Nothing but Nature - Ahwahnee Hotel

This was such a refreshing wedding to plan and design. I would have never guessed how much fun I could have with only designing with foliage and some acorn branches. Lindsay and Santiago had a small, intimate wedding in Yosemite National Park at the Ahwahnee Hotel. The wedding party only consisted of the two of them and after the ceremony out in the meadow they gathered on the East Terrace to enjoy an outdoor luncheon. The rich greens and the natural wood vases and hints of acorns are so simple and so gorgeous to compliment the environment.

Birch Logs and Herbs

It is always so fitting to represent elements that are a reflection and compliment to the surroundings of the venue. Kate and Tyson chose The Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite for their wedding in July and they had such terrific choices for decor that was so perfect for their day. Their colors were lavender and sage so we designed with dried lavender, scabiosa, olive branches, blushing bride, astilbe, ranunculus and moss. The centerpieces were designed from birch logs that were from a tree cut down at her parents house. The guest favors were my personal favorite, Nature's Leaf which are actual leaves dipped in silver to make the perfect ornament. They used vintage Yosemite post cards for their table names and we polished off designing the cake making olive/lavender wreaths along each tier base.

Yosemite in Full Bloom

When describing my natural style choice for my designs I would categorize it as "rustic elegance" long before the rustic world took the wedding industry by storm. Shannon and Mark's wedding is the perfect example as to why. When Yosemite is your backdrop but the more formal and elegant touches of the Ahwahnee are to be blended with the nature you can't help but to fit right in between the two worlds by creating anything less. The colors they had decided to showcase for their wedding were periwinkle, creams, navy blue, antique golds and a pop of a spring green. The peonies were the most gorgeous I had ever worked with, practically the size of melons. We went with a few style centerpieces to play in to the narrow crescent shaped room of the Solarium. The tall vases were best displayed by allowing some free stems to flow in the water with river rock at the base. Surrounding was three antique mercury gold sundae cups with florals and clusters of gold mercury votives. The second style was in the rustic wood box and then 3rd was in a gilded antique gold vase.

Casey and Nicole - Yosemite in Style

I love everything about this entire wedding. Starting with the colors for an October wedding at the Ahwahnee to use the ivory, yellow and gray scheme was so elegant and complimentary to the hotel. Next are the images all captured by Emik and Yana from iDrop Photo. They were fantastic to work with and I can scan through each image over and over. To see more from Casey and Nicole's wedding you can also visit their blog. Carol with Bellissimo Brides did her perfect finger curled side swept hair and of course I melted when I saw the chunky statement piece necklace from Stella and Dot and the bridesmaids from Anthropolgie....that was the icing on the cake. Nicole was on top of her details throughout the process and was so organized with all the items she had provided. She gathered all the lanterns to line the aisle and then to use in the underlounge fireplace, her ceremony chalkboard program and all the misc bud vases we eclectically pulled together for her centerpieces. She even finished off the entire look of the tables with the spandex seat covers from Stylish Seating.