Jamie and Phil
I’m forever chasing the high of planning my own wedding- said every wedding professional out there ever. I just love design and making details come together for myself just for fun and for clients! Now I have a website, and I have a blog, so you know what…. ? I’m blogging my 2016 wedding just for kicks because I can. Our inspiration was ferns, botanical, touch of vintage mixed with modern geometric in green/black/white and copper accents- plus beer!
I’m sure there’s a few things that stand out to anyone in the industry as very “2016” (hello hexagons), but I also feel like the florals in general were timeless and classic. Our photographer knew that the florals were going to be the star and she DELIVERED on the detail shots- cannot recommend enough Meredith McKee for all your family photography needs.
During the week of the wedding, you can imagine as a bride I didn’t have the most time for floral arranging. With my design and ordering, my mom and family friend Margery completed all of the arranging out of my studio, then had additional help setting up and delivering. I am however, able to say that I foraged all of the greenery from my parent’s and grandparent’s yards, plus a whole truckload of hops from Phil’s boss’s property.
I heavily DIY’ed A LOT of elements for our wedding. I was so happy with our day and how everything turned out. With some perspective a few years later, there’s only a few choices I would have done differently, one of them definitely being the DIY signage. There’s a few that I am really proud of, and others I wish I had known about vinyl stickering- Cricuts weren’t too mainstream yet and now it seems like it would have been much more polished with more consistent style for that.
Vendors
Photographer: Meredith McKee Photography
Videographer: Unified Cinematic
Day-of Coordination: Friends of the Bride- Kelsey Alexander, Minna Jager, and Little Blue Bird Events
Florals: Styling and Design by The Copper Dahlia, assisted by Friends and Family of the Bride- Margery Subic, Hanna Skattum, Robin Erickson, Carolee and Jenny Addis
Bride’s Dress: Justin Alexander from Alicia’s Bridal (permanently closed)
Engagement Ring: Designed by the groom with Greenlake Jewlery
Hair and Make Up: Clockwork Beauty
Bridesmaid Dresses: Nordstrom
Groom’s Attire: Nordstrom
Getting Ready Suites: Pan Pacific Hotel
Transportation: A&A Limousine and Bus Service
Officiant: Matt Conrad
Venue: Sunset Bay Lodge at Ballard Elks (formerly The Ballard Bay Club)
DJ: Bamboo Beats
Cake: Donuts by Frost, Cupcakes and Cutting cake by Pinkabella Cupcakes, Lemon Blackberry Bars by the bride
Cake Topper: Let’s Top That
Head table napkin holders: Snake Twist
Catering: Jewel Hospitality (permanently closed)
Save the dates, invites, signage, escort cards, beer sampler favors, ceremony hexagon backdrop, cornhole boards, bridal and bridesmaid jewelry, cupcake stands/hexagons: made by the bride with help from the groom and family
Alice, our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel watched on during all the prep getting ready the morning of the wedding. Highly recommend keeping the ones you love close during a nervous morning!
I wanted to grab some flatlay photos of the invites and save the dates I made. The save the dates were hexagon shaped and sent in craft envelopes with assorted stamps for a vintage botanical look. On the invites I used different layers of stamping in greens and black, then used embossing on the copper colored ferns and single black fern on the center design. I hand wrote each inner envelope with an embossing pen for textured copper accent, and added a woodgrain liner to the black envelopes. I had recently read The Signature of All Things and the cover illustrations on the paperback were the inspiration.
Phil designed my ring with Greenlake Jewelry, taking inspiration from a recent trip to San Franciso. The hotel we stayed in had a view of the Marriot Marquis building, which is a fun art deco style with fan windows. He knew I loved that design and baguettes- which lead to something unique and stunning.
An addition to the bridal bouquet was a special violin pin, which my mom surprised me with the morning of.
Phil’s boutonniere was mini phalaenopsis orchids, uluhe (brown fiddlehead fern curl), hops, dianthus greens, deer ferns, lamb’s ear, and a calethea leaf.
He and the guys got ready and toasted with a few specialty brews he’d been saving for the occasion.
Finding a spot for our first look was a little tricky when we realized that the park across the street we originally had planned on was completely blocked off for an event, and the balcony at the hotel was also occupied. A contact at Amazon gave us access to one of the south lake union buildings for a very private first look in their outdoor rooftop greenspace! Unfortunately we got up there and there was a construction crane perfectly blocking the space needle view, but it was still beautiful!
