We recently received these images of a rustic woodland garden party planned and designed by the talented team at Exquisite Events and we simply had to share them with you. What an incredible pre-wedding celebration this was and how fun it must have been to attend!
This garden party, held at the groom’s parents house in Los Angeles, was a pre-party to the wedding celebration that happened in the bride’s hometown of Montreal a few weeks later. The couple is very organic, outdoorsy, and environmentally friendly and they wanted this event to reflect that. The groom’s parents have a huge rolling lawn that backs up onto a private lake, which was the perfect backdrop to this evening. We immediately came up with the Garden Party theme so it would feel fun and informal yet elegant. The color palette was green, khaki and ivory which are very earthy tones, and we used them in the vignettes of coffee tables, sofas, and wooden elements. As guests entered the party from the valet, they were greeted by a Motown quartet which was a wonderful way to set the tone for what was to come. Amazing appetizers from Tres LA were passed around during the cocktail hour, and the groom is a big cigar fan so we created a separate cigar and cognac lounge that guests could hang out in towards the end of the night.
There were food stations in hand-made cabanas draped with moss and burlap and the lighting was perfect with big globes hanging from the trees. The stage that held the dance floor and band took our team four days to build! The flowers were mostly succulents placed in various pieces of drift wood and birch, and the gift giveaways were pine tree saplings wrapped in burlap that could be taken home and planted in each guest’s garden.
Yowza! The swimwear designs from sisters Oleema and Kalani Miller of Mikoh Swimwear aren’t for the shy, but if you’re looking for a bathing suit with some serious sex appeal, look no further. The colors, cuts and creative shapes are over-the-top H.O.T. And really, if your honeymoon isn’t the time to go for it and embrace your foxiness on the beach, when is?
Take a look at the new 2011 collection at the Mikoh website (arriving soon in their online shop), and see their list of retailers to find a store near you.
The wedding: 6.5.10 – The Fred Harvey Room at Los Angeles’ Union Station
What three adjectives that best describe your wedding?Amazing, magical and enchanting.
What inspired your personal wedding style, and how did you incorporate your style and personalities into your big day? Carlos and I have a love for historic landmarks, food, travel, and music. We wanted to incorporate the things that we love and also create a fun night for our guest. We immediately fell in love with the Fred Harvey room at Los Angeles’ Union Station for its rich history and art deco style. During the process of putting together our design concept, my wedding coordinator sent me a picture of an old Hollywood vanity room and, from there, the ideas started to pour in. I decided to take that inspiration and create a vintage glam inspired wedding with a modern twist. We spent over a year collecting furniture and vanity style decor from second hand stores, flea markets and antique shops. We also mixed modern colors and decor pieces to bring in more of a present day feel to an already vintage inspired day. In regards to music, we had a wide range of sound which included a String Trio that played contemporary pieces during our ceremony and, for the traditional pieces, my aunt, who is opera singer, accompanied the trio with her lovely voice. For the reception, we had a Frank Sinatra inspired band and a DJ who played a mixture of both modern and old school tunes throughout the night. We also created a lounge seating area with vintage furniture pieces and different stations for our guest to enjoy – a photo booth, a guest sign in table with a 1920s typewriter and vintage like telegrams for our guest to type best wishes, personalized matchboxes that were displayed in antique cigar boxes, and a 1950s train case in lieu of a card box. When it came to the food we went with modern style dishes with a twist – Chinese chicken salad served in Chinese style take-out boxes and mini Kobe burgers. We had signature fusion cocktails like a lychee champagne drink with handmade flag stirrers and a fresh cantaloupe juice spritzer accompanied with retro paper barber striped straws. Our cocktails were named after Hollywood classics like An Affair to Remember and Casablanca. As for the dessert, we created a Old Hollywood candy/dessert bar that was served in vanity trays, cupcake beaded chandeliers, antique powder jars and apothecary jars that were lined with french like lace and beaded brooches. For a late night snack we surprised our guest with a Taco Cart in our lounge area, which was huge hit with our guest!
Looking back, what are the moments, decisions or memories that you love the most about your wedding? Our wedding decor was about 60% DIY and the day of the wedding we were a bit nervous to see how everything would turn out. We opted to have the first look of our reception before our guest entered the room and we were literally blown away by the end result. It was far more than we ever expected it to be and we couldnt have done it without the support and hard work of our family, friends and our amazing team of vendors. All their dedication and amazing help throughout the process meant more to us than anyone could possibly know. Our wedding was full of so much love and was well worth all the hard work in the end.
What was your wedding color palette? Burnt orange, peacock blue, antique gold and antique ivory.
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