A Watters Wtoo Bride for a Black Tie and Nature Inspired Wedding In California

We don’t feature too many weddings from across the pond but when we do they’re pretty fabulous. College sweethearts Patty, an optometrist, and Alfred, a security analyst in cyber security tied the knot at The Colony House in Anaheim, California on the 27th of August 2016.

They chose the venue for its industrial chic vibe with modern accents and the perfect indoor/outdoor feel. There is a wall of plants, a lovely natural fresh feel and the bride’s family are in the flower business so the floral décor is completely on point. James of Perpixel Photography has captured this elegant wedding and the couple’s adorable first look beautifully and film maker Andrea David created this beautiful film. Enjoy!

Film by Andrea David

“I’m really into the mid century modern/minimalist style and wanted a really romantic vibe to the space so that resulted in lots of leaves and candles with simple lighting. My parents are in the orchid business so we had an amazing floral designer incorporate orchids in a non-tropical way. We had a civil union. Our parents both come from a Chinese culture so an American style wedding was something extraordinarily new to them and they were great.”

Photography by Perpixel Photography

Photography was very important to the couple. They knew that James of Perpixel Photography would be up to the task of keeping their very large wedding party in check. Patty and Alfred also did a first look before the ceremony and the images are some of my favourites, their excitement is absolutely palpable.

“James was amazing. He knew exactly how to direct everyone in the nicest, most effective manner; never made us feel awkward, and has an amazing vision. He is so talented! I especially loved how good he was with my large bridal party of eight bridesmaids and eight groomsmen.”

Patty is a vision of elegance in her gorgeous Wtoo by Watters dress from The White Dress in California.

“I loved the simple beauty to the dress. There’s no bells and whistles to it, which matches my personality. It has the most stunning flow, while just walking normally and the low key train falls beautifully on the floor.”

The bride added a delicate fingertip length veil with lace trim and a hairpiece from Gallagher’s Boutique, ordered from London.

Her gorgeous shoes are by Badgley Mishka from Nordstrom and she wore her usual Nectarine Blossom and Honey perfume by Jo Malone.

I think you’ll agree that Patty’s bridesmaid’s look divine in their soft blush dresses from ASOS. They all chose shoes they were comfortable in and Patty gave them a House of Harlow bracelet.

The flower girls donned sweet white dresses from LA’s Fashion District.

“James and I met in college through mutual friends. They always tried to set us up but we were very strictly just friends for a while. They would sing ‘Can you Feel the Love Tonight’ behind us whenever we walked together.”

“Somewhere along the way, it all paid off as in 2008 we started dating and never looked back. Alfred proposed in a beautiful quiet park and had my close friends and family come to celebrate with a picnic afterwards. I hate being embarrassed in any way so I didn’t want a very public engagement – we tied the knot nine months later.”

The groom opted for a black tie tuxedo suit and his groomsmen wore light grey with a contrasting black tie and funky socks from The Tie Bar.

 

Patty and Alfred worked with Toni Andrade of TBA Creative to add flowers and greenery to the venue.

“We used lots of eucalyptus leaves and white orchids, white anemones and white roses for a romantic environment. My parents are one of the main distributors of orchids in Southern California so I knew I wanted to incorporate as many orchids as I could in the wedding.”

“Orchids are typically more of a tropical flower and I wanted to steer clear of that kind of look so my floral designer did an amazing job tying in as many orchids as we could while still keeping with the romantic feel that I wanted.”

“She lined the aisle with eucalyptus leaves, orchids, and candles and we had the flower girls throw white and light pink orchids instead of rose petals. We also had beautiful garlands for the long wooden tables with a small splash of a dusty pink.

I grew up around fresh flowers my whole life so flowers really were key in our wedding décor.”

“My father accompanied me down the aisle. My dad and mom walked down first and he double backed to get me. We walked to ‘The Winner Is’ by Devotchka from the film ‘Little Miss Sunshine’, it is beautiful, sweet, and cute all at the same time. We worked with our officiant who was a long time friend of ours to tailor our vows.”

“We chose ‘Union’ by Robert Fulghum as a reading because as cliché as it may sound, it really depicts our journey together. We dated for 8 years, essentially growing up together through our most pivotal years of personal growth. We went through the somewhat awkward teenage years together, and through the years where we became more comfortable in our own individual skin.

We helped each other all along the way and grew into becoming better citizens together.”

“I am super embarrassed by this but I actually forgot my bouquet walking down the aisle – yes, my gorgeous, big, amazing bouquet (and I mentioned earlier, my family makes a living by selling flowers, so it was a huge embarrassment).”

“I was so nervous in my head I thought; ‘got my veil, got my dad, good to go!’ Other than that (which actually nobody noticed until I brought it up), I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“Alfred is a huge NBA basketball fan so we used team logos for the tables. We gave Boba milk tea from Ten Ren’s Tea Time served in to-go cups personalized with our monogram as favours.”

“We wanted a simply beautiful environment that didn’t appear overdone. We did incorporate some hanging wall details with photos of us and I also made large paper flowers to decorate behind the welcome table.”

“The Colony House already has beautiful pieces worked into the venue and large wooden panels that can be moved and decorated so we were able to use those as a backdrop to our sweetheart table decorated with eucalyptus leaves.”

The couple chose a beautiful white tiered ‘Tres Leches’ cake from La Ideal Bakery, their local Mexican bakery. Toni Andrade decorated it with a waterfall of pastel blooms and greenery.

‘Thinking Out Loud’ by Ed Sheeran is one of Alfred’s favourite songs based merely off the sound and I love the lyrics so we chose that for our first dance. We didn’t give it a lot of thought after that.”

“I woke up the next morning and wanted to repeat the entire day (I even sent a  to my coordinator saying ‘same time today’). If I had to choose one favourite part of the day, it would have to be the dinner reception.

The food was absolutely amazing (and I actually did eat a lot), we got to see and chat with everyone as we made our rounds, and we got to dance the night away. It was the funnest time of my life.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“List the top three things that are most important to you and don’t skimp on the costs. It will be worth it. I wanted a specific photographer and despite being more expensive than I wanted, I have absolutely no regrets – he made the entire day feel so comfortable and fun, had great direction for everyone and an amazing vision. Talent is priceless.

Another tip is to have an on the day coordinator so you don’t have to worry about any of your vendors (when they arrive, what they need, where to put anything), bringing anything to the venue on the day of, or worrying about the timing of anything.”

“I’m someone who is fickle and sometimes can’t make up my mind on the spot because I want everyone to be happy – my wedding coordinator took all that daunting responsibility from us and we were able to simply enjoy the day and have fun.”

Thank you so much Patty and Alfred. Your beautiful wedding has been a pleasure to share. Our gratitude also to James of Perpixel Photography for the gorgeous images. We do have a thread of American weddings featured on the blog, do have a gander if you have enjoyed this one.

Love Caoimhe xx