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Real Wedding: Mary & Mike (9.3.11)

Monday, October 10, 2011
The wedding of Mary & Mike is one of my most memorable weddings for many reasons. First of all, when I first met with the couple last January, Mary knew exactly what she wanted for her wedding, but didn't know how best to achieve her vision. At our first meeting all she had was her wedding date, photographer and the wedding venue, a private home on Lake Washington that she found on a vacation rental web site.

I was able to utilize my preferred vendor list to help the couple select their truly outstanding caterer in The Upper Crust, entertainment Gadjo Gypsied and florist Always Affordable Flowers.

For their actual wedding day, Mary and Mike wanted more casual for their 50 guests. They had the idea to have a pre-ceremony cocktail hour, which was such a great idea. Music before and after the ceremony was provided by the very talented Gadjo Gypsies. I worked with these gentlemen last year and had been dying to work with again. So when Mary & Mike expressed their taste of music they wanted for their wedding, I knew that Gadjo Gypsies fit their dream. The trio played a mix of jazz and swing music, which set the perfect tone for the late afternoon wedding.



A new floral vendor of mine; Chris Skilton of Always Affordable Flowers did an amazing job. I have know Chris' twin sons since I was in first grade and she has recently started her own floral design company after working for a major Tacoma florist for many years. Chris created beautiful centerpieces that really captured the essence of what Mary wanted. In addition, Christ crafted the beautiful toss bouquet (seen above) which included dahlias, one flower that the bride wanted to honor her late grandmother who had a dahlia garden at her home.


Mary, who didn't want to incorporate a lot of flowers into her wedding because she didn't want to take away from the natural beauty of the venue's landscape opted for a brooch bouquet. Mary created this unbelievable bouquet using brooches that she borrowed from family and friends and brooches she received at her bridal shower. I really loved this idea when Mary first told me about it, but to see it first hand was unbelievable! It was truly amazing. The best part of her bouquet is that it will last forever.




After my first visit out to the venue last spring, the couple were at a loss of how to decorate the space especially since they didn't want to use flowers. After seeing the covered boat dock I immediately thought of lanterns (three sizes and colors purchased from Luna Bazaar). Using the wedding colors of ivory, turquoise and chartreuse, these lanterns were just the perfect accent.

On the day of the wedding, Lake Washington was very choppy and there was a slight breeze which proved to be difficult in stringing up the lanterns, but the overall effect made it all wonderful.





Cupcakes was another major highlight for the guests. After enjoying tasty appetizers from The Upper Crust Catering and a beautiful buffet dinner, guests feasted on three different flavors of cupcakes from Trophy Cupcakes. Another little detail added to their cutting cake of triple coconut were two personalized gnomes that the groom purchased on etsy.com.

For more photos, visit Northern Lights Blog.

Credit for being able to work with such a great couple in Mary & Mike was due in large part to my fabulous assistant Rachel. It was Rachel who first met the bride at the Seattle Wedding Show last January and really sold Elegant Affairs to the bride. Thanks Rachel!!!


Vendors
Wedding Coordinator: Elegant Affairs
Venue: Private home in Seattle
Entertainment: Gadjo Gypsies
Cupcakes: Trophy Cupcakes
Invitations: Paper Delights

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