Tess & Peter | Luxurious Garden Wedding in Los Angeles
One of the most popular weddings I’ve ever featured was photographed by Amy & Stuart, so I’m thrilled to have them back on Snippet & Ink today. Tons of beautiful details, and an exceedingly happy bride and groom – and of course beautiful photos by Amy & Stuart…
The couple on their venue choice: As soon as we saw the house, we were in love with it. We watched a VHS tape of the owner’s daughter’s wedding, held in the backyard, and could feel how much their home meant to them – we’re so appreciative that they let us have our wedding there, and we hope that it adds to the history of the house. It will always be a very special place to us. We loved the view, but didn’t know how spectacular that would end up being: completely coincidentally, fireworks started going off on the skyline while we were having our first dance! Something about that place just seemed magical.
Advice from the bride and groom, “Both our photographers and wedding planners told us to take a few minutes by ourselves after the vows, and I’m so happy we did that. It’s nice to have a glass of champagne with the person who you just married before you have to go back downstairs. Or two glasses. Definitely two glasses.”
The menu included regional favorites from New Orleans, the groom’s hometown, such as chicken and andouille gumbo, oyster po’ boys, fried buttermilk chicken and waffles with maple syrup, and crawfish étouffée.
What inspired you when you were planning your wedding? Peter is from New Orleans and Tess’s family is from New England, so we wanted to represent our families and hometowns (luckily, New Orleans and New England have awesome food, so that part was easy). We’re both bookworms, and Tess is a writer, so we had a vintage typewriter for our guests to tap out messages and slipped our table assignments in used books. We wanted a vintage, unfussy atmosphere so that our guests could relax and be themselves: no uniform white tablecloths, no super-formal dress code. We were going for “unique” over “fancy,” and I think our guests appreciated that.
What was your favorite moment or part of the day? Besides the surprise fireworks? Definitely running under sparklers held by our guests and getting into our ride to the after party. There’s a photo of us with glasses of champagne, sitting in the car with our friends and families cheering us on – it was such a touching and wonderful thing to be supported by the most important people in our lives, and that was the moment where I think everything hit us. It’s a tough call, though, because the whole day (and night!) was filled with so much love. We felt really, really lucky.
Did you include any traditions in your wedding? Instead of traditions, we included our dog. I forgot to wear a blue garter, so that rhyming tradition was out the window. I also forgot to throw my bouquet, and carried it around with me all night (I was happy to have it later, it sat in a Mason jar on my desk for a week). I did wear the earrings my mother wore on her wedding day, and since both of our sets of parents were married on Labor Day weekend, that was when Peter proposed.
What was the best advice you received as a bride? What advice do you have for other brides? Another good piece of advice given to me was to chill out, which is almost always good advice: nothing was going to ruin the day. My only advice: if you’re on the fence about getting a wedding planner, get one (ours will be friends for life – they were amazing). Also: ditch your shoes before you hit the dance floor.
Is there anything else that helps tell the story of the day? We high-fived a lot: with parents, guests in the under-six age range, each other, the dog, everybody. I think I walked around for most of the event with my right hand positioned to take or dole out fives. We may not have figured out how to cue for toasts or remembered the garter, but we had a truly awesome wedding because everyone was having such a good time. I think we just got lucky: the people who worked on our wedding day, really cared about us and gave us something very special. Our families and friends couldn’t have been more supportive, or better people to clink glasses with. It just makes your hand float into the high-five position, that kind of stuff.
what a smiley bride! love this wedding
This wedding is so gorgeous! I can’t get over how sweet and elegant and personal every little detail is, and the bride and groom look so happy. :)
One of the most beautiful weddings I’ve seen in a long, long time!!!
Beautiful! Where is the Bel Air estate?
It’s a private estate located in Bel Air, Los Angeles. It can be rented through The Location Connection (link in the post above).
Beautiful wedding! This looks like the house in Beaches…
Excellent entertainment choice!
gorgeous bride. love everything about this one!
anthuriums!!! beautiful flowers kate.
Utterly beautiful! Love this wedding!
ohh, she is super adorable! And the flowers are beautiful!
Beautiful setting! Stunning flowers!
First off, I love your blog and your inspiration boards!
Next, this wedding is amazing and the bride is stunning. It looks like the perfect setting to have a wedding so effortless and fresh! Thanks for sharing.
Dianne
any info on the dress??? it’s amaaaaazing!!
These comments are so touching! Thank you all for being so kind about our wedding :)
The dress is Sarah Seven…ordering from her and getting the dress wasn’t the easiest process, so use caution if you go with one of her designs. It did end up being very pretty, though — and three cheers for flowy dresses that leave room for lots of cake and catering!
Thanks again for all the sweet comments, they really mean a lot.
Loved hearing the Bride’s description about the day–what a cutie!:)
What a beautiful wedding. I love the shot of the bride laughing at the altar. And also – yeah for flowy dresses!
Three cheers for the sparklers! So much more fun than rice–awesome idea!
Tess was the most amazing bride! Peter – the groom too sweet for words. It was a wonderful wedding to be a small part of. Lots of love hugs and smiles flowing!!! Wish we could do it all over.
The details are absolutely amazing!
xo
http://www.PlumPrettySugar.blogspot.com
Truly a fabulous venue…so perfect for the style of this happy couple! And their wedding cake is so pretty!
Love this wedding and how comfortable, but elegant it is! The outdoor seating is amazing and I can imagine how cared-for the guests must have felt! Congrats!
I can’t get over this wedding, breathtaking!
Beautiful venue, lovely decor, amazing flowers!
What a stunning wedding.
Love these photos! This wedding is so gorgeous! Especially that mansion and the beautiful flowers!
Congrats!
Obsessed with this wedding. The bride is gorgeous, her bouquet is fantastic, and I love the seat assignments in the books. I have never seen that before. I also love that I would never have known this wedding was in LA (in a really good way!). so well done by all!
So in love with the styling of this wedding. Just gorgeous!