i love a wedding at the home . . . a beautiful house, big yard, and space to erect a large tent that becomes my blank canvas to design on. the wedding at home is also the most personal, non restricted and flexible venue you can use. although they take us almost twice as much time to put together, and there are many more details and costs associated with the at home wedding, they nonetheless remain my favorite type of wedding.
i always tell my clients, if you have the space . . . and . . . well, the money . . . do the wedding at your home.
when the dehaan family was debating a local venue or their home, i strongly urged them to use their personal space for their daughter kristen's wedding. they had the perfect space; a long driveway, large fields for parking, spacious front yard for cocktails, gorgeous home, and a large enough backyard to accommodate over 400 guests. it was basically my dream spot to build a wedding.
i only had 6 months to put together this large soiree, and the planning at times felt like a bit of a whirlwind. nevertheless, everything came together perfectly. even the horrible non stop downpour of rain didn't stop the dehaans from being filled with abundant joy, incredible attitudes and the desire to simply celebrate no matter what.
kristen was the picture perfect bride; stunning, gracious, timeless, calm and collected. her mother's passion for style and her excellent taste was refreshing to collaborate with. and, the bride's father and his technical expertise, abundant support and great perspective made this experience really smooth and enjoyable. it was such a pleasure to plan and design this wedding; i was privileged to be part of their day.
kristen wanted to embellish her dress, so i made a flower and feather brooch for her to wear. i was pleasantly surprised to discover that the brooch that i picked out in new york perfectly complimented the earrings kristen chose.
i constructed the bride's bouquet using green miniature hydrangea, white garden roses, white full hydrangeas, lady sipper orchids, white calla lilies, and lilly grass. i cuffed it in teal silk and adorned it with pave rhinestone buttons.
the flower girl carried a pomander ball that i formed with green button mums, tiny rhinestones and a lush, silk-satin teal ribbon.
we thought for quite awhile about what the church should look like. we wanted to keep it fairly clean and simple to compliment the look of the reception, but also wanted the church to feel like a wedding celebration. i created oversized single bloom arrangements using roses, hydrangeas, orchids and green goddess lilies that were tied off and then leaned against the edges of glass vases filled with water. abundant candlelight on crystal candlesticks completed the look.
the entire set up was a bit precarious to be honest, and i held my breath the entire time hoping everything would stay right where i placed it. i loved the final outcome though, and it accomplished everything that the bride, her mother and i had set out to do.
i love this shot . . . it is priceless. it shows my blank canvas before i started creating my art.
we wanted the wedding to feel clean and modern while still boasting some very traditional styles and elements. it was a fun combination of styles to merge together.
we hung my new crystal column chandeliers. sewed custom table overlays with fabric i found in the new york garment district, displayed various styles of green glass candle holders, piled mounds of limes, and, staying consistent with the look we set at the church, created single bloom flower arrangements for the centerpieces.
we kept quite a bit of 'white space' so the tent would still feel clean and modern. we intentionally tried to make the decor simple and clutter free.
these squares were created with green button mums, and dressed up with small rhinestones. floating candles in glass bowls were rested on top.
i loved how simple and clutter free the design was. we intentionally kept quite a bit of 'white space' so the tent would still feel clean and modern letting the bold colors really pop as accents.
i created a candy and doughnut buffet to play with the fun colors of the wedding, and to give the kids an enjoyable element to remember.
the soft seating area displayed these custom pillows that we made. this lounge area was supposed to be in the front yard, but had to be placed underneath a last minute tent placed in the back yard because of the rain.
the cake displayed the monogram and mark that was first seen by guests in their invitation suite. we like to consistently use the design set by the graphic designer to help pull everything together. my good friend and incredible designer brittany o'brien of
dolce design created this monogram logo and invitation suite below.
another example of the monogram and mark from the invitation being used on the sign we had created to go behind the head table. the teal lighting was created by lighting expert and dj brian waltz of
good times dji have done a lot of weddings, and the unpredictable northwest weather has often times created difficult conditions for me to do my job. i have seen brides let the weather destroy their wedding day because they let the disappointment over the weather consume them. i was really impressed to see how the dehaan family handled the disappointing weather . . . they never wavered in their positive attitude and excitement. i think that is because they didn't lose perspective about what the day was really all about: the joining of two lives becoming one.
kristen and josh, i wish you all the best.
annie wright school, 
