A Wedding Planner’s Classic And Timeless Wedding With Subtle Stripe Detailing

Melissa Hammam
June 13, 2024
Categories: Real Weddings, Romantic, Seasonal Wedding Trend, Spring, The Blog, Traditional Elegance

[section title=”The Planning”]

[field title=”Wedding Colors”]

Green, white, light blue, and pink.

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[field title=”Design / Vibe / Vision”]

As a professional wedding planner, I have seen it all! I wanted my wedding to be classy and elegant with a reception that reflected my personal style (without overdoing it). I wasn’t as worried about every corner having something going on, instead I wanted to showcase smaller details that felt special and unique to me. For instance, I love stripes, so I had a blue, green, and white painted dance floor. I also incorporated subtle stripes into our invitation suite. I’m very particular about color, so I chose custom paint colors for the bars that I designed for our reception. I wanted to make sure the dining room looked utterly warm, inviting, and classic and yet unlike any other that I had designed before for my clients. My top priorities were creating a reception space that was pretty and also comfortable for all my guests. As an event planner, I believe you should never have a sea of rounds in a space. Instead, I wanted to incorporate various types of seating: including banquette wall seating, longs, and rounds with different linen patterns and napkin designs to give dimension to the room and make each table feel unique.

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[field title=”Proposal Story”]

We love to travel as a couple. While we were on a family vacation in Aspen with William’s family, he proposed to us on the top of Aspen Mountain! Right after the proposal, I found out that my whole family had traveled there as well, so we could all celebrate the moment together. We had an incredible trip that I’ll never forget.

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[board_carousel title=”Getting Ready”]

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[board_carousel title=”Bridal Portraits”]

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[board_carousel title=”Flat Lays”]

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[section title=”The Fashion”]

[field title=”Wedding Gown”]

All I knew going into the process was that I wanted a slim, fitted silhouette. After trying on many options at Warren Barrón Bridal in Dallas, it came down to two gowns. Ultimately, I ended up choosing a Monique Lhuillier because it felt more classic and timeless. My gown had a removable Watteau train off the back that photographed beautifully and made for a dramatic walk down the aisle. The shoulder straps on my gown were also removable. I took them off at the reception to give my arms more range of motion for dancing. Speaking of dancing, I knew I wanted a second short white dress as well. I picked out a strapless Safiyaa mini-dress with a fun feather hem. As much as I loved my wedding gown, changing into something shorter midway through the dancing felt great. My best friend helped me change, and we came out wearing costume wigs (mine in pink) for the reveal. As we entered the reception, a variety of crazy wigs were handed out, along with fun sunglasses. Our guests loved it! Everyone has more fun with a wig on! My “something blue” was a pair of diamond and sapphire earrings by our family jeweler, Genovese Jewelers. And my “something borrowed” was a diamond necklace and bracelet set from my mother, also by Genovese. For the rehearsal dinner, I also wanted the green color scheme to kick off the weekend. I found an incredible green and white floral satin gown by Rodarte that had a high neckline and a cape off the back. When I saw it, I knew it would be the perfect dress for my rehearsal dinner. I paired it with some gorgeous diamond and emerald hoop earrings from Genovese Jewelers. My sister and best friend (my two matrons of honor) also wore green dresses that night.

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[field title=”Bridesmaid Dresses”]

I didn’t want a huge wedding party, so I chose to have just my sister and my best friend as my bridesmaids/Matrons of Honor. I picked a full-length statement dress in green and white floral from Emilia Wickstead, a designer I love. I wanted my bridesmaids to feel beautiful, special, and comfortable. The dress not only matched the wedding colors but also provided a timeless and elegant look that my bridesmaids could potentially wear again for other formal occasions. We had three precious flower girls at the wedding party, including my goddaughter and William’s two nieces. They wore white batiste cotton dresses by Pieces by Tam. I loved the old-fashioned styling with delicate French lace and ribbons. They had so much fun twirling and dancing in their fancy dresses!