I couldn’t resist re-pinning on Phil’s boutonniere ;)
The bridal hair florals were individually wired phalaenopsis orchids with some seeded eucalyptus accents.
One of the top priorities for Phil was having a wedding celebration within the Seattle limits. We eventually landed on Ballard for our venue, but knew that we wanted photos with the space needle at some point. Perfect solution for that is Kerry Park, where we stopped for a few shots of that quintessential Seattle skyline.
Bridesmaids carried bouquets of Sahara roses, white roses, tillandsia, brown cymbidium orchids, succulents, nigella pods, brown fiddle leaf fern curls, hops, seeded eucalyptus, calathea, fatsia leaves, deer fern, lamb’s ear, hanging green amaranthus, and velvet hanging ribbons in grey and champagne.
I also made all of the bridal and bridesmaid’s druzy crystal jewlery, each got to pick what to wear the day-of after receiving both a necklace and earring set to match.
The groomsmen’s boutonnieres had a single brown cymbidium orchid, deer fern, hops, calathea, and dianthus greens.
I love dog family photos at weddings. Alice wore a floral embellishment on the back of her collar/lead in white roses and greenery. Alice had a grade 4 heart murmur from her Mitral Value Disease at the time of our wedding and sadly passed within a few months of our marriage at age 7 1/2. These photos and memories of her on this special day hold such a special place in our hearts and home.
My bridal bouquet was stunning. Held at proper height it reached the ground; which you do have to consider I’m 5’2” then add 3in heel, but still. My mom did the most amazing job with the arranging and I couldn’t have been happier. Included were: white phalaenopsis, white spray roses, white roses, brown cymbidium orchids, air plants, succulents, brown fern curl fronds, variegated english ivy, hart’s tongue fern, hebe greens, seeded eucalyptus, fatsia leaves, calathea, hops, and hanging green amaranthus.
The ceremony took place outdoors on a BEAUTIFUL September 10th day. Between the sun and the palm trees you’d think we were in Hawaii. The backdrop was constructed by myself and Phil with lots of help from my dad. After our event we re-arranged the configuration of some of the hexagons and this piece now lives on the wall of our entryway in our split-level home. Consider investing some of your decor choices as home pieces which hold a special memory!
The garlands on the backdrop were a greenery base of fatsia, boxwood, evergreen clematis, laurel, and hops. Succulents, phalaenopsis orchids, dahlias, roses, and tillandsia were added in for accents. Want in on a secret? All of the tillandsia in this wedding, and the phalaenopsis orchids on the arch were all high quality faux! Sourcing them this way was a fraction of the cost and they were such good quality that you would never be able to tell.
The ceremony backdrop, as well as all the signage we stained a walnut color, and most of the sandwich board style signs we made were adorned with greenery garlands of clematis, hops, boxwood, and white floral accents.
I had asked both my and Phil’s grandmothers to be our flower girls months before the wedding, and I managed to keep it a surprise until rehearsal (which the bridal party was then sworn to secrecy). These ladies hammed it up and soaked in the spotlight, tossing petals and hops flowers into the crowd, waving, and in general being the best flower girls I could’ve asked for. I heard a collective “awww” when Alice went down the aisle escorted by my brother, but the roars of laughter when everyone saw the flower girls was great. I also loved that the configuration of this allowed each of the mothers to enter the ceremony and walk down the aisle with their own fathers again.
For the aisle, I knew that space was tight outside and it only really needed some pops to make it less concrete and railing. My dad had some big PVC cylinders from his work truck behind our garage for some time, and I used those as plant stands by cutting them in 2 different heights and using pots that just plopped right into the top of them, then sprayed the bases copper. Using them down the aisle at the entrance, against the wall for photos, and on the stairs added just enough Boston fern accent. After the ceremony they were moved throughout the reception space to provide interest against pillars, in front of the DJ table, and the stairs/entrance to some of the dinner tables.
Here we are, making vows, slipping in Star Trek references, and talking with hands. We’re married! (Side note: we play a drinking game whenever we watch our wedding video together to take a drink each time a person on a kayak or paddle board goes behind us in the water during the ceremony. It was a popular day for water recreation!)
Phil and I wanted to incorporate a beer theme into our wedding, and one of the ways we did that was with our cocktail hour/bar selections. We picked 3 of our favorite local beers and Phil wrote up some tasting notes to be placed out on the cocktail tables. Our favors (also handmade by me and Phil) were a sampler board. So if guests wanted to have “the sampler” they could grab a board and take it to the bar, where they would receive the 3 varieties. (Non-alcoholic root beer, ginger ale, and grape soda were also available in the samplers too!) At the end of the night they could take home 3 clean glasses and their board to have tastings on their own.
