Wednesday, July 4, 2012

A Secret Garden Wedding

Hello Everyone, I have a special wedding to show you.
This last Saturday I had a great deal of fun creating a Secret Garden Wedding in a most magical glen of a beautiful estate in Montecito California.  The owner of the property is a very fun and imaginative soul who has truly planted a magic garden.  The couple Tara and Kip and Tara's Mom Carrie and I had a blast designing and imagineering a beautiful celebration.  The following are pictures I took so as I have said before I am a designer not a photographer, please excuse the horrible shots.  When I get the professional pics I will share them with you.

All throughout the grounds were statues and whimsical details which I added wreaths and flowers to.


This is the entrance to the estate and the wedding.  The guests had cocktails next to the pond which we floated tons of flowers in.


I think the duck enjoyed himself!
There were little nooks and tucked-away-places with lovely seating areas for people to relax and enjoy themselves.  This estate was so magical!

This is the pathway that lead from the pond at the entrance to the ceremony area.


This is the arch under which the bride and groom said their vows. We built it of Birch branches and then laced through out trailing greens and Orchids.  At the base I had potted ferns and floral arrangements.  We wanted it to look like part of the grounds, not so contrived as many arches and arbors can look.  I think we did it almost too well as it is hard to see in the pictures...  it just blends right in!

This is one side of the arch.  We made it look like there was a Birch tree on either side with branches bent over in the middle to form the arch.
The other side of the arch.
details
This is one side of the entrance to the aisle. 
Another view...

We placed the programs in a vintage suitcase.



This is the other side of the aisle.

The aisle meandered down the grass to the arch.
On the aisle side of the chairs we hung bundles of Rosemary, Snapdragons, little pockets of flowers and had a few lanterns scattered here and there.
These lanterns (the ones below) belonged to the bride's mom Carrie.  I just loved them!!!

How's this for a wedding seat!  This was in where the chairs were for the ceremony 
(they are off to the right)



There is a large open area where we set up the dining tables.


Each table had a combination of flowers, ferns, statuary and lots of candles.

See the angel statue under the flowers on the right?


Lots of vintage silver and mercury glass to add to the vintage theme.


Garden elements also.
Ferns in stone ware pots with garden Roses in little perfume bottles.


Flowers under glass cloches,

More flowers...




The guests name cards were written on a hang tags then put with a beautiful copy of a Waterhouse painting and a vintage key.  We hung them on an old shutter.
Up close...
There were loads of whimsical garden details which of course I had to add flowers to...
(I don't like seeing the nails/screws into the trees either!)

The Nike of Samoranth bedecked for the occasion...
There were two cakes.  The traditional wedding cake...
Which we put on a bird bath.
And then the groom's cake which we placed on a stack of vintage trunks and suitcases.
The bride's Mom had a lot of fun designing it.  His college mascot is a wolf.
He is also a TV producer so she combined themes.  The whole thing is a cake!  Those are vintage TV guides surrounding the cake.
Here he is seeing it for the first time.  Very fun!

Our bride...  It is not a great picture of her but you still get the sense of how beautiful she is!  I will post the professional shots when I get them.

It was a beautiful wedding!   Tara, Kip and Carrie were so gracious and fun!  It was a pleasure to be a part of their wedding.  I really hope to work at this estate again, the creative possibilities are endless!

The A team of vendors are as follows
Coordinator: Tonya of Soigne Productions
Lighting: Bella Vista
Caterrer: Michael Hutchings
Cake: Christine Dahl
Estate: La Bella Vita for more information contact Tonya above.

At last but most definitely not at all least...

Happy Forth of July to everyone!


Avery heartfelt thank you to everyone across the years that have served this country with their strength, heart, honor, blood, tears and the most precious gift, their life.  A debt that I will never forget!
Thank you Dad!!!


Blessings everyone!!!!









10 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness.......this speaks to absolutely EVERYTHING a wedding (and a marriage!) should be!
    Amazing! As is your talent and eye! :)

    Have a lovely and creative day!

    ~Mimi
    Collage Pirate

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  2. You design the most magical weddings!! I love the use of the birdbaths especially for the cake...what a wonderful idea!!! I love old trunks & I love how you use them in your wedding designs!! Everything is amazing...

    You definitely are a magical person Tricia...

    Have a beautiful weekend...(((Hugs)))

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  3. Excellent, thanks for that and looks like a wonderful time!

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  4. Oh so very beautiful. i would have loved to attend myself. Your work is truly amazing.
    Thank you so much for sharing.

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  5. I also love the birdbath for the cake! And the groom went to NCSU (here in my city). What a gorgeous setting!

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  6. Oh treasure you do create such magic! I adore all the tiny details you put in to everything, i do so wish you could magically fly here & help me with my birthday . . .it a big one and i so wanted it to be a forest, fantasy party, the only trouble being the pesky Scottish rain lol. Have a beautiful week x x ( ps: im only just catching up after weeks & weeks )

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  7. OH you creative muse! This is beautiful, wonderful, georgeous, fabu, golf clap everyone! As usual it's everything any bride could ever dream of. I loved seeig all your special spots in the before state, and now the after. You are all magic and sparkle my girl. Can't wait to visit you again! Much love-xoxoxoox-cindy

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  8. You always Transform and Create the most Enchanting Fantasy Visions with your Magic Touch!!! I want a Secret Garden like this now!!! *LOL*

    Blessings from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian

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  9. Just lovely! Is that a real duck in the pond? I love the whole concept of this wedding! The little nooks and the benches make it relaxing. You can say that the rustic-theme of this event is perfect for the garden wedding idea. The vintage suitcase and the flowers under glass cloches add to that feel.

    Kelli Mueller

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  10. Love, love, love the wedding cake on the birdbath! So original and very beautiful!!
    I also make wedding cakes and I hope one day I can use a birdbath pedestal for a cake!

    Juliann

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