The cake, the only traditional element of the wedding, took center stage. I had the florist bring plain boxes so we could wrap the paisley fabric around them and I had a custom made runner made from the same fabric.

My hand cut letters of Mr & Mrs were hung on the bride and groom’s chairs at their sweetheart table.

The carnation letters were moved fom the ceremony gate to the reception.

The bride and groom took photos on their vespas during cocktail hour and used the “love” sign I made.

Toasts started before the food stations opened, and included a song by the bride’s brother and sister.

Props were setup next to the vintage photo booth and guests took some hilarious photos for the bride and groom’s scrapbook.

And they danced and danced and danced…

Meanwhile my assistants setup the favors by the valet station. I bought Paulette’s Macaroons (so yummy!) and used clear boxes with a sticker of the couple monogram.

At the end of the night the couple left in their dad’s vintage car.

And lived happily ever after…

Special thanks to all the vendors!

Harper Smith Photography

Catering by Field

Town & Country Event Rentals

Atlas Pool Decking

Design Visage

Collage Designs

Rosebuds Cake

Atmosphere Entertainment

Photobooth Scrapbooks

{cevd} custom invitation studio

I knew I wanted to make a prop for the bride and groom portraits so I decided to hand cut “love” out of the paisley fabric. To do this I printed “love” in large letters on my printer and cut out the letters to create a template.  I pinned the template to the fabric to cut the letters out. The I took the template and pinned it to stiff yellow card stock to cut out a second letter which would serve as the backing for the sign.

I repeated this same process for “Mr” and “Mrs” these letters were used on their chairs at their sweetheart table.

Since this wedding featured food stations, it was important to make the typical dinner menu sign tie into the decor and feature paisley once again. I took foam core and cut it to the right size for the menus. Then I wrapped the paisley fabric around the foamcore like a present and hot glued the fabric closed.

From there, I printed the menus and other signage using the fonts that were featured on their invitations.

The wedding took place at the father of the bride’s estate, but the ceremony was held next door on their neighbor’s lawn. To get from the ceremony area to the reception guests would have to walk through the bride’s dad’s jungle ravine to get to the reception. We provided flip flops for the ladies so it would be a more comfortable to walk to the reception.

Since the jungle ravine area was landscaped with many different paths, the florist and I decided that a trail of flower petals would be the best way to lead guests up the reception. I used the couple’s monogram and the same font from their invitation (by cevd) on a large poster board that would be placed on the bridge that lead into the ravine and invited guests “to follow the petals to the party.”

The couple wanted a very funky, retro inspired party, rather than a traditional wedding reception. Seating, would be small cocktail tables and dinner would be four food stations served on small plates. They knew off the bat that they wanted their photos taken on their vespas and that large light bulb strands would be strung overhead. They also knew they wanted paisley featured throughout the design. Finding the right paisley proved to the toughest part of the design. I found one option that would work, but the fabric company had stopped making that design. I even looked in New York when I was there for the B-List and had no luck finding the right paisley. Finally, in May I went once again to Michael Levine’s in downtown Los Angeles and found the perfect paisley.

The paisley incorporated their colors, cobalt blue and goldenrod yellow, and had little funky 60′s style flowers throughout the pattern. I put in my order for 30 yards of fabric and had the fabric shipped to my linen vendor to make runners for the cocktail tables, cake table, and food stations. I took a swatch of the  paisley to the cake vendor, Rosebuds, and they were able to pipe the pattern onto their cake. I also sent the fabric to the florist, Collage, so she could use it as a reference for the paisley pattern of rose petals I wanted down the aisle. Once the fabric was found the rest of the details came almost immediately.

Here’s a sneak peek of a retro, paisley wedding I planned and designed. Up next are some of the behind the scenes of the details created for their wedding day. Enjoy!

Photo: Harper Smith Photography