Ciao Bella Weddings: May 2014

From the moment Barrie first called me regarding her wedding design, I knew this was going to be an amazing experience. I was in immediate awe of her calming and ethereal nature. She has the most gracious spirit and that made this entire design process that much more enjoyable. When I met Rod, I knew that these two were meant for each other. He was such a cool, laid back, go with the flow kind of guy with an amazing attention to detail. Initially describing themselves as "water people", (Rod's a surfer and Barrie lived in California for some time), Barrie wanted to create a very fun and classy atmosphere with a modern, "beachy" feel. Hence a design that brought the beach indoors, 28 stories high at the Peachtree Club, overlooking Atlanta's picturesque skyline.

Silver chiavari chairs were placed in a pseudo - circle pattern on the outdoor terrace, creating an intimate vow exchange with Barrie and Rod literally surrounded by all their family and friends. Draping accents were added to the exterior and overhead to soften the space.

Just 15 minutes before this image was taken, there was a torrential amount of rain! It stopped just in time for their ceremony!

Directly above where the couple stood, was a lush chandelier floral treatment of hydrangeas, roses, and orchids.

Isn't this an amazing shot of Hans, the DJ!

As guests entered the club, an elevated arrangement of sandblasted manzanita trees, Phalenopsis olrchids, garden roses, tulips, and calla lilies under a regal chandelier, greeted them.

Guests stopped to give their well wishes on a custom surfboard with the couple's initials!

After cocktail hour, the guests were escorted into the main dining room for an elegant beach inspired reception. The guest tables were placed in a chevron style pattern, while the bridal party was seated at a traditional head table. A color palette of aqua, seafoam, turquoise, and silver was the perfect combination to accent this amazing space!

To add dimension to the overall design, the guest tables featured three different style centerpieces. Including lush low arrangement of hydrangeas, garden roses, cymbidium orchids, and lilies arranged in a silver mercury pedestal vase, sandblasted manzanita branches accented with white Phalenopsis orchids, and illuminated silver lanterns accented with floral arrangement in turquoise mercury glass vessels. The tabletops were accented with mercury glass candle holder and aqua floating candles!

Each place setting was accented with a lotus flower folded napkin with the couple initial in the middle of the flower!

The cake was absolutely unbelievable. A three-tiered texture, ombre confection to die for with sugar jellyfish detail to boot! The couple's cake topper was custom made by a talented vendor on Etsy. A depiction of Rod holding Barrie while on a surfboard headed with their dog Teddy, couldn't have been any cuter!

Because of the impending rain, all of the rest of the night's activities were pulled inside. That was such a bummer, but we had to incorporate the couple's custom light bar somehow. And that we did!