of our guests to

feel welcome on the dance floor. He absolutely knocked it out of the park and exceeded all of

our expectations with the music. No matter their age or where they were from, all of our guests

were on the dance floor all night long. Evan’s mashups and transitions were incredible, and our

guests couldn’t stop raving about the music and the atmosphere it created for our reception. It

was exactly what we wanted, and we couldn’t be more thankful to Evan for bringing our party to

life![/field]

[field title=”Special Detail #1″]-Photos/Reserved Seats for Family Members: To honor loved ones who are no longer with us,

we made sure to have some of our favorite photos framed and placed on reserved seats in the

front rows so that they were there with us in spirit.[/field]

[field title=”Special Detail #2″]-Father/Daughter Dance: Sara’s father, Craig, has played guitar and performed for fun since he

was a teenager. For their father/daughter dance, he chose to record a rendition of Alan

Jackson’s “You’ll Always Be My Baby” and surprise Sara with it at the wedding. He coordinated

the surprise with our wedding planner and DJ, and it was such a sweet and memorable moment

during the reception.[/field]

[field title=”Special Detail #3″]-Wine from Scribe: Noah has been a member at Scribe for years, and has become good friends

with Adam and the Scribe team. The winery was also the location for a very important early date

for Sara and Noah, so it only made sense to work with them to create custom wine pairings for

the menu. In addition to featuring our favorite wines from Scribe, we also incorporated one of

Sara’s favorite wines, Two Kings, from Wonderland Wines.

Noah’s Godfather: With the passing of Noah’s father in 2017, Noah’s godfather, Richard

Poppa, has become a strong father-figure in his life, and stepped in to walk him down

the aisle along with his mother. He also was an integral part of our ceremony, performing

a reading titled “Blessing of the Hands,” by Daniel L. Harris.

 Officiant: Our officiant, Greg Turnbull, was a dear family friend that was Noah’s youth

pastor growing up in Indiana. He graciously became ordained in California just for our

wedding, and it added an incredibly personal touch to our ceremony. Leading up to the

wedding, we were able to connect with him multiple times and talk about our story, what

we wanted for our future, and glean invaluable advice from him and his wife on the

secrets to success for a long and happy marriage. It was so important to us to have a

connection with our officiant, and having Greg serve as that person was such an

important aspect of the wedding.

 Bridesman/Best-woman: Adding another non-traditional touch, we decided to have each

sibling in our own wedding party. Sara’s brother, Jeremy, served in the bridal party and

Noah’s sister, Alison, was his best-woman. With Noah and Alison’s brother also having

passed, being together in that way was extra special.

 Our dog, Indy: We incorporated our dog, Indy, to walk down the aisle with our ring

bearer and nephew, Chase. We decked him out in a new leather leash and collar from

Sara’s bridesmaid, Allison, along with an ivory bow tie from The Foggy Dog (a local San

Francisco dog apparel company). Chase was so excited to walk Indy down the aisle, but

when Indy saw Noah at the other end, he pulled Chase faster and actually looped one of

the maids of honor. It made for a very memorable and laughable moment for us and our

guests.[/field]

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