Place: Terra Noble Spa
Caterer: Andres from ByB
Bride photographer: the amazing Erin Werner
DJ: Hombres del Negro
Staff Photographer: Fernando Reyes
INSPIRATION BOARD
Jenae & Trae loved peacocks and peacock colors but didn't want a "peacock themed" wedding ... the other request was not to utilize a large amounts of flowers, as Jenae was not a huge flower person. It took me a bit of thinking to tie-in the feel and colors of a peacock without actually using a lot of peacock imagery ... in the end I heart heart what we ended-up with!
THE CEREMONY
After reviewing a lot of footage of Terra Noble, Jenae ran across some pictures from another wedding which had utilized a house next door. It's not often up for rent, but since the caterer and the owner were good friends, we managed to secure a rental for the house for both the cocktail and the ceremony.
I knew I wanted something simple, yet elegant - the scenery itself was already so beautiful, so I wanted to add to the surroundings with just a touch of romance. I had run across a photo of a chuppah by a lake and fell in love with it and that inspired me to "upgrade" it a bit with some beautiful gold crinkle fabric. We used gold Tiffany chairs and had maracas painted with an artistic version of a "peacock" with Jenae & Trae's first initials. I love the shake me tags - some of my favorite tags of all time :). Jenae provided beautiful ceremony programs and the whole ceremony came together in a neat little romantic package :).
Jenae's bouquet was a combination of large and small mums with a crystal broach accent she brought as well as a beautiful crystal hummingbird which was placed in memory of her grandmother.
We also had a ring bearer box for her sweet little nephew! Based off an example the bride showed us on Etsy I thought "we can do a bit better than that" .. I heart heart the box but, um, just realized before posting that I don't have a good picture of it - haha! Trust me - it was awesome ;).
THE COCKTAIL
After the ceremony, guests moved over to the Cocktail area. Since there was some movement going-on (especially to the reception) we had oodles of signs to indicate each of the areas - created to look like chalkboards but with a bit more of an elegant touch to them and each with a touch of artistic peacock "feathers." The cocktail itself I decided to drape with shades of blue and top with a gold vase, filled with a peacock feather and a small sprig of dendrobidium orchid.
THE RECEPTION
With various signs, we led the guests out of the house towards Terra Noble for the reception. I wanted to create the feeling of entering a completely different world - something candle-lit and romantic. We had candles along the lower path, leading guests up the stairs, past the jacuzzi with floating lanterns into the candle-lit reception area where a portrait menu awaited them before entering the reception area.
Before entering the pathway, we provided the guests with escort Mexican cookies, with the college logos of both Jenae & Trae designed specifically for them, in the shape of a heart. At the entranceway (in order to block the view of the guests of the caterer) we had created a huge papel picado peacock - one of my favorite touches at the wedding!
We decided to utilize square wooden tables and filled the middle section with various shades and sizes of blue, turquoise and green glass, filled with water and floating candles. The tallest glass was painted in an artistic, modern view of "peacock feather" with the number of the table painted on - each table had a uniquely painted vase. Each place setting had a gold napkin with a touch of peacock feather and a place card which carried one of the lines from Jenae & Trae's first dance song.
I knew that we needed a "bride/groom" sign for their chairs and love the rustic, yet touch of gold we added to give it a bit of rustic elegance.
THE DANCE FLOOR
Jenae had told me that one of the things she loved was the Christmas parties her mom held around Christmas time and that she and Trae loved alternative, soft lighting. I found the perfect, white flower twinkle light and we wrapped them all around the palapa to give off a romantic glow, along with hanging glass vases, filled with a bit of water and a floating candle. Pillows were done in the jeweled tones of the wedding, and we hand-painted a few of the pillows with a different artistic rendition of "peacock."
MAD LIBS
Jenae had found these really cute "mad libs" for guests to fill-out and I lucked upon a vintage-looking "mailbox" on a buying trip in Guadalajara and we used it for guests to put their mad libs in and then gave it to the bride and groom as a surprise gift!
FLIP-FLOPS
Jenae brought some flip-flops from Old Navy with tags with sizes on them and we put them out near the dance floor - it was truly awesome for the ladies to change into when their feet got tired from dancing in high heels!
THE CAKE
The bride and groom told me that as long as the cake was white with some blue accent, they would be happy with the cake ... I decided to incorporate some of the lines we had used through-out the wedding on the cake with a few of the jeweled tones added - I heart heart the cake :).
THE EXTRAS
This was a night filled with surprises. First, we had a cigar roller ... who encouraged the groom's dad to roll his own cigar and then keep it as a keepsake - super fun!
Then we had Mexican paletas arrive in a traditional Mexican ice-cream cart. Guests could choose from a variety of flavors - my favorite is coffee!
Not to be outdone, the churro station arrived so that guests who didn't want something cold, could chew on something nice and hot and sugary sweet!
Of course, what evening would be complete without firedancers to light-up the night sky and send everyone home with an amazing show?!
There was so much love this month at each of the weddings, and I couldn't have asked for a more incredible couple to start off our wedding season. There isn't anything more fun for a wedding coordinator than to see all the guests enjoying themselves and the love a bride and groom have for each other which spills and splashes with everything they do. True joy...
Next up, Shannon & Craig's vow renewal ceremony and wedding reception! And, in case you are new, please don't forget to enter the "winwin" contest and win 20 of our hand-painted maracas.
