Southern Weddings

We are so excited to feature the elegant wedding of Angela + Angel! The beautiful bride wore a custom made dress and designed her invitations, programs, table names and place cards herself. Some of the couple’s favorite things included the reception venue, {SLS Hotels at Beverly Hills} and the food, prepared by chef {José Andrés}. The simple floral arrangements by {Bobbe Vagell Floral Design Studio} made a big statement against the white backgrounds at the ceremony and tables at the reception. See more of Angela + Angel’s wedding at {Apertura Photography} and check out more from this wedding on their {Blog}.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. Angel and I first met at the age of fourteen at church in California. We knew each other but weren’t close friends. People at church would make fun of us and how cute it would be if we both get together since we share practically the same name. I, however, did not find it amusing at the time. I moved away at the age of 16 and lived at Virginia and Tennessee for 3 years before I came back to California where we got reconnected. We just happened to end up not only at the same college but also the same Biology and Organic Chemistry classes. I had just gotten out of a relationship and was not looking to enter another one, so it was quite a relief when Angel started talking about his girlfriend at the time. Shortly after Angel and his girlfriend at the time ended their relationship, but I do recall one of the first times he called me was to talk about the break up. Our friendship started with studying together at the library, and then it progressed to studying at coffee shops. Then next thing we knew, we were spending less time studying and more time on getting to know each other. It wasn’t until we began dating did I find out that he has always had a crush on me and could see us being together in the future. We dated for 3 years before we got engaged. Angel wasn’t really happy with the way he proposed the first time around so he surprised me a year later when he proposed again along with upgrading the size of the engagement ring. We had a very long engagement being engaged for 5 ½ years before we finally got married. Everything was worth the wait.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? We wanted our wedding to be sophisticated, modern and chic. We both like the minimalist and very clean look. We wanted a very elegant design without an over abundance of flowers.
Favorite design element of your big day: The organic look of the dark Manzanita braches brought to life by arrangements of fresh green roses.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I’m actually a very picky person. I couldn’t find one dress that I liked fully and since my mom is friends with a wedding dress designer in Indonesia, I decided to have it custom made. The dress was finished within 1 week. When I brought the dress home, I still wasn’t quite happy with the dress so l made quite a few changes to make it just the way I like it. I know I’m terrible.
Describe your wedding flowers: Fresh green roses, green hydrangeas, green cymbidium orchids, miniature calla lily, dark brown Manzanita branches.
Describe your wedding cake: Round 3-tiered European cake with fresh raspberries and Bavarian cream decorated with fresh green hydrangeas between the tiers and on top.
Our favorite aspect(s) of the wedding was/were: It’s hard to pick one, but we narrowed it down to top 3 (not in a particular order of importance): The reception site (SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills) – the service the hotel provided were impeccable. The hotel itself is quite incredible. Dana Linder, the catering manager, was very pleasant to work with. Despite of her busy schedule, she went out of her way to tend to our needs. The executive chef is none other than the world renowned Chef José Andrés and the food was absolutely amazing. It just completed the overall experience at the hotel. We were honored to be the first wedding that was held at SLS Hotel. The florist (Bobbe Vagell Floral Concepts) flower arrangements were gorgeous, we enjoyed working with Bobbe and Todd. It was easy to work with them since we share the same vision and taste. It was nice to see that Bobbe was as excited about our wedding as we were. Photography (Apertura Photography) was one of the only things we had absolutely no reservations about. With plenty of accolades under their belt (including “2009 best top 10 wedding photographers”), we knew we were in good hands. If you check out their Web page, you’ll know exactly what we mean. For those of you who appreciate the idea of “captured moments,” Ray and Erwin are the photographers for you. They were so easy to work with and comfortable to be around. They have the amazing ability to make ordinary things and turn it into extraordinary images. They truly made us the focal point of the day and captured some breath taking photos. Also, one of the best aspects of their work of art is their ability to tell a story with the images they take.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Intimate, personal, and memorable
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? If things don’t go the way you expect (because they won’t), just keep in mind that your guests won’t even know the difference; they will enjoy celebrating with you at your wedding regardless. Appreciate every moment, because it all goes by so fast. Be sure to enjoy the day yourselves and remember what the day is really about (which is marrying the person you love, incase that wasn’t obvious).
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Planning to have a family within the next year or so and dealing with other adulthood dilemmas while keeping a good balance to our playful-at-heart nature. What we look forward most in the future is starting our family and possibly doing some traveling together.
Any DIY items? I designed the invitations and had them made in Indonesia, designed and assembled the church programs, table names, and placement cards.

Congratulations Angela + Angel and the best of luck with starting your new family!

