Sunny | You May French Kiss The Bride

Jun 2013

Justine + Brendon

Epic Ace Hotel Wedding with a Late Swimming Pool Party

I know I have blogged quite a few weddings and couples ending up in water lately, and no suspense here, this is one more… but isn’t a swimming pool wedding party kind of the perfect way to end the night? And wait, that’s not all – I am actually so in love with Justine and Brendon’s wedding: not only did they have so much fun partying in the swimming pool, but this couple also had a perfect venue for their wedding and an amazing setting, everything so well photographed by Nick Radford, out of the USA.

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Justine and Brendon’s wedding took place in November 2012 at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs. Both have a design background—he is an interior designer and she’s in the event industry—so they mostly organized their wedding themselves.

We wanted it to be different, yet fun that reflected our personalities. We had a handful of DIY projects that we incorporated into the wedding such as our ceremony backdrop and geometric card holders. I ended up designing all of our paper goods such as our save the dates, invitations and all of the signage throughout the wedding. It was a huge undertaking, but it was something I was determined to do! There were many times I wanted to give up and just hire a designer, but I knew it would be so worth it in the end. And it was!

Name one thing you regret…

Overall it was an amazing wedding – however, if I had to rewind back to the day, I wish I had more moments to just sit and talk with all of our friends and family, especially our family who traveled from afar. The day goes by so fast and you are definitely running on adrenaline the entire evening, so I just wish we had taken a step back and really braced the moment and graciously thanked everyone who made it out that day.

And one thing you’re really happy about/ proud of.

I am extremely happy that I was a stress-free bride the entire day! I did not worry about one thing. I felt so prepared, and so ready to marry my husband that everything else was just a big ol’ bonus to me. Oh, and I’m stoked that Nick & Jeff (photographer & videographer) suggested we jump in the pool to close out the festivities. It was never my intention to do this – but it just happened and it was SO perfect. The best way to end the night by far! Trashed dress and all!

Jun 2013

Carol + Felipe

Super Fun Wedding by the Sea in Brazil

In countries where the weather is hot during almost the entire year, the tradition is to have a ceremony at the beginning of the night (and then the party afterwards). Besides the fact that we Europeans would die to have a nice weather for our wedding day (I guess we all want what we don’t have!), I see two main drawbacks. First, you’re loosing some precious hours not being at your wedding: take two weddings, one with a ceremony at 2 or 3pm, and the other one with a ceremony at 9pm; that’s a 6 or 7 hours difference because obviously you’ll go to bed at the same time anyway. And when I see that one of the top answers I get to the question “Name one thing you regret” is “That it went so quickly”, I think that tradition is once again worth being questioned. Second, no need to be photographer to know that natural light is better than flash light; by not having your whole wedding during the night, you’ll end up with MUCH better pictures and memories of the day. Fact.

Last—if the above arguments didn’t convince you—when you actually live in a country like Brazil, you can go for a wedding like Carol and Felipe’s – I actually happen to know Brazil and had the pleasure to spend a few days in Paraty; believe me, this place is a little piece of paradise and those two just took advantage of everything it has to offer! PS: their ceremony was at 11am. :-) Photography by Gustavo Marialva.

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May 2013

Aileen + Dan

Casual Wedding by a Pond with Dogs

Let’s make this clear: would I have the opportunity of planning our wedding all over again, I’d probably choose a venue offering bathing possibilities. I mean, who doesn’t like to dip one toe or two in some fresh water on a hot day? This is exactly what Aileen and Dan went for on their wedding day, and I love so much that their dogs were part of every single moment of their day! Guys please, if someone’s planning to have such a cool wedding by a pond, lake or else, send an invitation over! Photography by Paul Liebt Paula, out of Germany.

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