Are you a fan of vintage? Do you swoon at the sight of a drop-waisted flapper dress, or an extra long stand of pearls? Then get ready for this 1920s themed wedding rehearsal dinner at the Kenwoon Inn and Spa in Sonoma, California! Couple Malissa and Brian love dressing up, so a costume party was the perfect way to get creative and let loose with their family and friends. Photographed by Beautiful Day Photography, these images are a great glimpse into how fun a themed party surrounding your wedding day can be!
From the Bride: Brian was raised in a family who frequently donned costumes as well as all types of hats and wigs, and needless to say, the tradition has carried on into his adulthood. In fact, the two of us have a wig drawer at home and sometimes on a random Saturday we can be seen around the city in disguise. Additionally, I dont think we have had a dinner party as of yet without the wigs coming out and adding a humorous element to the evening! Once we decided to do a theme, it was either going to be 1920s or 1980s. After taking a brief moment to ponder how each theme might go, Brian and I felt that the 1920s theme would really come alive in such a spectacular setting. And it did! Our reason for going black and white was basically to keep it classic and ensure a differentiation between the rehearsal night and the wedding night.
Hands down, I would say that my favorite part of the evening was having our dearest friends and family there donned in costume and thoroughly getting into the moment with overflowing love and laughter. The band was dreamy and completely transported the entire evening back in time, and the food was spectacular! If you havent gone to the Kenwood Inn and Spa, it really should be on your must do list. Oh, and I must not forget the photo booth area with props galore. I do believe that our photographer Laura was quite possibly stampeded a few times as every guest adorned themselves with props and stuck a pose. People went back for more three or four times, even our parents! I am continuously brought to tears when I look at the photos and reflect on how magical the evening was.
I’m completely smitten with today’s Real Wedding of Detroit couple Jenna and Alaine, and after just one look at these images from Alli McWhinney Photography I’m sure you will be too! Starting with their amazing wedding fashion and decor choices, ending with their beamingly happy faces, and including every sweet personalized wedding moment in between, this amazing same-sex wedding at the Russell Industrial Center in Detroit is for sure a new favorite. Jenna and Alaine did such an incredible job describing their wedding planning experience, that I’m going to simply let them tell us all about it in their own words. Read on…
When you imagined your wedding day, what was most important to you? When we decided to have a wedding celebration locally we knew we wanted to make sure it was personalized all the way through. We have a fantastic group of fun, artistic friends that we knew would appreciate every signature detail we brought to the party. We started with planning our location by searching out everything from theaters to old worn down spaces in Detroit. It was our love for Detroit and the undying enchantment of the Russell Industrial Center that let us know it was exactly the right place for our friends and family to witness us getting married.
We planned a ceremony that was offbeat, personalized, and really comfortable for us. We also wanted the ceremony to involve our family and friends, so before it started, we invited our immediate family, our officiant, and the friends who were speaking to our “green room”, where we gave a toast and prepared for the ceremony. We had our officiant, family and friends walk out of the room to one of our songs, and then as the music changed we walked out together holding hands. After the ring exchange and before the ceremony ended, we had our friends give short but sweet toasts, and that wrapped up the ceremony.
What three adjectives describe your wedding best? Funky, Offbeat, Boisterous
Tell us about your wedding colors and the design of your celebration. We really wanted a vibrant and lively feel for our wedding, so we picked bright colors. Citrus orange and lime green were the major accents to the basic black and white. Our space was a blank slate with white walls – an open studio floor plan with lots of factory windows. We actually were allowed to paint some of the walls green, which really added a punch of color. We also incorporated the greens and oranges with lighting, in the decor and the flower arrangements used limes and kumquats. We painted some tree branches lime green and used those throughout the space. The flowers themselves were oranges and greens, such as proteas, fiddleheads, trick carnations, mango calla lilies, and green hydrangeas. Our “theme” was to have simplicity meet sleek and funky.
For wedding favors we made a CD of upbeat love songs, and included the two songs involved in our ceremony on the disc. We also burned a design into one side of the disc and we purchased recycled cardboard sleeves and stamped “a+j” on each case.
For a wedding cake we opted to go for cupcakes! Our food was all tapas finger foods, so it made sense to stick with that theme. We had a mixture of regular size and mini cupcakes. We also really wanted to play up the sweet and savory idea, so half the cupcakes were carrot orange and the other half were french toast flavor.
A few other fun extras… The studio space had a pool table and video game that we incorporated. It ended up being such a fun area for people that didn’t want to dance, where they could grab a beer and relax. Because the event was in August in a studio loft without air conditioning, we decided to incorporate lime green hand fans for our guests to use. Our food was tapas, so we decided to also have a midnight snack of pizzas delivered at 10:00, and they were quickly devoured. For our open bar, we had a keg from a local brewery, a signature cocktail, and champagne for the night. The signature cocktail was a big hit – we called it the Detroit Gimlet. The lighting was a really crucial part of the event. We hired a light-tech to run the lights all night so they changed colors throughout the evening and throughout every song. This was one of the things that really made the dance floor feel like a party and club! The candy bar was gorgeously designed too. At the end of the night people were taking candy grab-bags home with them!
What was your personal bridal style like and what inspired it? Well since there are technically two brides here, we’ll describe one at a time!