Every now and then we have the opportunity to share with you a wedding that we can’t get enough of and that happens to take place in another country.  This wedding comes to us from {Jonas Peterson} a wedding photographer from Brisbane, Australia.  He captured this amazing wedding of Brea + Tom at the {Waverley Estates}.  We loved Brea {Collette Dinnigan} wedding dress that was Greek goddess style with the side strap and the beautiful detailing.  The bridesmaids also looked stunning in their gowns from {Hills in Hollywood}.  Other amazing aspects of this wedding included the dessert/wedding cake.  Brea + Tom chose a cup cake tower with a top layer of cake adorned with fresh white flowers.  So cute!  All the flower arrangements and bouquets were by {Greenleaf Flowers}.  To see more from this beautiful wedding, click over to Jonas’ {Blog}.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story: We met through my brother Matt. Tom had met Matt in London and on Tom’s return to Australia we met up at a party.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? I didn’t really have a theme as such. I compiled a scrapbook, cutting out various images from wedding magazines that I liked. I wanted to have something that was classic, elegant and understated.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: Three of my four bridesmaids live interstate and they surprised me by coming over to Melbourne the weekend I was going wedding dress shopping. It took me a day to find it, it was the first store (Collette Dinnigan) I went to and I loved it straight away. We spent the rest of the day looking around but we ended up coming back to the first store and buying it. I got it off the rack too so it made it a lot easier – no fittings!!
Describe your wedding flowers: Originally I wanted all white flowers but Tom wanted a bit more color so we went with purple on the guests tables and white on ours. I saw a photo in an American magazine of several bunches of different flowers in the same color and really liked the look so went with that. We had Hyacinths, Freesias and Lisyanthus. I really wanted Hydrangeas as they are my favorite flower but because there was a lot of hot weather leading up to the wedding the season finished early. I did manage to have some in my bouquet and on the cake arrangement though!
Describe your wedding cake: Lots of little cupcakes with a small cake on the top tier: vanilla, vanilla chocolate chip and vanilla raspberry. They were decorated with white butter icing and silver baubles. The top cake had a flower arrangement.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: That it was a relaxed celebration and all of our friends had a great time. We rented the property for the weekend so we didn’t have to leave at midnight so it had a real party atmosphere and people could leave whenever they wanted, the last people left at 4.30 A.M.! Our favorite part of the day was drinks on the lawn, which were immediately after the reception, it was a great chance for everyone to catch-up before the formalities began and it was a lovely sunny afternoon. Oh and the food – it was superb!!
Three adjectives that describe the day are: I can’t stick to three – memorable, inclusive, romantic, fun.
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? I’m a very organized person and I’m also quite decisive so it was quite an easy experience – maybe don’t get too hung up on everything and go with your gut.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? We’ve recently moved into our first home so we’re enjoying settling into that.
Any DIY items? Tom did all of the music with two of his mates and lots of people commented on how good it was. Tom’s brother in law, Marc, also made our table seating arrangement chart (silver photo frames). Again, I saw this in a wedding magazine and loved the look.

Congratulations to Brea + Tom.  We wish you the best of times in your first home!

This wedding photographed by the amazing {Luna Photo} has style, glamour and fun!  Take a look at the beautiful Alison.  This girl glamed it up with ideas from old Hollywood, playing up a retro vibe and googling mainstream celebrities to see what was hot.  She purchased her incredible dress from {M Bridal} and we’ve got to say what beautiful detailing!  The bridesmaids wore gowns from {Bella Bridesmaid}.  This fabulous wedding all took place at the {Manchester Grand Hyatt}.  Taking care of the amazing flowers was {Adorations}.  The wedding cake was baked by {Just Fabulous}.  {What an awesome name!} This wedding was planned by {Mint Weddings}.  They did a terrific job bringing Alison + David’s visions to life.  To see more shots make sure to check out Luna Photo’s {Blog} for more!

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story: We met through friends, but I like to joke and say that I picked him up hitchhiking. We don’t know the exact when and where and how. We think that we met at a chili cook off, but we aren’t too sure. I was still in college at Cal Poly, and he had already graduated from Calvin College in Michigan. He was living in Visalia, CA working as a civil engineer. My Mom’s family is from Visalia so on holiday’s I would come to Visalia to celebrate with family. Dave’s high school friends were my college friends, so somehow we met.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? I wanted a slightly retro feel. I love classic Hollywood glamour. I am a huge Marilyn Monroe fan.
Favorite design element of your big day: Naturally the black on my dress, or the flowers with the feathers and crystals.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I found my wedding dress at M Bride in La Jolla, Michelle was a huge help. My sister had found her dress at M Bride the year before, so Michelle knew me and my personality. She pulled this dress out for me and it fit my body perfectly. The dress originally had light pink on the train. I am not a light pink kind of girl. She suggested black and instantly I fell in love. I knew at that moment that this was my dress. It was the third one I tried on.
Describe your wedding flowers: For the ceremony, all of the flowers were white up at the alter. Myself as well as the bridesmaids had very colorful dark red bouquets with roses and calalilies and feathers, mine had crystals as well. Red rose petals were alongside the brocade runner. We also had trees set around the ceremony site as sort of a wind break or barrier to not let the public up close to the ceremony ( I can’t remember the name of those trees, I know they had big leaves, I want to say palm but I know that isn’t right). The reception had tables with high and low arrangements, they were all in deep reds, almost black again with the feathers (LaVonne would be better at describing the flowers).
Describe your wedding cake: Our wedding cake was also amazing. We had our engagement pictures screen printed on the frosting in black and white with red sugar roses on the top of the cake. It was a round tiered cake. The flavors were carrot and chocolate.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Probably the white doves released at the ceremony and my 12 year old cousin trying to catch a lazy dove that didn’t want to fly away. Or the photo booth. We loved to see all of the pictures when we got back from our honeymoon.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Amazing, Perfect, A Dream ( the best day of my life so far)!
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Plan for everything, think of the guests and try to make them comfortable, especially if it’s a destination wedding. Make it reflect who you are as a person
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? How do you answer this? We would like to start a family sometime in the future. Honestly we look forward to everyday, because everyday with each other is a blessing, we enjoy each other’s company. He is my best friend.
Any DIY items? The favors: Tiffany blue boxes with a fortune cookie inside, Dave proposed with a fortune cookie, tied with red ribbon
Favorite inspirational blogs or sites: For hairstyles I googled stars like Marilyn Monroe, Gwen Stefani and Jessica Simpson. I thought it better than using the wedding websites.

Congratulations to Alison and David! We wish you many marvelous days to come!