Oh wow - where do I begin? I had the great pleasure of working with both Meredith and her mum as Meredith shared her and Spencer's vision and her mum wanted to put in little special touches which Meredith wanted, but didn't want to go over her mum's budget. The end result was an absolutely spectacular wedding - elegance, surprises, little touches and lots and lots (and lots!) of love!
CATERER: Andres from ByB
CAKE: Memo from Charme
PHOTOGRAPHER: The amazing Eric (who has yet to send me pictures, btw!)
(all pictures down below are by our awesome staff photographer, Soco!)
THE CEREMONY
In order to accommodate older guests who might have a hard time getting around on the beach, the decision was made to keep everything up at this amazing, beautiful villa. I decided to flip the ceremony space and also utilize it for the reception area which meant, in Mishka terms, that we could WOWZER the area because, hello, we would be using it twice! Honestly, Meredith & Spencer are such a laid-back, easy going couple that their love for elegance and simple beauty did catch me a bit by surprise - but I absolutely loved everything they sent me and it didn't take me long to figure out what we needed to do!
We spent hours stringing roses and carnations together and then hung them up above the ceremony area. We also hung them up almost entirely above the area next to the pool, as we were planning on putting the reception tables there after the ceremony. We placed gold chivari chairs off to the side, and the boys painted these really beautiful paisley maracas with their initials on them which we placed on the chairs, along with "shake me at the kiss" tags.
In memory of Meredith's grandfather, we placed his photo along with a carnation garland and, of course, the cherry on top was a paper mache replica of their dog, Tim whom the couple has a penchant for dressing up in funny costumes and taking pictures of him ;). We also had some Skype action going on - for the groom's brother whose plane was not cooperating in getting him to the wedding and for Meredith's Grandmother who was unable to come - love Skype!
The bride's bouquet was a mix of ranunculus, lisianthius and carnations, dotted with beautiful gold rimmed crystal accents in a gold accented holder. The groom had a ranunculus and a carnation with a gold crystal accent.
THE COCKTAIL
After the ceremony, we moved everyone into the casita for cocktails and appetizers. Cocktail tables were draped in shades of turquoise blue chiffon and adorned with a small carnation arrangement. We had a small lounge with pillows in blue, gold and a few lace pillows. I absolutely heart heart these colors. We found-out that the local University of Hawaii pub (where the couple are going/ have gone to school) was named Manoa and some awesome family member took a picture and sent it to us so we could replicate it but in the bride and groom's colors and named our cocktail/dance area after it ;).
THE RECEPTION
Back to the main Hacienda we go where we've set up round tables with elegant turquoise blue overlays with small gold crystal accents on the corners. Large white and cream carnation arrangements in the middle were surrounded by gold painted candle vases. Gold napkins stand upright tied with the place cards which hid various hot salsa bottles, a nod to Spencer's love of all things hot and spicy! Strung twinkle lights only complete this romantic look, along with the floating multi-colored lanterns floating in the pool.
THE DANCE FLOOR
I know I know - I keep heart hearting my dance floors but I can't help it! This was simply "wow" with over 30 gold lanterns with pillar candles and hanging glass turquoise and white hearts floating over the area - seriously romance floating everywhere! Judy (mer's mum!) surprised the couple with an amazing live Cuban band and a DJ for later in the evening.
THE CAKE
And, of course, what event would be complete without an amazing Memo cake! We had to bring everyone to the roof because Judy had one more super awesome surprised for the couple - fireworks! Seriously, I WANTED it to happen but could not have planned the timing better - as soon as they cut the cake, off went the fireworks - heart heart heart all over the place (and I was having a heart attack, slightly worried that it wouldn't happen JUST LIKE THAT - woohoo!). They ordered a different flavor from any cake we've had before - a vanilla and pineapple cake and it must have been good because they ate it all up!
Absolutely AMAZING way to start off this New Year and working with this special couple (and their daughter - the cutest flower girl ever!) and the love they shared for each other and their family - well, just heart heart hearts!
Next up - a slightly belated shout-out to a beautiful maraca bride and some new brides who have said their "i dos" this past weekend .... then, in a few weeks, we have Ghadeer & Pancho's nuptials at the beautiful Casa Serena!!
