An Intimate, Fairy-Like Springtime Wedding at the Court of Two Sisters
Our vision was to feel like you were stepping into an intimate, fairy-like springtime garden. We knew we wanted an outdoor venue, and once we found the perfect courtyard, the whole design just came together. With a 180-year-old wisteria tree in the center that canopies over the entire courtyard, a wishing well, and other special details, it was an immediate yes. The venue itself brought so many moments of inspiration for the design. We wanted it to be elegant but colorful, bringing in springtime florals and accentuating every detail in the courtyard. The view of the florals and twinkling lights in the tree canopy, walking in there that night for the first time, was so special.
In November 2022, we had begun house hunting, and I continued to bring up that I didn't want to buy a house unless we were going to be getting married., We had been talking about marriage for a while, so I knew it would happen eventually. About a week later, after finding a house we wanted to put an offer in on, Kai had his mom text in the family group message that she wanted to go to church and brunch with the whole family that Sunday (which wasn't uncommon to do). We all went to church and then drove to brunch after, and when getting out of the ca,r Kai mentioned that he needed to grab something from the back, he then pulled out a vest and put it on even though it was 85 degrees out this day in New Orleans which I thought was silly. While we all started to walk in, he said that he wanted to show me a pond he used to go to when he was a little boy. While walking over there, he proposed in front of a beautiful fountain in City Park. He had a photographer waiting, and my family was there as well to join us at brunch. It was the best day!
For my wedding gown, I knew that I wanted a strapless dress with a really large full skirt. As I started looking at inspiration from different places, I decided I wanted a classic full lace moment. The gown was Atelier Beccar, and upon finding the dress, I knew I wanted to add some special personalizations to make it my "dream dress". We added a full skirt underneath to make it larger, changed the neckline slightly, added a custom belt with pieces of lace from the dress on it, and had two removable lace sleeves made for me to wear during the ceremony in the church. It came together perfectly, and I loved that the dress became one of a kind to me. My after-party dress was custom-made by Debbie Ales (D by Design) in Mandeville, LA. She also made my rehearsal dinner dress, which we designed together, and she brought my vision to life. Since I was doing lace for my wedding gown, I wanted to do a different style for my after-party dress. As a nod to the springtime florals that I love so much, we designed a structured white satin mini dress with hand-painted flowers sewn on, adorned with a detachable train and bow on the back. It was so fun to wear, I loved the color we were able to bring into it.
The groomsmen were all in black tuxes to keep the attire classic and elegant.
As an artist, I am always thinking about color and color palettes. So when we started planning colors and floral, I knew I wanted it filled with springtime colors and lots of greenery. To bring the spring garden vibe, we brought in lots of garden roses, blue hydrange, and added additional greenery in places to accentuate the architecture of the space. From a floral arch to band flower boxes, a wishing well that our florist covered in blue hydrangeas, all of the florals brought life to the courtyard. We also wanted to add special details to the decor, such as large custom bows, custom crests on all napkins, blue ginger jars on every table for florals, and a custom powder blue checkered dance floor.
For the wedding cake, we kept it simple and classic white and used the florals to embellish it and flow down the cake. We kept it in the whites and light pink color scheme, with a large arrangement of white hydrangeas and garden roses. It was Chantilly flavored with fresh berries, our favorite cake flavor. The groom's cake was custom-made as well by Cakes by Tomo and was a Yeti Cooler with red snapper in it. Kai is a big fisher, and he was so excited to design it himself.
As an artist, one of my commission offerings is that I paint champagne bottles. This made it so important and a fun detail for us to do a champagne pour! We did this after the first dance, and it was such a fun added activity to start the festivities of the night. We had custom bows made that were added to tables throughout the space, and the bow on this table was the perfect detail to complete the look. I gifted all my bridesmaids a different set of silk pajamas, which came together so sweet for the photos. But as an addition, I also wanted to give them a note to say thank you and tell them how thankful I was for our friendship. I decided to paint each of them a watercolor of myself and them in our dresses and write a note for each of them on the back of it. I was so happy they were all for me that weekend!
Our late-night photos alone inside the Carousel Bar at The Hotel Monteleone. After we left the afterparty, Cheryl and Will (our photographers) followed us back to the hotel we were staying at, and on our way up to the room, they had the brilliant idea to go into the Carousel Bar since no one was in it at the time. Thankfully,y there was one worker left in the bar cleaning, up and he let us in to take some photos. We had never experienced the Carousel so empty, it was only us in there. It was so special, those are still some of our favorite photos.
