Rene & Steve's French Garden Wedding!

When Priscilla of Prisar (one of my favorite Vallarta coordinators ;)  first approached me with doing a French Vintage Garden themed wedding - here in Vallarta - I thought to myself "Oui Oui!!"  We didn't have a lot of time and there were still things not quite finished (the bride's dress was being made, the invites not quite done) but when a bride is responsive you can get a lot done in a very little amount of time and Rene was great about answering emails! :)  

Coordinator:  Priscilla of Prisar Weddings
Villa:  Not mentioned because it's no longer for rent - no need to torture you ;).
Cake:  Memo of Charme (of course!)
Staff Photographer:  Angel (thank you Angel!)
Big Thanks to:  Tamara from Chic Concepts for helping me decorate day of wedding!  You're a love!

THE COCKTAIL
The ceremony was held off-site and Francisco (who is awesome ;) did the ceremony florals which I would show if I had pictures but I do not ;).  All we had to take care of was the cocktail and reception - fun!   The villa was pretty, but very sparse and minimalist - so no real "garden" to speak of and definitely no florals and when I think "French Garden" well, I think flowers!!  So, the first challenge was to bring florals into the sparse area ... we twined curly willow around the big statue in the courtyard and interspersed purple dendrobidium orchids (there were also curly willow up top overlooking the courtyard but we didn't get any pictures of that ;).  We floated pretty pink, white and lavender roses in the fountain pool.  The cocktail tables were draped with a pretty purple/pink chiffon and tied with a light pink ribbon. I found some vintage looking photo frames and pictures of the couple (who love to travel!) in various locations around the world served as the cocktail centerpieces :).

THE RECEPTION
While the term "French Garden" brings to mind lush, beautiful vintage flowers, when you add in the term "French Vintage" what one gets is opulence!  We had the doors from the courtyard to the reception area closed because I wanted it to be breathtaking when the guests entered :).  When the doors were opened, the walkway was lined with fleur-de-lis accented silver lantern stands filled with flowers and interwined with more flowers.  This led guests directly to the reception table which was decorated to the hilt with large mercury glass containers filled with roses, hydrangae, trachellium, limonium, lavandula, hyacinthus, orchids, eustoma, astilbe, aganpanthus and allium - try saying all of that fast 5 times! ;)  We overlaid the table with a light blue chiffon, had chiffon chair covers with curly chiffon ties, beautiful rose pink napkins accented with pink/gold ribbon (and a beautiful crystal brooch for the bride and groom) and monsieur and mademoiselle vintage signs.  Candles, more flowers in mercury vases, ties on the corners - and let's not forget the 3 silver chandeliers also wrapped with florals hanging over the top :).

THE CIGAR LOUNGE
We had a small cigar lounge on the grass with a few pieces of lounge furniture, some colorful pillows, a vintage looking French inspired hand-made lamp and big beautiful floral pieces.

THE EXTRAS .... Tequila Station, Dessert Station, Floating Lanterns, Maracas...
Tequila station complete with sign, vintage table and vintage frames describing each of the tequilas was located down below the pool ... We had a pastry section filled with Memo goodies - like the cake, cake pops, chocolate covered strawberries and petit fours.  And, of course, what wedding isn't complete without some floating lanterns dotting the pool with the bride and groom initials and accents from their compass/travel inspired invites?!  Maracas were handed-out during dance, as were flip-flops which were provided by the bride (but sign by us, of course ;).

All in all, French, Garden, Vintage, Lavish was all achieved and I will readily admit that I loved the final look of this event from A-Zède!

Next up, June maraca orders, Elizabeth & Matt's blog, Pelin & Kevin's blog and July maraca orders - I am a BIT behind but am getting there, I promise!! :)