Pretty in Peony at Rancho Valencia Resort

February 9, 2017 Alyssa McNees

Kelsey and Faryar were married in a beautiful ceremony at Rancho Valencia, coordinated by Suzanne Duffy of Crown Weddings, with an elegant classical style perfect for the venue. Kelsey is a woman of refined tastes, who knew going in just what she wanted. The most important aspect of the wedding to Kelsey was flowers, and her favorite, the one she most wanted to have, was the coral peony seen throughout the classical arrangements reminiscent of Victorian era floral design.

Kelsey wanted a dreamy, blissful feel for her wedding. Suzanne helped her with every aspect of her vision, perfectly integrating it with the landscape and architecture of the resort, which lent just the right touch of natural elegance and old world charm to frame the event.

The ceremony featured beautiful arrangements in Victorian plaster urns on pedestals to adorn the aisle entrance. The trellis was laden with peonies, garden roses, and dahlias, interspersed with tendrils of jasmine vine and whimsical butterfly bush blooms to lend a natural garden feel. The bouquets were of luxurious ruffled peonies and Juliette garden roses collared in soft dusty miller all wrapped in fine silk ribbons.

Suzanne chose lovely linens from La Tavola Linens, as a pallet for arrangements of garden roses touched with ranunculus for luxurious compositions striking just the right balance between structured and loose design set amidst glowing candle light in filigreed hurricane lanterns. The reception was covered by wisps of streaming tent swags to give an airy feel to the celebration.

We strove ardently to get these beautiful photos from Marissa Holms Photography, because they so vividly capture the superb look and feel of this lovely affair which everyone worked so hard to accomplish. We truly consider it a stunning success, which we are proud to say became part of a four page spread of our work in the 2016 issue of Ceremony Magazine.

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Want more Pretty in Peony?

Wedding Coorinator: Crown Weddings. Photography: Marissa Holmes. Venue: Rancho Valencia. Linens: La Tavola Linens. Tent: Classic Party Rentals. Cake: Hey There Cupcake. Officiant: Scott Milnes. Hair: and Makeup: A New Twist. Dj: Dashing Events. Guitarist: Kurt Hunter.Video: XOXO Video. Stationary: Brightly Designed.

HOTEL DEL WEDDING: UNDER THE NIGHT SKY

January 8, 2015 LaVonne Crawford

There is that moment of twilight after the sun has long set and the night sky turns to dusk. This is when Christina and Sean said, “I do.”

Set beachfront outside of the legendary Hotel Del Coronado, with the glowing iconic turrets as part of their scene, Christina and Sean had the romantic setting that Christina had always dreamed of.

When I had first met with the beautiful bride-to-be to talk about her wedding décor, she had brought with her an inspiration board from a summer wedding she wanted to recreate with large dinner plate dahlias as the basis of the floral palette. Being that her wedding was a pre-winter affair in November, we had to tailor the plan to include seasonal flowers that could give the same grandiose effect and opted for large china mums to take the place perfectly. David Austin garden roses dominated the design with natural foliage that lent a handpicked styling, with subtle hints of metallic gold. Queen Anne’s lace, maidenhair fern, and white veronica imbued movement, peaking amongst the garden roses. We were able to weave in smaller varieties of dahlias to keep the bride’s original vision at play, but let the china mums do their job to emphasize the scale.

Our favorite design element in Christina and Sean’s wedding was the crochet chuppah that added such unexpected personality to the décor. With nightfall, the chuppah illuminated in ambient lighting that complemented The Del’s iconic radiance making this one unique and gorgeous celebration.

VENDOR: Photography: Pam Scott Photography. Location: Hotel Del Coronado. Coordination & Styling: Monarch Weddings. Floral Design: Adorations Botanical Artistry. Rentals: Concepts Event Design. Linens: La Tavola. Lighting: San Diego Events Lighting. Menus: Whimsique Invitations & Stationery.

Begum & Michael’s San Diego Wedding

October 14, 2014 LaVonne Crawford

Pistachio and pale peach – what a delightful color palette to inspire this lovely al-fresco wedding overlooking the harbor in San Diego.

Begum and Michael had the gorgeous So-Cal skies as a backdrop for their nuptials, held at Harbor Island Park. Their candy-sorbet color palette may have been the focal point for our décor scheme, but these two lovebirds couldn’t be anymore sweeter in love. Coming from different religious backgrounds, their wedding day was such a perfect blend of tradition and romance, making our job easy breezy to make this pair shine on the big day.

Working alongside my friend and collaborator, Thomas Bui Lifestyle, we created their ceremony décor to focus on the stunning chuppa. The soft-pleated fabric Concepts Event Design draped perfectly to imbue lots of movement from the placement of our florals and the gentle wind off the Pacific. We twirled tulips, garden roses, orchids, hydrangea, and dahlias in abundance and added lisianthus and scabiosa for a rich botanical texture. Orchids cascading down the back of the arbor were threaded with crystals to add that extra glimmer of sparkle.

Guiding the eye down the aisle were four magnificent arrangements interweaving our floral palette, echoing the sentiments of the chuppa design. After the momentous “breaking of the glass,” guests mingled in the fabric-swaged open-air tent, set with similar florals in varying sizes, some wrapped in custom vessels with gold accents.

And while we must save the best for last… our favorite floral feature from Begum and Michael’s stunning wedding day design was the custom floral “bumper” that decorated their vintage Rolls. “Just Married” never looked so good. Way to stay seriously classy in San Diego!