Merrily Merrily Life is but a Dream...

Happy New Year to all of our dear readers out there! We're excited and looking forward to 2012 and a whole new group of unique and beautiful weddings that are on the horizon that we can't wait to share! In the meantime, we'd thought we'd take the opportunity to look back at some of our favorite weddings that still hold a tender place in our hearts from 2011. We're pulling this one from the Archives and it seems only appropriate that this lovely wedding should lead the way. Just a year ago we were ringing in the New Year with this sweet couple on their wedding day and helping them to celebrate in the most endearing of ways. Remember this Inspiration board? Here is how we brought it to life!

Some of my favorite images are always those when the bride and groom is greeted by their family after they come out of the Temple.

When a bride comes to us and describes her style as Anthropologie we always know we’re going to hit it off! That’s exactly how the beginning of our three month planning started with Brittany. Brittany + Scott came to us with their venue already selected...The Admiral Kidd Club Military base in San Diego and a perfect backdrop for Brittany and Scott's nautical themed New Year's wedding. The guiding and grounding influences of the people in their lives were our inspiration behind their concept, as we played with anchors and lanterns and their underlying meaning, woven with an eclectic mix of vintage and modern touches.

We loved Brittany's gorgeous seaside bouquet created by Twigg botanicals made up of garden roses, anemones, dusty miller and wrapped in creamy burlap.

I love that Brittany and Scott found time for a sail around the bay together before their reception. What could be better than a little alone time to soak in your first moments as husband and wife? Iris and Light of course was there to capture all of the dreamy moments on film.

As soon as guests arrived to the reception location they were greeted by Brittany + Scott circling the bay in a sailboat. Once they disembarked, the party was ready to get under way.

Brightly Designed crafted all of the gorgeous paper elements for the nautical-inspired day. Combining elements that we found such as thick rope, anchors and lanterns with little sailboat flags and Twigg's gorgeous flowers, we completed the seaside tablescape. A sign directed guests to "let the wind guide them to their seats" as they found their names among boats filled with babies breath and anemones.

We loved the gobo image that we had created to project on to their dance floor!

Once inside, tables were decorated in aqua blue linens to resemble the ocean and accented with sherbet orange napkins and wicker chargers. We loved this color combination! The sherbet really updated the typical nautical colors and made it fresh and modern. Table numbers were leafed in copper and overlapped the beautiful anchors and floral design- the perfect accent to the aqua and orange pairing.

Guests were greeted with adorable hand written thank you notes by the couple. We worked closely with Courtney from Brightly Designed to create the fun signage throughout their wedding and custom designed letters with the front reading “You have always been a guiding light or an anchor in our lives”. It was such a sweet and big undertaking on the part of Brittany + Scott to hand write each letter but it did not go unnoticed! Guests seemed to really enjoy the thoughtful personal touch that they found when they arrived to their tables.

The beautiful and delicious cake was made by Sweet Cheeks Baking Co.

We appropriately named the head table " The Crew" and this was such a fun group!

Since Brittany’s favorite treat is ice cream, how could we resist the addition of a sundae bar? C’mon that’s our favorite treat too! Maggie Moo’s supplied the most delicious ice creams and gourmet toppings. We couldn’t help ourselves either from creating some funny names for the flavors, such as Sco Co’s (Scott Colton) Dark Coco, Britt’s Brownie Batter, and Anchors Aweigh Mango Sorbet to name a few! In addition, we had little flags made that read "merrily, merrily" and "life is but ice cream" to play on our motto for the day.

One of the most touching aspects of the evening was the Guiding Light table that was created in honor of Brittany’s father, who was a Captain in the Navy and passed away from Non-Smoker’s Lung Cancer. He had been a hero to her in more ways than one and it was clear that they had a very special relationship. While we knew that this day was about Brittany and Scott, we also knew that in the large scope of things it was also about family and we wanted to make sure that his memory was included as well. Mixed among all different lanterns were pictures of Brittany’s father throughout the years as well as quotes. It was another great way to feel his presence at the wedding.

The happy couple was sent off in true New Years fashion as guests were given bells to ring as the two departed.

Brittany and Scott we have loved looking back on your wedding day and all the little touches that made it so uniquely yours. The day truly was "but a dream" and we were so grateful to be a part of it. We know you have sailed into marital bliss and wish you all the best as you continue your voyage together! Many thanks to Iris and Light for all of the beautiful photography.