A Springtime Yellow and Gray Wedding

Today I’m sharing a beautiful yellow and gray spring wedding with lots of adorable DIY details. I love the beautiful mix of rustic and elegance!

The bride Natalie gives us the details:

Our wedding truly captured the feel and beauty of Northern California: the wind swept beaches, the mist and fog clinging to the redwood trees, and of course all the variety and flavor of the rich produce and crafts that are quintessential elements of the California landscape. We’ve always been intrigued by the natural talents of our friends and families, so we decided to highlight some these gifts by inviting them to participate in our celebration.  One writer friend adapted a poem by Shel Silverstein and read it as a whimsical start to the ceremony, another friend designed and provided all of the glorious bouquets and floral arrangements, and yet another of the groom’s childhood friends, who has a passion for brewing and entertaining, provided all the beer for the guests and roasted the groom. Our ceremony was officiated in true French fashion by one of Russell’s closest friends. My sisters, both accomplished photographers, created beautiful postcards that featured our travels in Northern California and around the world.

 

Some delightful DIY ideas were also incorporated into the day.  Seventeen individual guest books (one for each table), designed by my mother, featured accordion foldouts for the guest’s thoughts and well wishes, along with delicate gold and silver foliage accents. I created ivory stickers with silver and laced hand-embossed table numbers, programs that sweetly hinted at the vines and curlicues of the guest books, creamy paper cones that held ivory rose petals, and painted pie toppers made to resemble us.

The delightful, elegant affair was designed to celebrate the natural colors and feel of the beautiful garden setting, while incorporating a certain wonderful, homemade whimsy. We selected a color palate of ivory, charcoal and muted yellow, accented with gorgeous blues and light grays, to complement the charmingly rustic building and landscape.  The food was a unique selection of California-inspired cuisine of sea bass, steak with raspberry ketchup, and couscous and grilled vegetables. Appetizers ranged from spring rolls to Monte Cristo sandwiches (ham and cheese dipped in pancake batter, deep fried, then sprinkled with powdered sugar and jam.)  Rather than the typical wedding cake, we chose to serve a wonderful array of organic pies, made with locally-grown ingredients and specially baked by Kozlaski’s Pies, located in Guerneville, California, a favorite stop of ours on our drive to Sea Ranch, where my parents live. The song for our grand entry was “At Last” by Etta James, selected to reflect our many years of dating before we decided to wed.

 

Photography | Beautiful Day Photography

Venue | The Outdoor Art Club

Coordination | I Do

Catering | All Seasons Catering

Pies | Kozlowskis Farms

Flowers | Loop Event Arts

Music | Keith Johnson All Stars

Gown | Tara Keeley from Jin Wang

Calligraphy | Rona Siegel

Hair | Katie Nash

Make Up | Patricia Igbodipe and Trina Alexander, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics