Every Little Detail
Last week, I talked about my personal dream wedding, and this week, I’m talking about my dream wedding as a planner.
Richard & Chandler’s wedding holds a very special place in my heart. I met them via Zoom when their sweet baby boy was just a few days old, and spent the next 9 months or so planning and designing their wedding weekend.
*All photos from the incredible Jenna Powers!
From a casual welcome party at Gott’s in Saint Helena, to their room block at The Estate Yountville, to Wedding Day at B.R. Cohn in Glen Ellen, to their afterparty at Bottega - we explored the beauty of wine country, went all-in on design, made sure the food was delicious, and made sure there were gorgeous details and tons of fun all wedding weekend long.
I wish we had video of the arrival of the bridal party at B.R. Cohn - the gasps and “OMGs” and literal happy screams were my favorite thing ever! You know you’ve nailed a design when the reveal gets that kind of a response, and I loved every single second of it.
Today, I’m focusing just on the custom details of the day because they were so beautiful. A big huge thank-you to Shimmer + Stain for creating beautiful signs, a gorgeous guest-favor/seating chart wall, and delicious custom stationery - from the invitation suite to the printed menus and place cards, everything was gorgeous.
I’ll talk more about the elements of R&C’s day in future blog posts, but today, I’ll outline my favorite custom touches.
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1) Custom ceremony “flooring:” The second I saw the ceremony deck at B.R. Cohn with Chandler’s old-Hollywood glam design in mind, I immediately envisioned a long, dramatic aisle, and wanted to cover the deck with a black/white striped dance floor to add style and sophistication to the space. Thank you to Paul at Bright for your support in determining the correct length, width, and configuration for our custom flooring. We couldn’t have done this without you!
2) A Mirrored Aisle lined by florals: The black/white striped flooring created a base for the installation of a mirrored aisle all lined with beautiful florals all down the length of the ceremony space. Nigella - these florals are sooo beautiful! Thank you for always taking such good care of our clients, we heart your faces (and the hands that make the flowers happen).
3) Custom Seating Chart & Welcome Sign: Because B.R. Cohn is both a winery and they produce their own olive oil, we served Richard & Chandler’s favorite B.R. Cohn wines throughout the wedding, asked our incredible catering team at Elaine Bell to offer B.R. Cohn olive oil at the tables for bread service, and also used mini bottles of olive oil as guest favors on our seating chart wall, which said “Olive Our Favorite People.” So cute, right?
Because Shimmer + Stain designed everything from the invitation suite to the menus and place cards to the seating chart, we were able to keep the theme and art cohesive, beautiful, and on-theme throughout each custom element of the day.
4) Menus + Place-cards: Shimmer + Stain created beautiful letterpress menus that highlighted the delicious dishes served by Elaine Bell. They also used the outline of the custom crest they created for R&C’s invitation suite as a center-point for the wax seal that attached the place-card for each guest. In Napa Valley, we are constantly contending with the wind, so I always like to attach place-cards to the menu, tuck them into a napkin, or attach them somehow to avoid fly-aways.
I just love good details!!!
Awwww! R&C are the best!