For the past couple of years, I have been working with an amazing group of wedding professionals called Interlaced Events. When one of our own family members is having a wedding, we all jumped on board to help them out. Claudia’s niece Jessica was finally marrying her boyfriend Austen. After all, they already had one beautiful little girl, Riley, and another one on the way. They wanted to have a simple and intimate ceremony with only select friends and family members present and a bigger reception for everyone else. Originally, they were going to hold a simple courthouse ceremony and a backyard party at Jessica’s parents’ house. As the guest list grew, however, a new venue was going to be needed. The Westridge Clubhouse turned out to be the ideal location for this special day.
However, because the guest count had gone up, Jessica, Austen, their families, and our team needed to put our collective heads together to solve some of the challenges we were facing. Number one…the clubhouse could not hold that many guests indoors. It did have a long but narrow courtyard just on the side of the clubroom. We used some long tables (and a few heat lamps), which were provided by Elegant Event Rentals and beautifully decorated by our Wedding Planner Amaris Clare and Florist A Secret Garden. With some strategically placed up lights by me, the courtyard was transformed into a spectacular dining room. At 3:30pm, with about 20 specially invited guests present, Jessica and Austen said “I Do” at the far end of that courtyard.
About an hour later, the rest of the guests started to arrive. They were treated to an amazing buffet, heartfelt speeches, and the most unique method of table visiting I have seen in a while. Since the tables were set-up in two long rows, and Jessica and Austen wanted photos with their guests, Claudia and Maria from Summer-Swan Photography grabbed some photo booth props out of their cars and set-up a “Photo Station” in front of the wedding backdrop. Each table made their way up to them and posed for a silly photo with the bride and groom.
As the sun started to set, the guests were invited inside the clubhouse for the remainder of the party. About an hour into the party, the magic moment everyone was waiting for was ready to happen. You see, their cake cutting was no ordinary event…it was a gender-reveal for their expected baby. Only the doctor and the baker knew the color of the cake underneath all that frosting. As a very nervous Jessica and Austen took hold of the knife, the entire crowd rushed close to see. Too close actually as we had to ask them to back away a few steps so our photographers could set-up the shot. As Jessica and Austen cut into their cake, Jessica immediately began to cry and Austen raised his arms up in victory. “IT’S A BOY” they shouted and the room erupted into applause, hugs, kisses, and tears of joy.
The rest of the night was an absolute blur of emotion, dancing, congratulatory photos, some fun formalities, and an amazing send off. It was an absolute pleasure working with Jessica and Austen, as well as the entire Interlaced Events team, to pull off this spectacular evening.
Dave’s recommended vendors from this wedding included: (The Interlaced Events Team)
- Amaris Clare, LTD (Event Planning) – amarisclare@yahoo.com
- Summer-Swan Photography – www.summerswanphotography.com
- A Secret Garden Florist – www.asecretgardenflowershop.com
Elegant Event Rentals – eleganteventrental@gmail.com