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[field title=”Groomsman Attire”]

Our wedding’s dress code was black-tie so all the male guests wore tuxes. William wore a midnight blue tuxedo with a black satin lapel and a black tie.

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[board_carousel title=”Wedding Party”]

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[board_carousel title=”Ceremony”]

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[board_carousel title=”Cocktail Hour”]

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[section title=”The Details”]

[field title=”Food & Drink”]

We passed Texas ranch waters to guests on arrival as a nod to William’s Texas roots. We chose not to have signature drinks because, as a wedding planner, I always see guests only take a few sips before heading to the bar to get what they actually want to drink. We hosted a full bar so our guests could order any cocktail that they enjoyed! Our reception was held at my hometown country club where I grew up going with my family, Old Warson Country Club. We hosted a seated dinner, starting with my favorite — tomato and mozzarella salad. Our entrée was a short rib and shrimp. When it was time to dance with my favorite wedding band, Jessie’s Girls, we passed espresso martinis for a caffeine kick.

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[field title=”Florals & Decor”]

As a professional event planner, I knew what vendors I wanted to work with for our wedding. I felt so honored to have jackson durham at the helm of the floral design. I knew they would understand my vision and execute everything with beauty and taste. We kept things very classic and all white for the ceremony and my personal flowers. But for the reception, Jackson Durham infused the design with bright pinks and coral tones which looked beautiful set against the linens in green, white, and light blue. Another special detail was how they used a variety of containers for the flowers on each table, including silver trays and vintage silver vases in different styles and sizes. Combined with the various different linens, each table had its own look, and the overall look had a personalized, home wedding feel.

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[field title=”Wedding Cake”]I didn’t want a traditional wedding cake so we went with a pale green tiered cake with sugar flowers. We had a white-on-white cake with raspberry filling and delicious cream cheese icing. We toasted our cake cutting with champagne in two large sterling goblets that belong to my family and have been used at many other family weddings. [/field]

[field title=”Readings, Ceremony Music, Reception Songs”]

Our first dance was set to “All Your’n” by Tyler Childress. William nailed the dip at the end. It was such a celebratory moment! We were so ready to party! We were honored to have Jessie’s Girls, one of my very favorite bands, play for three hours solid.

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[field title=”Special Detail #1″]

As a wedding planner, I know how important it is to have the best photography. After all that planning, you want to have the pictures to remember it all by. Liz Banfield is one of my all-time favorite vendors in the wedding industry! I’ve worked with her many times professionally and have come to rely on her ability to make everyone feel at ease and comfortable. Liz’s ability to capture the genuine personality of each client is a testament to her skill and dedication to her craft. Liz was not only our wedding photographer but someone we will always call our friend!

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[field title=”Special Detail #2″]

My dad surprised me with a fireworks display midway through the reception. Having fireworks was so special and something I had always wanted. William and I watched in awe with all our guests from the lawn next to our tent. Since I was doing double duty as bride and wedding planner, I still can’t believe my dad was able to pull off the surprise without me knowing.

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[field title=”Special Detail #3″]

The printed invitation suite by Carly Creative Co was an absolute dream, setting the tone for the whole event. Like the whole wedding, it was classic and yet unique and personalized. She even managed to include stripes, my favorite. Carly is one of my top invitation designers for my clients, and it was fun to be the bride in the creative process. At the end of the night, we sent guests home with extra wedding cake beautifully boxed up. As a rule, I think wedding favors can often be a waste of money, but everyone loves a little sweet snack for later. I’ve seen a lot of exit cars in my days as a wedding planner so I wanted something a little different. Following a celebratory exit with a colorful confetti bomb, we took off in bight blue Moke America golf cart. We didn’t have to drive far to my parent’s house, where we hosted the after-party late (late!) into the night.

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[board_carousel title=”Couple Portraits”]

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[board_carousel title=”Reception”]

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[board_carousel title=”Wedding Weekend Events”]

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