Wow! This is going to be a big one. Ashley and I have fortunately been working together on the detail ideas on this for months now. The whole theme for the evening was old Hollywood- romantic details infused with the modern clean ideas that Drew is so into. It was the perfect mesh of Drew and Ashley! With the help of her bridesmaid and a close friend of mine, Allison, the wedding really came together in SUCH an amazing way. For me, the payoff of seeing the months of ideas and planning was so amazingly moving. So, yesterday afternoon Ashley arrived at Presbyterian Church of the Master in Mission Viejo [my hometown!], and she was ready for some pictures!
And of course, she had these on:
And the church was looking something like this:
The aisle [by the way, this church sanctuary is pretty much brand new, so, it's amazing]:
Close up of the pew decor:
And one of the candelabras that were on the stage:
Programs:
Before the ceremony was on it’s way I got just a bit of time to sneak about a million photos of Ashley while the photographers were working with her. This girl does NOT have a bad side and I love it. Here’s just a “few” to preview what is sure to be more from the photogs:
[Um, P.S. her ENTIRE bridal party was gorgeous!]
Cute!!!
And, of course, the “come hither” look:
A few shots of her mother in law and step-mother in law:
Here’s a few close ups of the bouquet, which had these gorgeous rhinestone braclets:
And the bridesmaids bouquets details- rhinestone pins!:
Just before the ceremony, Ashley and Drew played a slideshow that Drew had edited of photos of their years together. The guests loved it and it was really so great to be able to see them and their love grow and blossom:
Now, onto the ceremony. About a minute before the ceremony it really started to sink in for Ashley- she really hated the idea of being stared at by all of those people- but I told her just round that corner and LOCK eyes with your man. After she did, she was just fine. She did GREAT [despite the fact that she said her knees shook the whole time!]:
After the ceremony, the guests headed onto the cocktail hour. Ashley and Drew had so so many great details for their reception, we’ll go over them first. I actually had the pleasure of working with the groom’s mother on their outside cocktail patio and together we designed the whole idea top to bottom! Here’s a few shots of the area as a whole:
And some of the furniture and other details:
[Thanks to my previous bride, Alicia, for giving me the ideas for these cocktail tables with the ties! Love it!!] Gorgeous Chandeliers:
Other details…
[Those menus were such a hit! I can't believe how many guests I saw with those blue drinks in their hands!!]
And of course we HAD to have some customized M&Ms:
Guests walked the red carpet and then “checked in” to get their table assignment. Great touch and added to their celebrity theme!
Guest book was located on the table where they waited for their seating cards:
An engagement picture was placed by their book. Their engagement photos were taken by Dave Tosti, who is a wedding photographer himself- but actually is married to the groom’s sister. Both he and his wife were in the wedding party:
[They used a TON more of these pictures to display on the back wall of their room inside]. Speaking of inside, let’s move in doors. But, not before ONE more sneak picture of the bride while she was busy taking pictures at the reception site:
Here’s that picture wall I was speaking of:
Their table numbers were simple and elegant. They honored their families by putting those tables in more detailed frames:
Rice, each place setting got a bottle of rice for their grand exit later in the evening:
Favors were wrapped “crunch” bars:
Close up:
Their centerpieces were half tall, half short and they were really gorgeous. She wanted a “garden” feel to them- and I think they did a really perfect job at hitting that!
The whole “area” with the cake was to DIE for. Ashley had rented these great candelabras and then has flower centerpieces made for the area as well. It was really breath taking! Plus, the cake itself was truly gorgeous!!
Here’s a few of the table and the room:
They hung these paper lanterns over some existing pendant lamps. It was a GREAT detail:
Cute details on the Bride and Groom chairs:
Now, onto the night’s events! Unfortunately, and I am so so bumemd about this, I didn’t get any pictures of the grand entrance! BUT, I can tell you about it: A limo pulled up and introduced the bridal party onto the red carpet couple by couple. Then, all of the guests [who were lining each side of the carpet] raised these GORGEOUS glasses to toast the bride and groom. Perfect photo op. I was too busy being hectic, so I know that I’ll be depending on Mandy [from Jim Kennedy Photography] for these ones.
And they went straight into the first dance:
Then into the cake cutting:
And the cutest one [if my photography wasn't SO SO bad, you'd be able to tell that they took this cute picture with frosting on their faces!]:
I’m realizing at this point how FEW pictures of Drew that I have. Really, together these two are such a gorgeous and sweet couple! They really spent a TON of their time with open dancing and the DJs did a perfect job of that! They really know how to dance, these guys!! Here’s the toss:
And here’s the garter:
And, already, the GRAND EXIT!
All in all, it was SUCH a great evening! I had so many people come up and say that this was the best wedding they’d been to- the most beautiful, the most loving couple, the funnest time. I know Ashley and Drew loved being there with all of their friends and family! It was so worth all of the planning and stressing!