Jenna: I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do, but I didn’t stress out to find it. I found a basic dress, and decided to make it more “me” with the help of a dress designer. I am a big shoe girl so it was important for me that the dress showed them off, and this was one of the things that I had my dress designer help me with. Altering the dress also added more of a couture edge, and that was important because of the space we were going to celebrate in.
Alaine: I like to blur lines, so I wanted attire that could flow into both men’s and women’s wear. It’s often hard to find clothing that fits just right, so I ended up purchasing a suit and have all pieces of it altered. I often wear vests without a jacket, so I knew that I wanted to go that route. And since Jenna was wearing a white dress, I wanted to contrast her with black. And because I was wearing all dark colors, I chose to wear flashy shoes so I picked out some white Penguin loafers.
We loved the contrast between the white dress with darker shoes, and the black suit with white shoes. We also loved that everything we wore was completely “us” and fit our styles, and that nothing looked like traditional wedding attire.
What moments stand out to you most when you look back on the day?
1. Walking into the space and seeing all of work our friend and event planner had done to make this day one that would never be forgotten.
2. Also when we walking out of our green-room and headed to the front of the ceremony, it was amazing to see so many warm, smiling and beautiful faces standing there supporting us.
3. On the night of our wedding, the cosmos were up in a roar. Before sunset a massive lightening and thunder storm came in, and then departed just in time to watch the orange sunset. And after the sunset you could see the full moon and venus beaming in the stars. Our event space had two full walls of windows, so the storm and sunset really became part of the backdrop!
4. We also couldn’t have been happier with the toasts that our friends gave. Their words were powerful, funny, eloquent and memorable.
Two of the most romantic moments we remember were taking a moment away from everyone and realizing that we did it! As well as looking out across the studio and seeing in our guests faces that this event really did bring out incredible love, hope and happiness in everyone. The whole room was alive and beaming!
The most sentimental moments came when four of our friends spoke at the end of our ceremony. The words they said about us, about love and even about the politics surrounding gay marriage, were tender and passionate. One of our friends said that she actually boycotted marriage because it was not equal for all, but that our courage has made her reevaluate what it all really means. The event as a whole was so much bigger than just two people exchanging vows. We wanted to be visible in our community, to show others that a wedding is about love and support and not about whether or not it’s legal.
The Pros: To learn about about Jenna and Alaine’s full team of talented wedding professionals, be sure to visit their page in our Real Wedding Library!
Thank you so much for telling us your wedding story Jenna and Alaine! What a fun celebration!
There just aren’t words to describe the beauty of this destination wedding in Bali, Indonesia! I cannot get enough of the rich cultural elements that honor couple Bonny and Derrick’s Indonesian and Filipino families, and the location of Bali itself is entirely inspirational all on its own. I’m so grateful that Portland, OR-based wedding photographer Bunn Salarzon sent us this wedding so we can all experience the magic of Bonny and Derrick’s big day. Enjoy!
What inspired your personal wedding style, and how did you incorporate your personalities into your big day?We definitely wanted to celebrate both of our traditional cultures (Indonesian and Filipino) but in a more modern, outdoor setting and in addition, also include the Balinese culture with the decor, balinese flower girls and umbrella boys. Designs were based on the Indonesian folklore Rama and Shinta (invitations, party favors and figurines on the main table).
Indonesian clothing for our ceremony and Filipino for the reception. Bonny loves the beauty and intricate design of their national clothing the kebaya which became the highlight of the celebration and batik reception dress design was inspired from a javanese wedding dress (dodot). The groom’s suit (baju demang) with almost a regal design, and the reception clothing for the groom (The Filipino Barong) provided a more relaxed formal attire that helped with the humid Balinese weather.
Another additional details is that the Bride’s family wore the traditional Indonesian attire and the groom’s family wore the Filipino side. This turned out to be an interesting characteristic for our wedding as the clash of two cultures combine.
We wanted a simplistic approach with only white flowers (Calla lilies, white roses, frangipani) and the floating stage over the pool added another highlight to the wedding.
Looking back, what are the moments, decisions or memories that you love the most about your wedding?We loved the out of the norm and the rich culture, or clash of culture, that lent to the character of the wedding. The time spent time on details of the decorations (floating stage, virgin walk, floating candles over the pool). We didn’t think it would work but it turned out special and out of the ordinary.
Favorite moment for me (the bride) was when I heard my husband says the ijab (wedding vows) and seeing my husband for the first time because I knew I was marrying the perfect man.
Favorite moment for me (groom) was seeing my wife walk towards me and how beautiful she was. I couldn’t help but tear up even though I said I wouldn’t cry. Also, the balloon release and having a select few guest read the promises which added another memory that we didn’t expect much until we saw our video. Lastly, the good food!
We were blessed to have the photographer and videographer that reflected our style. Because it was a destination wedding, we knew that only a handful of people could join us and so we were glad that we had an incredible videographer and photographer that made our wedding viewable by our family and friends as if they were there. The proof is in the product.
Getting an emcee was a huge win for us! The emcee was funny, knew how to work the crowd and directed the flow of the ceremony. This made it so there were no awkward moments during the ceremony, cocktail hour or the reception. He managed to keep the festivities going and the crowd entertained.
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