Elizabeth & Matt's Whimsical Vintage Hacienda Fiesta!

I met Elizabeth's Mom and Dad before I met Elizabeth and Matt and from that moment forward I knew this wedding was going to have that additional touch that I cannot bring to it - it's something that comes with the bride and groom and their wedding party - that special touch of love and warmth and joy which is the cherry on top of a beautiful design and thoughtful coordination.  And I was right - this party was one for the record books and the love was over flowing and the joy was contagious ... and Elizabeth brought me the cutest apron I have EVER seen and had written me the nicest thank you card - and she gave it to me BEFORE the wedding - I was touched beyond measure and so thankful to have this wonderful couple ... they are missed! :)

Place:  Casa Quetzal
Caterer:  Andres from B y B
Bride Photographer:  Jillian Mitchell
Videographer:  Ray from Promovision
Staff Photographer:  Soko the Great
Minister:  Tamara Bradley from Chic Concepts
Cake:  Memo of Charme
Misting Fans:  Mist & More

INSPIRATION BOARD
Elizabeth has a sense of style and she knew what she wanted from the get go ... to quote "We would like the wedding to have an eclectic, vintage, whimsical, fiesta feel to it."  I thought, yes, a bit challenging but I was definitely up for the challenge!!  Once we had Casa Quetzal as the backdrop, everything else started to fall into place.  Elizabeth was torn between wanting a white ceremony but she wanted color as well ... I recommended we start with a soft color palette of whites, creams, natural woods and then, as the night progressed, we started adding in touches of color so that the reception had spots of beautiful color and you really noticed it ... this was the board I came up with :).

THE CEREMONY

I heart smatter and adore this ceremony set-up.  As I toured the villa I realized that the living room would make a fantastic backdrop for Elizabeth and Matt's ceremony with the beautiful architecture and tile on the living room floor - the room really needed just small touches to make it the perfect spiritual place for our whimsical hacienda feel ... We strung white dendrobidiums up above the ceremony backdrop ... I had Omar paint a light white design on top of cream fans so that the design would show up with the reflections of the light.  We had the guests wave papel picado fans with Elizabeth & Matt's names and the wedding date at the kiss.  The bridesmaids carried white and cream lisianthius while we created a beautiful romantic bouquet for the bride with coral amarlyis and white and coral peonies.  The result was gorgeous!

IN REMEMBRANCE....
Elizabeth and Matt had sent wedding photos of their grandparents and parents and we displayed them in silver vintage frames on a side table in the ceremony area with lace covered mason jars.  I heart smoosh this picture Soko took of Elizabeth looking over the photos before the ceremony.

THE COCKTAIL
After the ceremony, guests went out poolside to enjoy the amazing views of Vallarta and listen to the Mariachi.  Cocktail tables were covered with white chiffon fabric with teal vintage bottles and colorful coral flowers.   The tequila tasting was set out on a vintage looking table with a talavera spice rack holding the escort cards.  The tequila shot glasses also doubled as favors and were painted specifically for the bride and groom :).

THE RECEPTION
We had the reception inside the amazing courtyard.  Tables were covered with cream chiffon with a burlap runner and lace overlay.  Vintage teal bottles had been hand-painted to just the right shade and filled with coral, cream and magenta florals.   Napkins were cream colored manta with lace edges and held in place with hand painted talavera napkin rings with the guests name hand painted on each one :).    Candles also dotted the tables to give it a romantic glow as the sun set.  Chandeliers were hung up above the tables and we had white floral lights strung in the iron work going up the stairs.  Elizabeth loves butterflies so, as a touch of whimsy, we created special printed paper and made two toned paper butterflies which were placed in and amongst the reception table florals.

THE CAKE, THE PHOTOBOOTH, THE MARACAS, THE DANCE FLOOR
The cake was based off of a papel picado, vintage feel and Memo, as always, created a masterpiece!  Elizabeth and Matt had met at Match.Com so we thought it would be fantastic to recreate the Match.com logo with face cut-outs for guests to take pictures holding a heart sign with Matt + Elizabeth!  Antonio did a beautiful job :).  Hand painted maracas in shades of teal, magenta, yellow, orange were painted with an incredible papel picado design - Omar hit this one out of the park! Twinkly lights hung over the dance floor. We had originally wanted to hang mason jars covered with beautiful lace over the dance floor but rain was threatening (and, in the end, it DID rain) so we moved the vases inside and filled them with candles instead :).    

