{Sarah Maren Photography} did a stunning job capturing Stevie + Blake’s charming wedding at {The Citizen Hotel}. Wedding planner {Kate Miller Events} did a wonderful job bringing the couple’s vintage theme to life while staying within their budget. The big day was catered by the hotel and {Ettore’s} provided the wedding cakes. The bride’s beatiful dress is from {2000 Dreams Bridal}. To see more of Stevie + Blake, check out Sarah Maren’s {Blog}.
How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story We initially met at our church in Los Angeles. Well, really it was after church while hanging out with friends at “The Alcove”, a favorite coffee shop of ours – we both share an intense love for coffee and we kinda feed each others addiction for the cursed caffeine. Its divine! (Blake) “(Sigh)…It was a dreary, cold night. I had a panini. Rey had a burger. Across 3 adjoined tables, in response to the offer of a sandwich, a girly voice uttered, ‘Um no thanks, I don’t eat meat.’ ‘Huh,’ I scoffed, looking down at my juicy, chicken panini, then turning to Rey, ‘that’ll never work!'”(Stevie) “Little did he know…..haha!!!” And that’s when it all started… (cue romantic theme song).
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? We wanted a vintage feel to color the entire day. We are both very traditional but also trendy so we wanted to combine all that together. I (Stevie) met with Kate Miller Events to describe what I wanted. Simple. Beautiful. Old-fashioned. Quirky. Lovely. And that’s exactly what I got. I was amazed when I walked through the doors and saw how everything turned out. Especially that groom down at the end of the aisle. You can’t dream that up. We were on a very tight budget – we hosted 100 guests for a little over $13,000 – so everything had to be cheap and chic. Kate gave us lots of DIY projects to add our personality without spending a ton – like the lemonade drink umbrellas and our vintage telegram programs. We also had mostly candle centerpieces to add cheap ambient lighting.
Favorite design element of your big day: Our Dessert table. Amazing. Delicious. Delectable.The table contained seven different cakes on borrowed cake stands and was flanked by a small candy buffet on the ends that served as our favor to the guests. The glitter monogram cake topper, teeny little mushroom birds and the signage that Kate Miller Events created tied it all together. I also loved the Guestbook that Kate came up with. To defer costs Kate found us quilting fabric that we cut into square and fabric pens so that each guest could fill one out. They were all hung on a string accented by photos of Blake and I. My Aunt will be sewing the squares together to make a keepsake quilt that we will treasure for years.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: It’s one of those things – you just know. That moment when you put it on and you’re head starts filling up with all your ideas of that special day and you can picture yourself walking towards that man. That’s the dress. It was a Pronovias style that had a mock-neck neckline and I had it altered to a strapless sweetheart neckline.
Describe your wedding flowers: In this economy, a girls gotta’ save where she can.My mom had been a florist when she was younger and she’s always had a knack for aesthetic things.After the rehearsal,we all headed over to my parents house where my mom taught all of my bridesmaids how to make their own bouquets! Itmade for beautiful flowers that were fun to do, personal to each girl and inexpensive! Kate found vintage yellow velvet ribbon to wrap around their stems and a special beaded cameo for my bridal bouquet.
Describe your wedding cake: We purchased miscellaneous cakes from our favorite local French baker. While they were not a traditional wedding cake, it certainly saved our budget! Ettore’s decorates their basic cakes beautifully – but they taste even better than they look.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The telegram programs inspired by Amanda at Vintage Glam and the pom poms that our guests tossed at us during our farewell.
Favorite inspirational blogs or sites: My wedding coordinator Kate got me hooked on Weddingbee and the SWS Blog, of course!
Congratulations Stevie + Blake! We hope life brings you joy!
LOVE the menus – is that real lace or a lace design?
Gorgeous wedding – I love the dessert table and your mum did a great job of the flower arrangements – beautiful, thanks for sharing SW
wow. Those telegram programs are INCREDIBLE! What a beautiful wedding!
Gorgeous!! What an amazing feast for the eyes!! Sarah, incredible images & amazing details Kate; truly one of a kind. So chic!
I LOVE this wedding and all the details and touches. The menus — is that printed or real lace around the edge? Who did those?Thanks!
Wow! That golden yellow velvet is gorgeous! I seriously want that bouquet! Why didn’t I think of that when I got married?? Oh and the photography is delicious!
I love their meaty meeting story :)
I love it! Who did the paper products? They’re amazing!!!
Does anyone know where to buy those drink stir sticks?
Wow! Thank you so much for all the lovely compliments! I had SO much fun working on Stevie and Blake’s wedding – they were both a total joy to work with. I feel very blessed to have been a part of their wedding day!All the paper products, including the menus, signage and invitation suite were all custom designed by Kate Miller Events. The umbrellas were designed and printed by KME and DIY’d/assembled by Stevie and her family. Please contact me if you’re interested in details such as these for your wedding. :)
now that’s what i’m talking about!!!
They put little cards on the tables that mention sharing photos . . . how did they go about doing that??? What site did they use? Can anyone read the card??
I can’t wait, we are also getting married at the Citizen. I’m trying to find those hanging candle holders. I would like to buy them from you if you still have them. Or, does anyone know where I can find them?Everything was gorgeous!!
Cat: The site was constructed by Kate Miller Events (aka my awesome husband), so it’s custom. He used a little Flickr API magic for the photo upload so that when guests uploaded the photos to the couple’s photo account, they would show up on their wedding website slideshow.Carrie: They are the Whirly Hanging Candleholders from CB2, shown here: http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=585&f=2447
I am drooling over these details! Seriously.