Absolutely Events

 

The wedding of Leigh + Tim was one of our last for 2010.  And what a wedding to begin winding down our season!!!  As mentioned in part 1 of Absolutely Married: Leigh + Tim, the details were a huge focus in the planning discussions and meetings that Leigh and I had together.  Between the two of us working in this industry, we have seen and thought up countless fun details incorporated to weddings.  But when it came to her own wedding, we knew we had to step it up a notch, choose from some of the best-of-the-best of ideas we had seen and/or executed previously that Leigh loves,  and perhaps even come up with some new details to incorporate!

The ceremony and reception both took place at the breathtaking SantaLuz Club.  (If you have not been to this location, or if you are getting married soon and still need a venue I have HIGH recommendations! Elizabeth and the rest of the team at this site are fantastic  !) Leigh and her bridal party arrived early to being beautification and relaxing early the morning of the wedding.  The bride’s hair was styled by Jennie Connley from Pixis Salon.   Makeup for the bridal party was by Colleen Erwin; yes, one of the Absolutely Events assistants, who coincidently is a makeup extaordinaire!  I am lucky to have a multi-talented team!     You can e-mail Colleen at colleen@absolutelyevents.net if you are interested in in her makeup talents for you own celebration.  

Here are a few photos from the earlier part of the day:

 

 

 

Wasn't it a beautiful day?  Love some of the extra photos that our super talented photographers (Zelo) got of the day and the lovely landscape around the venue!

 

 

 

The bride’s ceremony shoes were adorable ballet flats by Steve Madden and later, at the reception, she slipped on a pair of cute jeweled flip-flops by JCrew.  Anybody wondering where she got that killer dress ???  Her  fantastic mom MADE her dress!!!  Yes, you read that correctly!  I’m still blown away by this; love this dress and the fact it was custom made with love by her mom . . . be still my heart!   Check out the adorable “summer camp tag” that she sewed into Leigh’s dress!

 

 

 

 

The guys all arrived a bit later to the property and were able to relax and get their final touches and boutonneires pinned before the ceremony.  I think they enjoyed a bit of the down time and their awesome digs at the SantaLuz Club before the ceremony!

 

 

 

 

 

Some of you may be wondering who did the flowers for this florist bride of mine.  Well . . . for any of you who have worked with me before as a past bride or groom, you know that I have very few rules, but that I do have a few things I ask you to do, or not do, related to your wedding day .  One of my rules for Leigh was that she NOT do her own florals.  I wanted her to relax as much as possible, like any of my brides, the week prior to her wedding.  This translated, in my book, to her staying out of her floral shop and to not assemble bouquets and arrangements for her own wedding.  At first mention of this rule, Leigh looked at me like I was crazy.  And, she started to fight it.  Luckily, she gave in though!  In the end, she completely designed every floral element for her wedding (of course, and to complete perfection!) and was able to provide instruction and turn the reigns over to a couple of close friends and her employees in her shop to execute her vision.  Everything was lovely and perfect!  I think she would agree! 

 

 

 

 

More gorgeous florals throughout the rest of this post and the next for Leigh + Tim  ~ I promise!!! 

As guests began arriving for the event and drove from the front gate of the SantaLuz property to the Clubhouse, they followed signage in varying sized frames to point them towards the celebration .  Once on property, complimentary valet was provided by the SantaLuz Club and guests were greeted by Absolutely Events and directed to the ceremony area.  The ceremony took place on the lawn adjacent to the clubhouse, and on their walk down the stairs to the lawn the ladies were encouraged to take a pashmina to keep them warm through the outdoor ceremony.   Gorgeous grey pashminas were rolled and tied with string, and placed in a wrought iron stand with basket with a welcoming sign to the guests, hand-written by the bride. 

 

 

 

 

 

At the ceremony site, fruitwood chiavari chairs (compliments of Raphael’s Party Rentals), personalized programs with a light silver damask  printed backing (compliments of Paper Scissors Print), wedding blessing stones, rose petals and gorgeous large floral arrangements, both flanking and heading the ceremony area, were all elements incorporated.  Music was provided by the very talented Nick Weiss (thank you Nick!) with the exception of the bride’s processional which was played by a close family friend on the piano. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ceremony was so incredibly sweet and sincere, although there were definite moments of laughter that provided a light hearted feel.  This was one of my favorite ceremonies of 2010 that I was able to witness.  Leigh + Tim were married by a close friend of theirs, whose delivery of their personalized ceremony was beautiful.  The bride and groom wrote their own vows, and between those vows and a letter written by the bride’s late father (delivered by the bride’s sister) . . . there was not a dry eye in the house.  During the ceremony, the Officiant asked all of the guests to take the stone that was laid upon each seat in their hands and make a wish for the bride and groom.  The blessed stones  were collected at the end of the ceremony for the bride and groom to display in their home after the wedding. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the ceremony was over, guests were invited to cocktail hour, on the patio overlooking the golf course at the SantaLuz Club.  The patio features market lighting, comfortable seating and a fantastic firepit, making the entire area very inviting!   These existing elements made it very easy to just bring in a few additional belly-bar tables and linens, bar, space heaters and other specialty tables to create a perfect venue for their cocktail hour.  Nick Weiss continued the musical entertainment during cocktail hour.

 

 

Among the auxiliary tables at the cocktail hour was a guest note table display.  Two manzanita branches were placed on the table with votive candles, pens, bare notes with ribbon hangers, and signage (handwritten by the bride) directing guests to tell Leigh + Tim   something about the other that they should know.  Such a cute concept, thought up by no one other than the fabulous bride herself, of course!  Leigh, I love it so  much that I may be borrowing this idea for a future wedding  , if you don't mind!   

 

 

 

 

 

And here it is towards the end of the evening as the manzanitas began to fill up with fun notes from guests . . .

 

 

 

Such a cute idea, right? 

Another cute table set-up at the cocktail hour was that for the escort cards.  Two card box flats, trimmed with pretty ribbon, sat atop table runners custom-made by the mother-of-the-bride (yes, that lady is talented and was involved with sewing more than the dress!)  The escort cards were designed by the very creative Nicole, of Paper Scissors Print, and were placed in floral card stands which were stuck into foam lining the boxes, which was covered by rock salt.   Such a nice effect and made locating guest’s escort cards easy!

 

 

 

SO many more cute details and photos to show off!  Thank you to the fantastic duo who photographed the wedding, Zelo, for offering up so many images for us to highlight the celebration of Leigh + Tim !!!  We loved working with you two and look forward to future weddings together! 

Please check back for Absolutely Married:  Leigh + Tim (part 3), so that you can read about the reception and see what surprises the wedding guests were treated to!