I always have a soft spot in my heart for darling brides who think outside the box to carve out their own traditions, and this wedding is no exception! Along with Orange Blossom Special Events, this cute couple created so many personal touches such as an outdoor picnic viewing of ‘father of the bride’, a boutonnière made from song lyrics, and a stack of meaningful journals to hold as a bouquet…this bride has us all wondering why we didn’t think of that!? Photos from Ken Kienow capture every single detail of this day that you just have to check out in the full gallery!
From the Bride… Our wedding! Well to start off it was without a doubt the best and most magical day/weekend of my entire life. The night before the wedding we had a vintage style picnic outside. Everyone sat on vintage quilts. We had food in cute little lunch bags and an epic dessert bar with candies, cakes and mini pies. Years ago (way before I met my sweet husband to be) I gave my dad the movie “Father of the Bride” for Father’s Day and I promised him that we would watch it the night before I get married. Months before the wedding my dad was very sweet and understanding and said that if we can’t watch it the night before the wedding he will understand. He knew how crazy the weekend was gonna be for me. I thanked him for being so understanding and apologized that we couldn’t watch it. Little did he know that the whole picnic party was centered around that promise. After dinner I got up and announced that we were watching “father of the bride” and my dad was weeping with joy. :) He was completely surprised. All of our friends and family relaxed on the quilts, ate some popcorn, and laughed while we enjoyed this classic movie! A great start to the weekend!
The most important thing for Troy and I was that everything about our wedding day had meaning and a purpose. We didn’t just want to have a wedding for the sake of having a wedding. We wanted it to be personal and filled with personal touches. We wanted everyone at our wedding to feel really important. That’s why we kept it as small as possible which ended up being 75 family members and friends. The day was perfect. I had my photographer be there to capture every angle of the first time my dad saw me in my wedding dress. My first look with Troy was magical. I had been writing him everyday since the beginning of our relationship. By the wedding day I had 5 journals filled with letters, pictures, movie tickets and every memory written down. I walked down the aisle with all of the journals instead of my bouquet. Troy was so surprised and couldn’t believe it.
I also had the violinist (who was a friend of mine growing up) play the song that we listened to the first time we kissed as I walked down the aisle towards him. I love surprising him. For Troy’s boutonnière, we had it made out of paper with the lyrics of our song printed on it. His best man loves comic books so we made his boutonnière out of his favorite comic. His other groomsmen has a favorite soccer team. We had taken him to a game earlier in the year. We kept the tickets and made his boutonnière out of that. We had three long beautiful tables for dinner. Each table was named after a memorable time for Troy and I. One was named “firefly” which is where we met. Then there was “fireworks” because he had a firework show just for us when he proposed to me in Mexico. The last table was called “Firenze” because that is where we were headed for our honeymoon. We explained why all of these were so important to us and had them on the tables for everyone to read.
Before our guests went into the dining room, there were three huge posters that looked like wine lists. Each list was for one of the tables. Each guests name was on there and underneath their name was a description of their personalities and their relationship to us but described as if they were a wine. Troy and I had a blast wording them and finding new and different ways to describe our friends! Making every moment have meaning is what made this day so magical and unforgettable. I love looking back on this day and knowing that every second that went into planning it was absolutely worth it.
Wedding Photography: Ken Kienow Wedding Photography / Wedding Venue: Carondelet House in Los Angeles, California / Wedding Coordination: Brooke Avishay of Orange Blossom Special Events / Floral Design: Toby Kassoy of Lilla Bello Studio / Wedding Catering: Tres LA / Wedding Invitations: Paper Source / Printing for Wine Lists, Menu + Table Names: Arnold’s Copy and Printing (818-487-9600) / Long Tables, Runners, Linens + Napkins: Town & Country Event Rentals / Wedding Dress: Romona Keveza via Panache Bridal / Bride’s Shoes: Vince Camuto / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Amsale via Bella Bridesmaid + Twobirds / Groom’s Suit: Ted Baker / Groom’s Shoes: To Boot New York / Groomsmen’s Suits: Hugo Boss
