An infusion of cultures, a celebration of family (+ friends) and a natural setting that will take your breath away.  This stunning day captured by Tyler Branch is the perfect way to start the weekend… and just an amazing way to spend a few hours in general.  It’s a plethora of light-filled images meets stunning orange hues meets some of the loveliest details you will ever, ever see and it’s all sitting pretty in the full gallery. Kick off your Friday there with a whole lot of lovely.

 

From the Bride…Our Indian – American fusion wedding ended up being the best day of our entire lives and we are so very thankful that we decided to have a wedding celebration. It was quite the challenge trying to incorporate multiple cultures while still making it personal and meaningful to the both of us. Taking the advice of many brides past, we compiled a list of what was really important to us: honoring our families and bringing them together, incorporating our cultures, being in nature and having a laid back & fun atmosphere.  On top of that, we were really trying very hard to maintain a budget in the crazed Bay Area bridal industry. 

After visiting quite a few venues, we stumbled across Nestldown and it was hands-down unlike anything we had seen before.  This venue was a private residence in the Santa Cruz Mountains, an area where we love to hike, and the staff were the most helpful and positive people we had ever met.  This place hardly needed any dressing up, it was beautiful as is.

Photography: Tyler Branch Photo | Ceremony + Reception Venue: Nestldown | Floral Design: Lisa Jack Giudicelli  (lajgiudicelli@gmail.com) | Event Planning: The Bride | Invitations + Save the Dates: Sister of the Bride (meerpeer@gmail.com) | Homemade Cookie Favors: Maritess Bandoy | Sari: Artesia, CA | Dress: Jenny Packham from Nouvelle Vogue | Jewelry: Amrita Singh | Shoes: Kate Spade | Hair: Amanda from Trio Salon | Bride’s Hair Piece: BLHDN  | Bridesmaid Dresses + Shoes: ModCloth + ASOS | Henna: Henna Lounge | Food Catering: The Mynt | Event Caterer: Thomas John Events  | DJ: Woody from Big Fun DJ |  Ceremony Violinists: Kieran + Lincoln Arora (Bride’s cousins) | Cinematography: Matt Moresco Productions 

This wedding?  This bundle of epically awesome goodness set against the stunning Thomas Fogarty Winery?  It’s amazing… and exactly what happens when you combine a breathtaking Northern California backdrop with the talents of Charmed Events Group and an array of beautiful (+ Southern-inspired) details.  Details like yummy apple pie bars, fab wooden table numbers and lush florals from Poppys Petalworks.  It’s California pretty to an absolute tee, and you can see it all captured by Taken By Light Photography in the full gallery.

 

From Charmed Events Group… Lindsey and Joe are the epitome of what a Southern couple should be: beautiful, charming, hospitable and so, so sweet!  They moved to Northern California for work, got engaged and soon began planning their destination wedding in Northern, CA for their guests, all of whom were flying in from the South and the Midwest.  The most important thing to them when looking for a venue, was to find a location that was breathtakingly beautiful and quintessentially California.  When they found Thomas Fogarty Winery in Woodside, CA, they knew that they had found the perfect place as it had sweeping panoramic views of the entire Bay Area and, it was a vineyard!

For their wedding, we wanted to keep the design modern and fresh while still keeping some Southern touches of hospitality.  We chose a color palette of mint green, amethyst purple and grey chevron and chose to accent it with lots of whimsical details, new and old. Last but not least, Lindsey and Joe had the time of their life surrounded by their family and friends who traveled so far to celebrate with them.  They danced all night to nothing but country and beamed from ear to ear the entire night.

Our favorite things:

-For the ceremony, one of our favorite detail touches was the birch altar adorned in lush flowers and lace. Sparkly Ribbon wands were created for guests to congratulate the happy couple.

-For a creative escort display, we created a curtain of individual hanging flowers for each guest to have. This was a huge hit with everyone!

-Wooden Table Numbers mounted on alternating fabrics to give a modern, mis-match feel to the table.

-Purple colored glasses at the table were the perfect compliment to the mint green napkins wrapped in hemp, dressed with a sprig of rosemary

-Our favors were handstamped brown paper bags that had an individually wrapped apple pie bar.  This paid homage to their Southern Roots and was a favorite treat for all

-Their geometric cake was a stunner!

Photography: Taken By Light Photography | Planning, Design & Stationary: Charmed Events Group | Floral Design: Poppys Petalworks | Venue: Thomas Fogarty Winery | Officiant: Don Mulford | Ceremony Musician: Krista Strader | DJ: Boutique DJs | Cake: Studio Cake | Catering: Simply Perfect

Poppy's Petalworks, Charmed Events Group, LLC and Thomas Fogarty Winery are members of our Little Black Book, Love what you see? Take a look at their portfolios.

Poppy's Petalworks

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Charmed Events Group, LLC

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Thomas Fogarty Winery

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We love you all like sisters (and brothers), so when we hear of something happening through the grapevine that you NEED to know about, we climb right up to the SMP rooftops and prepare to shout as loud as virtually possible. Which is precisely what we are doing right now. Because the talented ladies behind Bash, Please are putting on their (stylish) teacher hats, and if you have any interest in weddings, growing your career or learning about the industry (and I am pretty sure you just said – check, check, check), you need to check out WEDPREP (we totally want to).

Here’s more from the ladies of Bash, Please…What is WEDPREP? It’s a 2 day class devoted to educating anyone 1. looking to learn about the wedding industry as a new and progressive business model 2. planning their own wedding or 3. wanting to blossom as a creative person in an already existing related career. There will be top professionals from all aspects of the Southern California based industry with lectures and hands-on ideas ranging from photography to florals to music to food to fashion to social media & everything in between. Founded by Paige Appel & Kelly Harris of Bash, Please this class will be held at Lightspace Studio in Culver City on June 22-23rd. Email hello@wedprepschool.com to get more info and sign up! The cost is $1000 for two full days of extensive knowledge, delicious food, hands on projects, camaraderie, giveaways, sample business templates, and an overall a new perspective on all things wedding related.

You Californians are always so lucky! Sign up…and then come back and tell us all about it! xoxo