What a better way to start the week than with a look into a romantic wedding set at the gorgeous St. Regis Resort  in Monarch Beach, California.  Melting over the plush flower arrangements, a phenomenal dove release, and lavish gifts for the guests, this wedding stops me in my tracks. I can not get over all the fabulous details of this wedding!  Effortlessly planned and designed by Scott Corridan, where modern meets vintage with hint of romance, this wedding has me head over heels. A perfect romantic affair!

Paul Barnett Photography captures all the love and sweetness of this wedding. If you are a hopeless romantic like I am, then you will absolutely love the images.

Words from the gorgeous bride…

We chose the St Regis after touring 20-30 venues from Santa Barbara to San Diego. I had a long checklist, and the St Regis came the closest to meeting it. After 10 months of planning, 7 trips to the venue, and of course our weekend of events, we were thrilled with our choice. The location was stunning, the food was excellent, and the service was unbeatable!

We had 85 guests, most of which traveled from Canada. They were greeted at their accomodations with a welcome package from Mark and I which included a hand written note,  a timeline for the weekend, a list of things to do in the area, cookies from a local bakery called Three Hearts Bake Shop (which people are STILL talking about), and a few goodies to remember the event including personalized m&m’s, wine charms, and some SPF lotion to protect from that hot California sun. We chose not to do traditional wedding favors.

We chose Tiffany blue, white, and pearl white as our wedding colors. And they came together beautifully. I guess if you had to give our wedding a theme it would considered modern traditional vintage romance.

We were married on July 7th at 6 o’clock on the evening in the botanical gardens. The night before the wedding our guests enjoyed a cocktail party, and the morning after, a one of a kind St. Regis brunch. Our ceremony was short. About 30 minutes. As guests left the ceremony, they were greeted by wait staff with champagne, and escorted to the botanical lawn where they enjoyed a cocktail hour, as we took our photos. Dinner started at 8, and the night concluded around 2am. We did not want to have any gaps in the day for guests left with nothing to do. So it transitioned smoothly from beginning to end.

We had many surprises for our guests including a 1962 white rolls Royce, a string quartet including a harpist, hand written vows, tears of joy tissues, sandalwood fans, a dove release, tray passed pashminas for the ladies, and cigars for the gentleman, a dress change, choreographed first dance, white Havaianas for dancing, and a shuttle ride home to prevent drinking and driving.

We also had certain touches that only had meaning to some. We had a candle memorial for all our relatives that had passed. It was just a small glass cylinder filled with water, and a candle, with the names of our relatives engraved. If you didn’t know about it, you probably wouldn’t have even noticed it. Each guests menu also had their name printed on it, and the kids menus had pictures and activities for coloring, complete with crayons.

I was very specific about everything at our wedding, including the food. I insisted that all of the food including the salad be stacked. Guests also enjoyed a variety of tray passed hors deovres during cocktail hour. Dinner began with a caprese salad with olive tapenade, followed by a crab cake appetizer. The main course was a choice of Barmundi Sea Bass, Parmesan and Mustard crusted Chicken, or a Petite Filet. All mains were served stacked with honey glazed carrots, broccoli, spinach, potato gratin, and a jumbo prawn. We concluded dinner with champagne, and a desert of a handmade edible white & milk chocolate bowl filled with vanilla bean ice cream, an assortment of seasonal berries, and a raspberry purée. Topped with a caramel peanut brittle.

Our cake was a 3 tier round cake with plain white fondant. Each tier was separated by a floral insert. What was unique about it was that only a small portion  of the cake was actually cake. The rest was a form covered in fondant. We wanted a cake to display, and to do the traditional cutting of the cake, but didn’t want to serve cake to our guests, or waste the cake.

Our florals were one of the biggest line items in our budget. I wanted flowers everywhere!!!! My bouquet was so heavy I could barely carry it, but it was so amazing! We used 3 species of orchids, hydrangea, lilies, roses, and calla lilies, all white, with hints of summer green. We had pommodor balls lining the aisle, and well as scrolls of petals. All the guests tossed petals during our recessional. And the gazebo was covered in arrangements as well. Each guests place setting had a single orchid bloom tucked into their napkin, many of which ended up in the hair of our female guests, which was fun. Our centre pieces were show stopping. The were enormous 3×1 foot glass vases topped with huge replicas of my bouquet. The vases were filled with water, and there were white orchids coiled inside.

Our first dance was Kiss to build a dream on by Louis Armstrong.

We skipped out on the traditional bouquet, and garter toss, as it wasn’t really our style. We kept the speeches and toasts short and sweet, and they were concluded by a multimedia presentation by my brother that included video messages from our family and friends that weren’t able to attend the wedding.

I wore a champagne lace strapless Rivini with a modified sweetheart neckline, an Erin Cole Birdcage veil, Miriam Haskell, and Lagos pearls, and Christian Louboutin peeptoe pumps. My girls wore asymmetrical Lynn Lugo dresses in Tiffany blue, and Pink Valentinos. And Mark wore a Grey Canali suit with subtle Tiffany blue pinstripes, and Gucci shoes.

The day was designed, organized and carried out by Scott Corridan, captured by Paul Barnett, of Paul Barnett Photography, and filmed by Curtis Heyne of Living Cinema, all along with their incredibly wonderful teams.

It was an absolutely perfect day, with incredible vendors, and the best husband a girl could ask for.