Sweet Love Affair: Part 2

After a two wedding weekend...I am still tired and recouping but these pictures have been making me smile all day today! It's always worth it when all the hard work and late nights payoff with beautiful pictures and a Happy Bride and Groom!

Paige & Doug's playfulness and desire to have fun was nothing short of inspirational! I knew the moment they said they wanted a Ferris wheel that we were in for an exciting ride! Their easy- going trusting natures made it even that much more fun and the plans quickly began to take shape.

The invitation done by Details by Ramey were a perfect introduction to the fun that was to come. We included a large ticket in the invitation that was redeemable at the ticket booth for tickets to be used throughout the night.

I was in love with the ticket booth we built. It looked just like the real deal with lights that lit up and greeted guests as they entered. Many thanks to my Dad, who is the man behind the hammer at Amorology and the owner of Dennis Mathis Construction. He cannot do anything short of perfection!

Each guest was handed enough tickets to visit each vendor at the carnival. This helped ensure that each guest got to enjoy each of the different elements. With nearly 400 guests this was an important thing to factor in. :)

The candy booth gave you a sweet tooth just looking at it, filled with all types of vintage candy to satisfy every penny candy craving. Custom pennants (you can order HERE) were made by Jenn of Pincushion Princess and hung against the striped booth backdrops that we created. Also, all of our vintage style ticket signs were designed by Courtney Scowby Designs. Love them!

The tables were placed with various shades of rolls of tickets that raised up the centerpieces and gave height to the gorgeous arrangements of dusty miller, peonies, roses, stock and gerbera daises created by Twigg Botanicals. Mason jars tied with red grosgrain ribbon also found their way to the table to serve as candle votives.

Each place setting was set with red and white striped old fashioned lollipop.

Courtney Scowby Designs assisted us with creating custom signs for our booths that read such things as "Sweet love affair" and "one fish, two fish". Lucky winners from the fish game took home their very own new pet. Some really lucky kids took home more, many more, to their parents excitement. :)

Paige's bouquet was BEAUTIFUL with a touch of whimsy. The color combination was so fun and the little grosgrain bows that my mom from Twigg sewed on the satin wrapped stem were too cute for words.

We also purchased striped red ties for each of the ticket taking vendors to wear. Guests redeemed their tickets for homemade ice cream cookie sandwiches, popcorn...

the photo booth..

The fish toss...

cotton candy by Tasty Clouds...

the balloon artist (Skaie from WonderGirl Balloons, who was able to take a few balloons and create anything from your wildest dreams)...

and of course the Ferris Wheel.

and there was no shortage of sweets and balloons.

The fanciful cake was done by Heidleburg Bakery in Orange County. Inside was a funfetti cake...every kids dream birthday cake! :)

The view from The Ferris Wheel was sensational and thrilling. I must admit I got a little scared every time it would drop.

Paige and Doug, your love is clearly sweeter than all the cotton candy, lollipops and cake we could have ever brought to your wedding. You are darling and genuine and it was so fun to create a wedding as playful as the two of you!

I can't thank Jamie Hammond (my favorite Seattle based photographer) enough for her quick turn around too with these

gorgeous pictures! I was of course so anxious to see these and we only had to wait 4 days! what! Unbelievable! They turned out just as fun as the

evening felt!

Love at first Bite

With the Twilight Saga continuing and Breaking Dawn in the theaters this week , we thought this would be the perfect time to share our Twilight and Sleepy Hollow inspired wedding with all of you. Some of you may have already seen it on Green Wedding Shoes but we just couldn't resist posting it here ourselves!

We love couples who think outside the box and are open to doing something that has never been done before! We got just that, when we started working with the sweetest couple, Lora + Gary!

Lora + Gary are from the U.K. but wanted to have their dream wedding here in sunny California! We only got to meet a couple of times with them in person and did over a year's worth of planning with them via email! So you can imagine our surprise one day when the couple emailed us wanting a Twilight meets Sleepy Hollow meets Tru Blood feel for their wedding. We were thrilled and could not wait to start brainstorming ideas. We knew we had to incorporate pumpkins, old world scripts, antiquated silvers, tons of candles, and eerily romantic quotes from the movies so the guests would really get the inspiration behind the whole event.

