Real Weddings: Maria + Oscar

 Want to know the best part of a secret? Finally getting to share it with those you love! When we first heard Maria and Oscar's story and how they had wed in secret 5 years ago all the while keeping it from their family and loved ones, even after having a baby together... We were beyond thrilled that they came to us to help them with the big reveal. The two dated briefly in high school, but 10 years later fate brought them back together. After dating for seven months they knew they couldn't spend another day without one another so they decided to secretly elope.

Fast forward to when they came to us with the desire to honor and share the love they had found. Their ceremony was to be the first time that they would share with their guests that they actually were already married. For Maria and Oscar's we pulled inspiration from Maria's personal style and combined bohemian and romantic elements to create a day that felt intimate, elegant, and full of romance. Their wedding took place at the La Quinta Resort located in Palm Springs, California and set a beautiful desert backdrop for their day. For their color palette we paid homage to the Palm Springs desert with boho neutrals and shades of wine, plum, and mauve. The groomsmen (many of them police men and colleagues to the groom) appropriately wore suits in a deep shade of blue, while the bridesmaids wore flowy white dresses. Guests were greeted by an escort wall built by Back Up Backdrops that read "You're My Best Kept Secret" and were favored with diaries hand painted and calligraphed by Betlem Calligraphy that held their names and table assignments. Guests were asked to sign in with "the secret to happily ever after" all as a tribute to our couple's love story. Floral arrangements by Oak and the Owl that mimicked the surrounding desert landscape sat on top of Moroccan inspired runners from hostess haven with tables and chairs from Folklore. Gold flatware was placed alongside crisp white plates with intricate details, and glassware that resembled the blue dessert sky.

When it came to designing Maria and Oscar's dessert table we wanted to keep it playful. Maria is a nurse and Oscar is a police officer, so naturally dessert began with coffee (a nurse's go-to beverage) and an array of donuts by Home Bakeshop (because what police officer doesn't love a good donut?!). Hey There Cupcake! Designed a cake inspired by the intricate detailing of Maria's wedding gown. Friends and family spent the rest of the evening dancing under strings of market lights, sipping on a boysenblue (boysenberry and blackberry cocktail) and another nod to Oscar's career, as well as "a hush hush", a ll the while watching Maria and Oscar's darling 3 year old bust a move on the dance floor. It was a night to celebrate family and the unveiling of Maria and Oscar's secret - because some secrets again are best when they're shared with those we love most!

Want to see more from the road to Maria and Oscar's wedding day?  Check out the Style Me Pretty feature here or our previous post "What's In Our File" where we share more about our inspiration behind their wedding day and then head over to our Engaging post and prepare to swoon over snaps from their engagement shoot!   Many thanks to our talented friend Ashley Kelemen for all the gorgeous photos!

Layers of You

Today featured on Green Wedding Shoes is our photoshoot with Feather and Stone Photography!  For this shoot we were inspired by the natural array of deep colors and the beauty of an onion's skin where layers upon layers are peeled away to reveal something raw and equally beautiful within.  Textures of earthy clay and torn edged paper were used with Lovely Paper Things who created the gorgeous invitations inspired by the rings of an onion.  Also inspired by the beauty of layering, our bride wore the calypso nightfall Mywony gown blanketed with dark layers of of tulle - enough to get lost in!  Amy Clarke took our model's look from deep shades to natural as she painted her lips in a dark stain and pulled back to a lighter more nude natural state again to allude to moving toward the center of her essence.

Our tabletop was laden with rich textures and spices with floral arrangements that flowed throughout the space by Running Wild and alluded to the soft colors and texture of onion skin.  Organic textures of ceramic plates and dyed linens from Hostess Haven were set to offer a more relaxed lounge vibe with our high and low dining table combination and rentals from Witty Rentals.  The dark and moody backdrop from Back Up Backdrops help set the tone.  Guest names and seating assignments were thoughtfully pinned into onion bulbs and Hey There Cupcake! created the perfect cake to compliment the layering in deep indigo and creamy fondant.  Naturally, just as expected all this onion-inspired pretty, was enough to bring us to tears!

What's In Our File: Maria + Oscar

You may have caught a couple of snaps on our Instagram of our couple Maria and Oscar's wedding day in Palm Springs, but before we share a little more from their wedding we thought it might be fun to take you behind the scenes!  

One of our favorite ways to get the design process started after we've met with our couple is to create a vision board.  Vision boards help us develop our concept and share with our couples the key elements that we would suggest using to really create a one of kind personalized unique design for their story.  Each couple gets their own board, and like snowflakes - no two are alike! 

Maria and Oscar's love story is one for the books.  Ten years after dating briefly in high school they reconnected, dated for seven months and knew they didn't want to spend any more time apart so they secretly eloped!  They kept this secret for five whole years before finally sharing it with their friends and family.  We really wanted to capture that romance on their wedding day, so we decided to mix elements that played to Maria's love for both her whimsical and bohemian side while also giving a nod to the desert landscape where their wedding would take place.  To bring the romance, we loved the idea of mixing moody deep shades of burgundy and wine watercolors with earthy tones and textures layered upon clean creamy whites.  Adding just the right amount of elegance to their table settings, we were inspired by gold metallic elements such as goblets and flatware and suggested custom Moroccan fabric runners that could add an additional depth to the design!  For our dessert loving duo, we had big plans for this course at their wedding that gave a nod to their love of sweets and Oscar's career as a police officer.  Can you guess where that took us?  

We can't wait to share how we incorporated even more personal elements from Maria and Oscar's love story into their wedding day.  Be sure to check back soon!