Anna and Etan had chosen Thomas Fogarty Winery for their wedding – a spectacular venue with endless views over all of Silicon Valley right to the San Francisco skyline – and brought my company, A Day Like No Other, on board to plan everything else – from vendor sourcing to design, ceremony planning to wedding day schedule. Our many months of planning time literally flew by, and on the first weekend of September, Wedding Day was upon us.
Anna and her bridesmaids got ready at the Garden Court Hotel in Palo Alto where Felicia Chang of Bun Bun Bridal Lab had set up a veritable beauty lounge.
The girls REALLY had fun together… see here!
Then it was time for the bride to transfer to her wedding venue in style – we had reserved a stretch limousine from Le Grande Affaire – and to get into her dress…
… a delicate, diaphanous, lace-encrusted stunner!
Matching the blue-and-silver color scheme, Anna had chosen shimmering silver wedding shoes. Here are the rings….
… and the beautiful bouquets for bride and bridesmaids (by Marie Krick of Laurel & Vine)..
And here is the happy bride…
Groom Etan was also getting ready…
… and he and his groomsmen were outfitted with boutonnieres matching the bridal flowers.
Time was flying by, and guests began arriving (via shuttle by Destination Systems). Harpist Erica Messer began to play traditional wedding ceremony music.
Officiant Chris Thielen (of Personal Weddings by Chris) and groom Etan were awaiting bride Anna as she was escorted in by her proud Dad.
The arch was decorated with ivory roses and baby-blue hydrangeas, and the aisle was covered with ivory rose petals (all floral decor by Marie Krick of Laurel & Vine).
After the ceremony, it was time for many, many photos of the couple and their friends and family members …
… photographer extraordinaire Danny Dong and videographer Martin Meyer (of martinFILMS) captured it all …
… while guests were enjoying cocktails and my team and the team of Toast Catering put finishing touches on the dinner setup (with chairs, linens and elegant tabletop items by Hensley Event Resources, design by A Day Like No Other).
It all turned out exactly as bride Anna had envisioned it – until the weather threw us a curveball: a freak storm forced us to move dinner inside, and the catering team, onsite coordinator Kaitlin Brinton, my assistants Chrissy Wolfman and Stephanie Hui and myself, and even our DJ scrambled to carry everything inside. Incredible but true: it was all done in a mere twenty minutes, and guests could sit down in warmth and comfort to a delicious meal by Toast Catering. The rest of the evening progressed smoothly, including cutting the breathtakingly elegant (and super delicious!) wedding cake (by Cake Coquette).
The remainder of the festivities was dedicated to dancing to the rousing tunes of DJ Woody Miraglia of BIG FUN Disc Jockeys …
… and the newlyweds just snuck out for a moment to take photos with sparklers, despite the howling storm…
A stunning vintage limousine (from Elegant Journey Limousine Service, chauffeured by owner George Rose himself) whisked the newlyweds away for their First Night.
What a celebration!
See it on film: https://www.martinfilms.com/etan-anna