I have nothing but great memories about this wedding and the guests who were there.  It was fun, memorable, loving, kind, amazing and I heart smatter the design from beginning to end!  This was an amazing wedding and a great post to end Mishka Designs' blogspot run - all further posts will be made from our new website and blog which I will announce soon - I promise!  I'm so excited about it and I've worked hard to make it facebook friendly, pinterest friendly, blog friendly, etc etc!  Unveiling soon! :)

Kim & Lanny's Elemental Love Wedding!

Man, where do I start? :) Kim & Lanny were one of those couples who just oozed love from the moment I met them - not the gooey kind of love ;), but more a steady, easy, here we are kindof love. They met in high school and had been together ever since, so maybe that was part of it. They tied the knot this past April 12th in Dreams PV and this is what it looked like...

INSPIRATION BOARD

They really wanted to incorporate being married by the ocean and an acknowledgment of their native ancestry into the wedding - it was a lot of fun to go back to some beachy roots - although we live in a very popular wedding area by the beach, we don't often do a lot of weddings which incorporate beach elements :).

THE CEREMONY

I had a lot of fun with this ceremony. I decided to do her bouquet out of green hydrangae, circus roses and orange tulips with a beautiful turquoise necklace as an accent piece for the wrap. The groom's bout were little tulips. I wanted the orange colors to really pop, so I decided to go for a more natural palette so that the strung roses on the chairs would stand out more and the chuppah with flowing sand, champagne and white chiffon fabric. We incorporated a seashell blessing ceremony into the ceremony itself, and the guests were invited to choose a seashell, to bless the couple with their well wishes and then they all went down to the ocean and threw their shells back. Since we had decided to incorporate the elements (wind, air, fire, water and we added "alma" or "soul" as a 5th element) to the entire wedding, Antonio designed these amazing hand-crafted wooden fans with Aztec and Mayan symbols representing the elements drawn on them on one side and the word "love" on the other.

THE RECEPTION

They had decided to skip the cocktail, so guests went back to their rooms for a little break, while the bride and groom continued to take pictures with their photographer. For the reception, I wanted the color to be vibrant and completely in tune with the natural beach surroundings. So, we had turquoise chiffon overlays and apothecary glass jars (which I actually brought down in a suitcase from the states!) filled with orange tulips, sand and a white pillar candle and seashells and floating circus roses. We surrounded the reception area with tall bamboo poles and hanging lanterns with candles!

The escort cards were polished rocks with each guest name and table seating painted on and table markers were large rocks placed in the middle of the table with the names painted on for each of the elements. Maracas also were painted with the elemental symbols in the bride's wedding colors of orange, sand and turquoise. Napkins were a natural sand manta and place cards had a photo of the bride and groom on one side and a fun pictionary game (the bride and groom's favorite game!) on the other side, based on the bride and groom ;). Each table also had paper and pencils so they could play the game during the reception, if they wanted :). The bride and groom provided turquoise jelly bellies as a sweet favor which we placed on each chair.

THE DANCE FLOOR

I wanted something simple but that would really look beautiful at night. I told the boys I wanted a lantern with three poles overhanging and beautiful large Chinese lanterns. I loved it! One of my absolute favorite things happened this night ... we had swapped out the bride's IPOD for our own to play "Great Balls of Fire" and I thought the song that would follow was of a similar nature so I told the boys to keep the IPOD running. But to my surprise the William Tell Overture came on - but the bride's guests, already in a circle on the dance floor, did not miss a beat and started galloping across the dance floor - each person from an opposite side galloping to meet each other in the middle and end-up on the other side. It was one of the funniest, funnest most spontaneous things I've ever seen at a wedding and looked completely choreographed - which I knew it wasn't ;). I thought they would get tired half-way through but they danced the entire song - it was awesome!

THE CAKE/REMEMBRANCE TABLE

Both the bride and groom had people very close to them pass away and they wanted their presence at the wedding. So we put their photos on the cake table with a remembrance candle for each one with the cake in the middle. The cake was, of course, from Memo and he did an amazing job of combining one of the bride's favorite design cakes with the elemental symbols we had been using through-out the event. Gorgeous!

The bride, groom and all their guests were so amazingly kind, generous and sweet - it was a true honor to be part of their beautiful day!

Coming up Kris & Luke's wedding blog, followed closely by Rose & Miguel! :)