Marcie and Alfie's wedding weekend began with the rehearsal at Nestldown, on the Saturday morning before their Sunday wedding. Here, Marce and I survey the arrangement of the wedding party, before practicing the exit, entrance, and overview of the ceremony with everyone.
Everyone, including Marce and Alfie, seem pleased with the rehearsal, and are ready for the next event of the weekend!
After the rehearsal, Marce and Alfie had planned an afternoon of wine tasting in the Santa Cruz Mountains for 100 of their out of town guests, many of whom had never been to California, much less experienced the fun of tasting wines, in the same location where the grapes are grown and pressed.
The vans pulled away from the hotels just an hour after the rehearsal for the wine tour which would stop at 3 Santa Cruz wineries, and then take all the guests to a rehearsal dinner at an Italian restaurant in Felton.
After a good night's sleep, Marce, Alfie and about 85 of the close family members were up early to begin preparation for the family tea ceremony and brunch, which would precede the afternoon wedding.
Hair and makeup service began at 7:30am in a room set aside at the hotel; during the day over 24 people rotated through the room for hair and/or makeup.
I had been working with the staff at the Hotel Los Gatos, and Dio Deka Restaurant for several weeks, to design a customized tea ceremony arrangement, to finalize details for the brunch after the Tea Ceremony, and to set aside a location for the hair and makeup services.
I was well supported by each of the staff at the Hotel Los Gatos, and know that the smoothness of Marce and Alfie's wedding day was enhanced by the service we received there.
Alfie and Marce serve tea to Marce's parents in the time honored way of showing respect and gratefulness to close family members by the couple who are beginning their married life together.
Marce and Alfie wore beautiful traditional Chinese outfits, as another way to show respect and appreciation for the culture and traditions of their beloved families. As Marce and Alfie are both "only children", thus the one wedding either family will be blessed to celebrate, there were many tears of happiness from all participants, including the bride and groom.Following the tea ceremony, Alfie and Marce hosted the family and guests to a lovely brunch at the hotel; after eating brunch themselves, Marce and Alfie excused themselves to change out of their traditional Chinese clothing, for the drive to Nestldown, where Marce would put on her wedding gown, and meet Alfie for photos.
At this point I also headed out to Nestldown to check on the set up for the wedding day, my final step to coordinate in this full wedding weekend!
First the ceremony site, check!
Then the barn, in process, check!
The cake had been delivered and set up in the proper location, check!
For 10 months, in tandem with my "logistics" planning for this amazing wedding celebration, Gloria Tritasivit, a wedding designer and owner of Sash and Sugar, had been working with Marce and Alfie to incorporate Marce and Alfie's favorite pastimes...reading great books, and enjoying tea together..into the theme and ambiance of the wedding day. I had Gloria's layout with me, so as I walked the grounds at Nestldown, I began to see and enjoy all the fruit of her design development.
Outside, the guest sign-in table, which was a display of books, tea things, jewels, and antique boxes holding paper for the guests to write personal notes to the bride and groom, was guest ready...check!
Escort card boards, with personalized tea bags for each guest, denoting their table assignment (the tables, of course, were named after various kinds of tea), were set up on the way in into dinner. Check!
The 17 "queen" sized tables, being set up on the lawn, suggesting the elegance and beauty of a lovely tea party. Check!
And at this point, I became quite busy making sure that the guests were welcomed, directed to the ceremony site, and that the bride, groom, bridal party and family members were in place for the ceremony to begin, which I am pleased to say, started promptly as scheduled, at 3:30pm!
I will rely on the photographer for the further images of the wedding day, beyond the set up; but I know the wedding was a success because, as we moved through all aspects of the wedding day, Marce and Alfie kept remarking excitedly, that the day was like a dream come true!
So the preparation, planning, and care that went into creating the warmth and personalization of Marce and Alfie's wedding were all worth it; after a full and rich wedding celebration, spanning an entire weekend, hosting guests from around the world, Alfie and Marce left for their honeymoon, knowing they had created blessed memories, which would stay with their families and guest for years to come.
Many thanks to Marce and Alfie's amazing wedding team, which included:
Pre wedding:
Wine tour: www.thesantacruzexperience.com, Tea Ceremony/Brunch: www.diodeka.com, Hotel accommodations: www.hotellosgatos.com, www.tollhousehotel.com, Hair and makeup: www.wowpretty.com, Transportation: www.thesantacruzexperience.com, and www.lonestartransportation.com
Wedding:
Caterer: www.lepapillon.com, Flowers: www.wiggyflowers.com, Photography/Videography:www.xsightusa.com, Lighting/Draping: www.elle-music.com, Officiant: www.ministermaggie.com, Cake: www.edithmeyer.com, Design: Gloria Tritasavit, www.sashandsugar.com, Ceremony/cocktail music: An Elegant Touch of Strings, DJ: Rise Above Productions
