WEDDING BLOG

Pink, Coral, Peach and Yellow California Vineyard Wedding – Grace and Kyle

August 21, 2012 | editorial team

I just love the combination of classic wedding prettiness with the rustic touches of a California vineyard in today’s wedding of Grace and Kyle, photographed by Vincent Au and planned by Frances Liu of Charmed Events Group!

The Couple: Grace and Kyle

The Wedding: 5.19.12 – Thomas Fogarty Winery – Woodside, CA

What were the top three priorities for you in planning your wedding?

Since most of our guests were coming from out of town, it was important for us to have a wedding that was welcoming and fun, and showcased the beauty of California, since that was where we fell in love! We wanted an outdoor wedding in a vineyard where people could enjoy the sunshine and the great wines that California has to offer. When we first saw Fogarty Winery, we immediately fell in love. Not only was the vineyard gorgeous, but the the outdoor spaces for the ceremony and dinner were fantastic as well, and offered stunning panoramic views of the Bay Area. Fogarty Winery offered the perfect mix of sophistication, rusticness and romance.

It was also important for the wedding to reflect us as a couple and individually. We are both very family-oriented and love our parents dearly. To honor them and to show our love and appreciation, we had a special rose ceremony for our parents during our ceremony. Since we are both private people, we chose not to write our own vows but instead wrote love letters to each other that we read in private right before the wedding. Grace loves wedding details and arts and crafts, so it was important for the wedding to have a lot of DIY items, like our Fogarty cork place card holders, tissue paper flowers, straw flags and homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies favors.

Since our wedding was in the spring, we wanted it to feel like a romantic garden party. We wanted our color palette to be soft, but with pops of vibrant color to stand out among all the vineyard greenery, so we chose a sherberty theme of pinks, corals, oranges, peaches and yellows. Kyle is a diehard Oregon State fan, so his boutonniere had to be orange (no yellow and green University of Oregon duck colors allowed!).

What wedding traditions or cultural traditions did you incorporated into your wedding and what did they mean to you? Even though our wedding was very Western, we wanted to incorporate some Asian influences into our wedding to honor Graces culture. We did this by having the Chinese Double Happiness character incorporated into each of our paper stationary items, from hand embossing the character on everyones invitation label to including the symbol in our programs and menus.

What was your biggest wedding planning success? Our biggest success was that everyone had a BLAST at our wedding (us especially)! By the end of the night, almost all of the alcohol was gone and everyone had a smile on their face. Since we were up a steep mountain and didnt want our guests to have to worry about drinking and driving after the wedding, we arranged for shuttles to bring all of our guests down the mountain.

What was the most important thing that you learned through the wedding planning process and what would you tell other brides-to-be? Definitely enjoy the day! Everything passes by so quickly, so you need to just sit for a moment and take it all in. To see all your closest family and friends in one place celebrating you is an amazing feeling, so enjoy it! And hire a good wedding coordinator to ensure that your big day is stress free!

The Wedding Team:

Photographer: Vincent Au
Event Planner: Frances Liu, Charmed Events Group
Ceremony& Reception Venue: Thomas Fogarty Winery
Videographer/Film Maker: Wing Hon
Officiant: Rod Murcray
Invitation Designer: Wedding Paper Divas
Catering: Schumanns Four Seasons
Florist: Amy Burke
Cake: Satura Cakes
Wedding dress: Pattis
Bridal accessories: Shoes – Badgley Mischka
Hair and make-up: Aimee Lam
DJ: Big Fun DJ
Live music: Krista Strader (Harp)
Transportation: Destination Systems
Favors: Personalized jelly bean tins from Jelly Belly Candy Company, and homemade cookies
Rentals: Mens Warehouse
Photo Booth: Photo-matica

Thank you Grace and Kyle! What a beautiful day!

Vancouver, BC Garden Wedding at the Cecil Green Park House – Marta and Zaw

August 20, 2012 | editorial team

light pink sage green white

When I look at the photos of today’s Vancouver wedding of Marta and Zaw, the word that comes up again and again for me is simply, lovely. From the peaceful garden setting, to the couple’s romantic but modern wedding day looks, to the warm personal touches that honored family and the beauty of life, it is all lovely, lovely, lovely, in the purest sense of the word. Enjoy!

The Couple: Marta and Zaw

The Wedding: 6.2.12 – Cecil Green Park House – Vancouver, BC

What three adjectives best describe your wedding? Sincere, lighthearted, warm

What was your wedding color palette? We decided that we didnt want to stick to any specific colour palette but to let the venue and the various elements of our decor speak for themselves. The Cecil Green Park House, with its beautiful garden and rich wooden finishing and sculpted molding, didnt need any embellishments from us! The flowers provided small bursts of bright colour.

What inspired your personal wedding style, and how did you incorporate your style and personalities into your big day? The first thing we agreed on before we started all the planning was that our wedding was a great opportunity for us to show our appreciation for our family and friends. We wanted to let them know how much they have helped shape us into the people we are, both as individuals and as a couple, and how much each of them means to us. We tried to work this into the ceremony and the speeches, and into various other details. Were so glad we did! It created a feeling of warmth, closeness and love that day, and made us feel all the more loved and supported.

