Beautiful Vintage & Rustic Wedding (Lakeport, CA)
As told by Laurie Ann Martin: Carly & Aj were married in January on a cold winters day in a St John’s Episcopal Church with is a very old fashioned rustic church with wood rafters. They are such a stunning couple that could honestly be models! She wore an amazing dress with a very vintage fur wrap. His tux complimented the look to the tee. The bridal party was adorned with the rose-colored sequins dresses that were the in thing this year. The couple is just the sweetest and they met in high school. Love the feel of this wedding.
Location: Lakeport, CA
Event Date: January 06, 2018
Bridesmaid Dresses: Amazon
Floral Designer: Costco
Bridesmaid Dresses: Wine Country Bride
Reception Venue: Robinson’s Rancheria
Photographer: Laurie Ann Martin
Client Questionnaire
Q1: Tell us about your wedding! What was the inspiration behind your day? Did you have a specific theme, style or color palette? Did you incorporate any cultural or religious traditions in any part of your day?
A1: My inspiration was vintage glam. I wanted the classic black tux, with champagne, and deep red to give pop and drama. The deep red color was very specific to me. It had to be the color of a deep red rose, which is my favorite flower and was the only flower I used in my wedding. Classic and elegant, yet passionate and romantic with soft candlelight and red roses.
Q2: Let’s talk about wedding decor. How did you decorate your space for the ceremony and the reception? Was any part of the decor DIY?
A2: The old church I used for our ceremony was from the late 1800s, it was Episcopalian so they used red for their religious color. The runner down the aisle was red, and it had beautiful stained glass windows with old dark wood, and wooden lanterns hanging. The pews also had red on for their cushions. I didn’t think the church needed anything else other than the natural look of it. As for the reception, we had around 10 round tables. I believe the height of the centerpieces added elegance so I was fortunate to be able to borrow the tallest ones I could get of clear vases that measured around 3 or 4 feet tall with red roses on the top, with old wine corks to soak in the water below. To the centerpieces, we also added dripping jewels to spill out of the flowers and bugger for the bridal table.
Q3: What were the florals like at your wedding? Did you use flowers in any of your design elements like the bridal bouquets, centerpieces or ceremony backdrop? Did they play an important part in the overall style of your wedding?
A3: My flowers were only red roses. I didn’t want any greenery. For the wraps around each bouquet, we used a champagne ribbon with some jewels on top. I had a larger bouquet with some jewels sticking in the middle of each rose, as for my bridesmaids, they each had a smaller bouquet of roses with only a few jewels. The red rose definitely had a very big inspiration to my wedding. To me, it represents, romance and passion.
Q4: Did you personalize the day in any way (food trucks, guest entertainment, etc.)? What were some of your favorite parts of your wedding?
A4: The only other entertainment we had except for dancing, and enjoying the night, was having one of my bridesmaids and best friend, with another one of our good friends and groomsmen singing “you look perfect” by Ed Sheeran. I so enjoyed dancing with my friends and family. Watching everyone enjoy themselves makes all the stressing you stressed over worth it.
Q5: Let’s talk about fashion. How did you both choose your wedding day look? Describe the looks in detail.
A5: For the guys, I wanted the simple classic black tux. Since champagne was the colors we used that instead of white for the undershirt and the groomsmen had a black bow tie and vest, with one red rose pinned. As for Aj, the groom, he wore a champagne vest and bow tie, and his tux had pleated rims. The bridesmaids all wore champagne sequin empire-waisted dresses with black heels. It was flattering on them all. To continue the old glamor look, we went with a classic pearl strand and pearl stud earrings with their hair done in a sided up-do. Kind of a “Gatsby” look. They also had black soft fur shoulder wraps that I got them for their gifts. Their makeup, a soft eye with a dramatic black winged eyeliner a bright red lip, completed the amazing look. My dress was Allure, that I purchased from Wine County Bridal in Sonoma Co. I’ve always wanted a drop waist, with some amazing beading and jewels. I found my dream dress! Champagne in color, and jewels and beading going all the way down till the waist dropped, strapless with a sweetheart neckline and a long train. My veil had simple beading around the edges and was “waltz” length. I loved it. My hair was long and curled with some pinned back with a jeweled headpiece above the veil. My makeup was a dramatic eye with a nude lip. For jewelry, I wore some vintage large diamond studs but with all the other jewels I didn’t wear any necklaces or bracelets. I didn’t want to go overboard and I felt like it was just enough sparkle. I wore some vintage red heels with matched the red rose. My look was very special and important to me for my wedding day.
Q6: How did you meet? Tell us about the proposal.
A6: Aj and I met when we were 18 in a college class. I instantly was attracted to him but knew that some of my family wouldn’t approve. Unfortunately, I have some family members that were prejudice. Aj, being half black, I knew would cause some hard times for family acceptance, however, we couldn’t stay away from each other and before I knew it we really were best friends and started dating in May of 2014. Talking and seeing each other every day, we originally had to sneak around and meet like Romeo and Juliet. We fell in love and I knew I had to break the news, it was years of distress that followed with some family. I knew it wasn’t right and I was willing to fight for what I believed in and who I loved. I’m happy to say we did and are so happy we did, it definitely was hard but it showed some of my family what was right and true. I think from the beginning we knew we wanted to spend our lives together, although young, we knew it was real. We talked about marriage and on New Year’s Eve of what was about to be 2016, Aj invited our closest friends that were visiting from far away and had a small get together, at exactly midnight when we were all taking a picture together in front of the fireplace and he got down on one knee. We were married in Dec of 2017, never being happier.
Q7: What was the most anticipated or special moment of your wedding day?
A7: My definite favorite part of the evening was when the song I chose to walk down to (my heart will go on, by Celine Dion, on piano) came on and you have that surreal moment of about 10 seconds you realize you’ve been waiting for since you were a little girl and you’re about to meet the love of your life at the altar. I only stared at him, and him at me and that’s the most special moment.
Q8: Do you have any wedding planning or marriage advice that you’d like to share with other couples planning their day?
A8: They say it takes around a year to plan a wedding. I had 2 years being engaged but didn’t really start digging in and planning till about 5 months before, if you can, try to allow longer than that. It adds a lot more stress trying to do things last minute. Remember to allow your husband to pitch in with planning as well, as it’s his day too. If you’re anything like me it’s easy to get caught up in the moment and sometimes not consider the opinions of the ones you care about. Accept help! Ask friends to do jobs for you, that definitely cuts out some stress for you. Remember to show a lot of gratitude and thankfulness to your groomsmen and bridesmaids as being at a wedding doesn’t only cost them a lot of money, but takes up a lot of their valuable time. Also take time to show your significant other that the biggest part of the wedding is marrying them, and it’s really just about the two of you becoming one. In the end, it comes down to one day, and on that day it surprised me as to how calm and collected I was. I think in the end the realization of it all happening is honestly just a wonderful and special moment and you’re genuinely the happiest of your life.
