All you need is love...

As a reminder of her grandfather who worked for the Chrysler Auto company in the 1930's, Jennie chose a classic Plymouth to transport her with her father from Gamble Gardens, where pre-ceremony photos were taken, to St. Thomas Aquinas Church for the ceremony, and then from the ceremony with  Andrew to the reception.

When I first met with Jennie almost a year ago, she cried tears of joy as she described her relationship with Andrew, and the romantic vision she had for her wedding celebration this June.  All of her ideas became reality this past weekend as she and Andrew, along with their 200+  family and guests proved that "all you need is love"  as the beginning point to create a very personal and extremely joyful wedding day.

The guest book was made up of photos from Jennie and Andrew's engagement session; throughout the evening family and guests enjoyed writing notes around the romantic images.

The escort cards surrounded a silver tray which belonged to Jennie's grandmother, and the Happily Every After sign which will welcome guests in to the home of Jennie and Andrew from this day forward.

As a part of each guest's place setting was a custom-wrapped candy bar with the welcoming note attached:  "A Sweet Thank You for coming, Jennie and Andrew."

The reception florals were elegant and romantic, incorporating hundreds of fluffy white peonies, one of my all time favorite flowers, which are most plentiful and huge during this month of June.  As a gardener I especially appreciate the perfection of a peony and know how difficult they can be to cultivate.

  I wish I could also share the soft and yummy scent of this peony, but you will have to find one in the florist shops or at a local garden, and sniff for yourself! 

My photo of the center of one of the peonies shows the abundance of ruffled petals which combine for an ethereal and soft cloud-like effect....as Jennie agreed, the look was very, very romantic!

  This bloom when it was fully open at the end of the evening was 9 inches in diameter...I was so impressed that I actually measured it!

 

While Jennie, Andrew and their guests were inside enjoying the delicious dinner, the sunset was providing a blaze of color as the backdrop to the grounds at Menlo Circus Club.  Again, all you need is love, but the beauty of a summer evening underscores the beauty of the moment and creates memories to be treasured by the romantic couple for years to come.

When the guests came outside after dinner as the dancing began, there was a fire prepared for roasting marshmallows and creating s'mores with the chocolate, graham crackers and skewers provided alongside the marshmallows.  What do you think the sign said at the s'more station?  "Smore Love" of course!

And inside, the dancing went on for hours, with all ages and generations joining Jennie and Andrew in the celebration that stated over and over that..."All you need is love, and  love is ALL YOU NEED!" 

It was a joy to be a part of Jennie and Andrew's wedding planning and of course the celebration itself.  What made the entire wedding day run so perfectly was the amazing team of wedding professionals working alongside me; each one of us was fully committed to supporting Jennie and Andrew, and working together to create a wedding which was even more wonderful than they had imagined.  From the comments by Jennie and Andrew at the end of the evening, I think we accomplished that goal!

Huge thank yous to:  
Menlo Circus Club in Menlo Park
Barbara Brooks and the MCC catering team 

Vero Suh, Photography
Florabella, Floral Design
Major Diamond Productions, Videography

Raffi Nalvarian, Sound in Motion, DJ
Margaret's French Bakery, Wedding Cake
Selya Medford, Make up
JBeautique, Hair Styling
El Paseo Limousine, Transportation
And  many thanks to my stellar day-of team:
Tony White
Jutta Lammerts
Elka Goldstein