On the bar in the cocktail/dance area was an arrangement with smokebush foliage, boxwood greens, laurel, hops, mini phalenopsis orchid plants, and (faux) giant green and white protea.
Hanging above were 3 installations of clematis, hops, hanging green amaranthus, and white dendrobium orchids.
I had collected a variety of green glass vintage goblets for use around the cocktail hour space, and they were filled with hops, white freesia, antiqued green hydrangea, spray roses, boxwood greens, montbretia pods, and smokebush foliage.
The selfie station had a huge garland of hops and clematis greens.
We also made 2 cornhole boards for games during cocktail hour and still use them to this day!
Over in the dining area, guests were greeted by escort cards that I handwrote with embossing ink in copper accent, placed on green and sprayed copper and black succulents.
Each of our tables were named after a different variety of PNW grown hops! Phil and his groomsmen wrote me up the descriptions for the flavor profile as well as Alpha Acid percentage of each variety.
On the outer edge tables were a tall cylinder with black rock and ferns, topped with a centerpiece of white roses and dahlias, antiqued green hydrangea, seeded eucalyptus, hops, smokebush foliage, laurel, boxwood greens, sedge grass, dianthus greens, montbretia pods, and nigella pods.
The other tables had the same florals in a low cut glass vase. Each setting had a fern on their napkin.
The florals on the head table were a long and low double sided centerpiece of white denderobium orchids, brown cymbidim orchids, white roses, white dahlias, white veronica, smokebush foliage, boxwood, antiqued green hydrangea, sedge grass, pieris greens, brown fern frond curls, and mini pineapples.
The candleholders I selected for the head table were black with a copper interior and in the low light reflected so pretty with the flowers. This is also a plug to pick a “signature scent” and make that a special part of your day somehow. I am super sensitive to smells, so a whole room of it would be bonkers, but now when I burn the same vanilla candle (from Ikea) at home I’m instantly transported to sitting at this table next to Phil on the best day. These candle holders were also an investment for our home and decor memory.
The desert table set-up had various succulents, hops, and greens accents among the cupcake stands we made. The cake topper stunned with brown cymbidium orchids, white spray roses, sahara roses, hops, lamb’s ear, and hebe.
I can’t not tell you that Phil and I’s date where he asked me “to be a part of the next chapter of life with him as his girlfriend” was a trip down to Portland specifically for bacon maple bar. So of course a bacon maple bar was essential on our desert table (from Frost), and a chocolate stout cupcake (from Pinkabella) just made sense. My mom and I picked the blackberries and I baked the lemon blackberry bars as well.
Not terribly floral related, but we picked a surprise entrance song for each of our bridal party entrances that reminded us of them or a special memory from a time in our life. They were each pretty happy with the choices, and Phil and I came out to Garry Glitter - Rock and Roll Part 2 (aka “The Hey song”), because any good hockey fan should.
Aside from florals, photography, and a Seattle location, a top priority for our celebration was definitely the music. Bamboo Beats absolutely knocked it out of the park and exceeded all expectations. The timing and execution was flawless for an event, the communication ahead of time with their owner(s) was clear and genuine- I just will never stop raving about it. We had a general vibe and provided some examples of artists and styles we were hoping to have us carry through the afternoon and evening, but let me tell you that I was sitting down eating and looked over at Phil and said “What is this song?!” because a song was playing that I’d never even heard before and loved it. We danced so hard all night (as evidenced by sweaty bride hair.)
Even back in 2016, I really wanted to do-away with the bouquet toss. It just always felt like you had to drag folks to the floor to catch it and it just isn’t my favorite. We did however have a pretty fun surprise for our garter toss, so we went ahead with the bouquet anyways.
As the Imperial Death March played during the garter toss, we had a storm trooper (Phil’s full costume) come in from the back of the crowd and interrupt the search for the garter. But really I had a light saber tucked in my dress and Phil and the storm trooper had a little mini-battle. Thankfully he wasn’t injured enough to not stick around for dancing for the rest of the evening.
Special shout out to my bridesmaid Trisha who spent all day with nursing breaks and pumping and being a general bad-ass mom who stood next to me at 3-ish weeks postpartum with her second baby. Now that I’ve had 2 kids I cannot even fathom how you physically or emotionally did that for me. I feel equal parts amazed and guilty, and you deserve all the kudos in the world - I love you!