Looking back, what are the moments, decisions or memories that you love the most about your wedding?
Zaw: One thing that I’ve noticed during weddings that Ive attended is that the readings often always seem to be just a part of the process, almost an afterthought. Most guests dont remember what was read or that it was even a part of the day! Marta and I found a reading that really spoke to us and our philosophy on how we like to lead our lives (Look at Love by Rumi). So, we really wanted to create a special moment out of our reading. During the reading, our families joined hands and encircled us while the rest of the guests joined hands in reflection with their neighbours. Looking back at the pictures of that moment, it makes me happy to see that we created a moment where friends and family got to take some time to get close, hold hands, and hug.

Marta: Last summer, Zaw and I filmed a short video interview with our best friends and our moms, talking about us as kids and young adults, and about us as a couple. Zaw edited the video and we showed it at the wedding. It was so much fun to finally get to share that moment with everyone. I remember looking over at my parents and they were tearing up. It was a tender moment that Ill always remember! Maybe one day, well be able to show the video to our kids and tell them about our wedding and how special it was, and help them understand where we come from a little bit better. I also really liked that I could be so honest in my speech to my parents and my siblings, and tell them just how much they mean to me, in front of so many people. In our family, we dont really talk about our feelings that way, so it was an important moment in my life.

What piece of advice would you give to a bride planning her wedding today?
Marta: Work together to plan the wedding. Ok… who am I kidding? Zaw planned this wedding… Please defer this question to Zaw!

Zaw: When youre finding vendors to help your vision of your big day come to fruition, their end product isnt everything. Its just as important to surround yourselves with people that you enjoy spending time with. The process of planning your wedding should be enjoyable, but its even more important that on your wedding day, you are able to be yourself in front of everyone involved. We cant say enough about how much our photographers and videographers helped us get comfortable and calmed our nerves before the day even started!

Here is the super cute save-the-date video that Marta and Zaw sent to their family and friends:

And the film of the wedding day from Wedding in Motion:

The Wedding Team:

Photographer: Michael Wachniak
Ceremony & Reception Venue: Cecil Green Park House
Videographer/Film Maker: Weddings in Motion
Officiant: Brent Shepperd
Catering: Wescadia Catering
Florist: Olla Urban Flower Project
Cake: Homemade by Martas close friends Jill and Jillian
Wedding dress: Novelle Bridal Shop, with sleeves added later by Channy’s Bridal.
Bridal accessories: Mod Cloth
Groom and groomsmen apparel and accessories: Harry Rosen
Hair and make-up: Let’s Face it Beauty (Julie Brown)
DJ: Mark Vanderende
Rentals: Chairs rented from Lonsdale Event Rentals
Rings: Scott Kay

Thank you so much Marta and Zaw!

Dramatic Gold, Pink, and Red Wedding by Kallima Photography – Becky and Peter

August 17, 2012 | editorial team

bright red gold light pink

Becky and Peter’s wedding day was a little bit edgy, a little bit theatrical, and a whole lot romantic! One thing that stood out in Becky’s mind the most was the contribution of time, effort, and love that her family made. She said, “My family is really amazing and I cannot imagine how all of it would have been accomplished without them. When you come with an idea and as a family you collectively think it through, test it, improve it, and finally perfect it – all before the big day – it is magical and makes me very grateful.” The stunning decor and fashion that was a labor of love for the whole family, as well as every sweet moment, were exquisitely captured by Kallima Photography. This is a fun one!

The Goals: Truthfully, it was most important for us and our guests to have a fun filled enjoyable evening from start to finish. It was our desire to appeal guest’s eyes, stomachs and ears throughout the evening. We also wanted to support local vendors in each and every way possible from the farms we selected for our dinner to the out of town guest bags. For Peter and I, we just wanted to be with our nearest and dearest and dance the night away!

The Design: Our ceremony was officiated by our church pastor and it was short, sweet and to the point! We didn’t need much but witnesses and a license. Our reception was modern, detailed and fun with a lot of shades of pink and red accented by black and gold. I was completely inspired by the movie “Exit Through the Gift Shop.” From there, the idea for the invitations was born and thus progressed the rest of the wedding. We repeated the invitation design and concept throughout the ceremony on large panels, paintings we did ourselves, and at the reception bars. We aren’t big cake people, so we opted for an in-season dessert of strawberry shortcake, topped with a beautiful piece of Sweet Pete’s dark, organic chocolate.

The Look: My style goal on our wedding day was to just look awesome. I wanted to look like me only an improved version! My sister is an excellent stylist in her own right and pretty much picked everything for me, she even did my hair and makeup. I have a pretty awesome sister! As for favorites, I LOVED my Vera Wang bow that I put on for the reception, and it really made the dress.

The Moments: I loved taking pictures down on the beach with my husband, hearing the toasts and speeches from our families, and being with my mom and sister as we got ready together. We also included a very special homage to my grandmother took place at the reception, who was unable to join us because of her health. When I was little she and I used to watch old movies together. I had all of our favorites in a huge two hour loop, rear projected on a custom made piece of fabric. It was amazing as the sun went down and people could begin to see the images. Last but not least was seeing the look on my husband’s face when I walked out with a tray of Chick-Fil-A sandwiches for the wedding guests. It is his very favorite and was a complete surprise to him!

The Pros: Please visit Becky and Peter’s page in our Real Wedding Library for more information about the talented professionals that contributed to their wedding day.

Thank you Becky and Peter for sharing your stunning and oh-so-fun day with us!

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WEDDING BLOG

Pink, Coral, Peach and Yellow California Vineyard Wedding – Grace and Kyle

Vancouver, BC Garden Wedding at the Cecil Green Park House – Marta and Zaw

Dramatic Gold, Pink, and Red Wedding by Kallima Photography – Becky and Peter

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