The couple had fallen in love with the Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse, where the weathered wood and natural setting seemed to be the ideal backdrop for this hauntingly beautiful and elegant affair. The only challenge was bringing the feel to life in the middle of a bright and sunny August day!

Nicole Deanne did a great job on all of the ladies make-up! Lora was a complete knock-out!!

Aren't these images taken by Brandon Kidd already blowing your mind!? We are so in love with how romantic each shot looks!

Such a sweet moment! Love when the mother of the bride gets the first peek!

The couple had an adorable first look! The hid on either side of this old truck and then popped out and exchanged love letters with one another...what a great way to start the wedding!

We knew the perfect addition to the team would be Kate from Flowerwild, whose loose and romantic arrangements were spot on with the vintage theme. Kate and her team did a breathtaking job translating the colors and inspiration perfectly into each floral masterpiece.

Can we take a moment to admire Lora's jewelry...did you see her killer headpiece? Out of this world gorgeous!

We thought the wine box ceremony that JP Reynolds officiated was just the sweetest and neatest idea! The couple tucked away a favorite bottle of wine along with letters in a wooden box, to be opened on their 5 year anniversary.

Since Lora + Gary were such a joy to work with it made all of the design decisions seem easy! First we selected a color palette that would work for the summer wedding yet fall theme....ice blue, ivory, rich chestnut with touches of burlap, and of course blood orange.

The escort card table helped set the mood immediately for guests. We used pumpkins of different shapes and sizes to display "scrolls" with guests' name and the name of their table, which were named after the spooky towns that house the vampires and headless horsemen...Sleepy Hollow, Forks, and Bon Temps!

Anatomical heart with the words "thump, thump." What could be more perfectly eerie and romantic?

Creepy black crows held up the banner over the escort card table that read "Bitten and Smitten."

Instead of a traditional guest book, they had a family photo table that displayed Lora + Gary's "Bloodline."

The dining tables; Sleepy Hollow, Forks, and Bon Temps!

Since all of Lora + Gary's guests were from overseas, they really wanted their favors to be a little piece of California, and what could be better than California Poppy Seeds that guests could plant on their own?We couldn't resist spooking the favor up! We put the packages of seeds in burlap bags that read "Dawn is breaking." Guests were surprised to also find a scroll with eerie instructions on how to properly bury their seeds!

Lora + Gary are also an incredibly romantic couple and wanted their wedding to incorporate sentimental notions as well. To further decorate the tables and to bring a sweet element to the mix, we compiled and framed our favorite romantic quotes from Twilight, Sleepy Hollow, and Tru Blood. A favorite was "before you my life was like a moonless night." Cori from Brightly Designed created all of the paper elements that perfectly mixed romantic vintage with subtle dark accents.

Found vintage props, such as shadow boxes, old binoculars, vintage quills and ink wells enhanced the table decor.

Kate was awesome in helping us with our last minute request of adding Garlic cloves to accent the tables. These, in addition to the blood oranges we tracked down and sliced, added an unexpected element to the dining table and dessert table props that hinted at the vampire undertones.

U.K. tradition to throw confetti at the happy couple. Such a beautiful shot, love that they did this earlier on in the evening!

Toasts were a riot! As you can tell from Lora's face, no embarrassing story was left untold. Don't worry, Gary got his fair share too!

Guests got a kick out of the dessert table that housed salted caramel macaroons, mini cupcakes, and mini cheesecakes. It was definitely "Love at First Bite!"

Brandon Kidd Photography snuck the couple out of the reception for these amazing sunset shots! These could not be anymore beautiful-definitely a perk to having your venue in the middle of nowhere.

There's no better way to spend the night than dancing it away! Congratulations Lora + Gary we will treasure working with you forever! Thanks again to Brandon Kidd for these stunning images- the weekend would have not been the same without you guys!