End of January this year, Panida & Greg were all set to get married in May at Villa Mia and we rushed in a whirlwind of planning .... only to be derailed a few days before the wedding date by the Swine Flu that Never was (here in Vallarta!). I know they were disappointed, but they took it all in stride, the vendors all agreed to postpone the date to November and we waited - and it was worth the wait!! I knew Panida was funny as all get out from our email correspondence but I had no idea what a firecracker she was until we met a few days before the wedding (and, of course, still funny as anything!)
After answering some questions and going over some private on-line galleries with Panida, I had the inspiration I needed for their design board!
The Bouquets & Bout
The Ceremony
Greg had mentioned that he came from a Christian background, so we decided the perfect thing to do would be to recreate an open-air chapel - especially since the surroundings were so beautiful - I had seen one once in Arkansas - made of glass - and that was our inspiration! I hand-painted a stained glass cross for the top, we used white chivari chairs, and white roses and statice lined the aisle in tall glass vases. We accented the ceremony with a black magic rose petal aisle and hand-made black paper fans with red handles served as both a decoration and to cool the guests from the setting sun. They had told me that "Georgia on My Mind" was one of "their songs" and, as they weren't using it for their first dance, I thought it would be appropriate to have Omar paint a few lines in white - I loved them (and I think the guests did too - it was hot at ceremony time!)
The Cocktail
We placed cocktail tables, covered with white chiffon and tied with black ribbon around the pool. Serving as centerpieces, Panida had requested place cards for her guests that they could take and place themselves at whichever table they chose to sit at. We used a similar design from her invite and accented the clips with crystals. As a nod to Panida's Thai heritage, I found a Buddhist tradition wherein guests would tie a white ribbon around the couple's wrist and bestow a blessing upon the newlyweds - so we incorporated that into the cocktail area as well and left them out so guests could continue to bestow blessings all night long!
The Reception
When I think 40's vintage, I think lounge, elegant, posh, glamour without going over the top - I knew right away that lighting would be important and then "whammo" the "light" went on and I knew we had to do some fab lamps! We were going to paint designs onto the lampshades but, as luck would have it and as the wedding was now postponed, it gave me time to go up North and find that amazing fabric as well as those amazing large crystals which hung down from the middle of each lamp!
Panida had just asked that the bridal table be different, somehow, than the rest of the tables, so we inverted the color scheme - white on black, in lieu of black on white. Each of the hand-painted vases had crystal accents which sparkled with the candlelight and were filled with black magic roses. Embroidered napkins based on the invite drawing made for a dramatic tablescape, I think! I LOVED the mr. and mrs. ribbon I saw once online and had our embroidery shop make a matching pair and it looked just the way I wanted it to! I do think, over-all, this is one of my favorite reception designs - I loved the smaller 6 top tables, the draping chiffon to give a more elegant, simple feel - adored the bold design of the vases and the napkins and I think the lamps were the cherry on top ;). But enough blah blah from me - you be the judge!
The Pool
Of course, we had to have lanterns floating in that amazing pool! The view was absolutely beautiful and the lanterns just accented something already amazing all on its own!
The Cake
What wedding would be complete without an amazing cake from Memo of Charme?! When Panida told me how much she loved this cake I was super happy .... we were planning on surprising her with some sock monkeys as they were an important part of Panida & Greg's story ... and, then, Panida said, "Can we have the sock monkeys" and I'm all "shhh - you just leave all that to me!!" ;) I think Omar did an amazing job - we put sunglasses on them because, I'm not sure if you can see it, but Panida had sent me a great photo of she and Greg in sunglasses and I remember thinking "that is a GREAT photo - MUST use it!" You can't really see it from the photos, but the same accent from Greg's bout and Panida's bouquet is on the top hat ;).
Dance Floor and Nightscapes....
One final detail - we lined the dance floor with big, black magic rose balls with a hanging crystal and twinkle lights - it looked absolutely beautiful for their first dance! There were three other elements that didn't make it into pictures - the Cuban band (which did an amazing job!), a flaming coffee station and fire dancers - it was a lot packed into a wondrous evening and it was a joy for us to see everyone sitting around tables later on in the evening happily talking about the night!
We really couldn't have ended this crazy month in a better way - all of our couples this month - from Mindi & Morgan to Jennifer and Matthew to Panida & Greg - were absolute joy and their guests were seriously GREAT guests - when everyone is so wonderful, it makes us want to work harder and do more so a big thanks really is due to our brides and grooms and their guests for helping us love and enjoy what we do - from coordinating to the designing to the decor and beyond!
We have a little break before our next event, so I do think I may be able to sneak-on an inspiration color scheme or something next week! So, keep your eyes peeled....
