Details, details, details.  Steffani and Ashaunte’s day was full of them.  From the meaningful family photos surrounding them during their wedding ceremony to sparkling chandeliers suspended in the gardens, from the dinner tables named for shoe designers to the LA Lakers groom’s cake and surprise fireworks display.  This wedding was one to remember.

The ladies spent the day getting ready, beautifying and giggling!

The bride fell in love with a palette of navy blue and fuschia, and the day was infused with pops of the colors at every turn.  Steffani carried a lush bouquet of pale pink roses and spray roses, slightly more muted in tone than the rest of the flowers that day!

Meanwhile, the gentlemen played at their own version of getting ready.

With everyone dressed and set to go, guests were invited to take their seats (and a refreshment!) for the garden ceremony.

Throughout the process of planning with this couple, they placed a great deal of importance on the support provided to them in their relationship by other couples in their close-knit group of family and friends.  From the very beginning, Steffani wanted to incorporate wedding photos of these people into her own wedding, and we really wanted to take this idea a step further than just setting the photos on a table as we understood the significance of this detail to them.  So in lieu of beneath a traditional ceremony canopy, the bride and groom exchanged their vows while standing between two bookshelves filled with vintage nick-knacks, flowers, a chandelier and, of course, the family photos.

Then it was time for the bride to walk her walk!  The emotion the groom showed as she walked down the aisle was truly moving!  Aaaah, love!

Once the vows were recited and the groom kissed the bride, the party began!  A nearby cocktail area provided guests with different seating and mingling areas as well as a very popular photo booth that kept them smiling all night long!

As darkness set in, guests were invited to the lower level beach area for dinner beneath an elegant white tent.  Steffani wasn’t shy about her obsession with shoes (she has over 200 pairs!), so we knew that we absolutely had to incorporate this passion of hers into the day.  Dinner tables were named for famous shoe designers, with the bride and groom sitting at her favorite designer’s table, and the kids sitting at the Converse table, of course.

A shoe-holding area was set at the bottom of the stairs, and ladies kicked off their high heels to feel the sand in their toes!

The bride and groom’s chairs each had an arrangement hanging from the back with their “title” hand-painted on to the tin pails we refurbished and utilized throughout the wedding area.

 

The four youngest guests had their own table and their very own set of decorations!  Place mats with their names written on them invited them to the table; crayons were supplied for the little artists, and a bag of activities hung on the backs of their dinner chairs to keep them entertained and busy throughout the meal!

Once the dinner, the drinking, the laughter and the toasts had come to a close, wedding cake (and a few surprises) awaited the group back upstairs on the terrace level of the villa.  Floating lanterns, two dessert stations and endless candlelight filled the pool, gardens and terrace.

The day before the wedding, in conversation, Steffani told us that Ashaunte had woken in the middle of the night to proclaim that they should have contracted the fireworks show.  Nevertheless, the budget was spent, the day was set and the clock was ticking – less than 24 hours to showtime – so fireworks were just not a possibility.  But as we pulled out of the driveway after our meeting, we just knew that this couple needed a great surprise!  We pulled some strings, and with the help and flexibility of our fantastic vendor, we were able to surprise them with fantastic fireworks at the cutting of the cake, and honestly, this photo says it all.  So worth it.

In the romantic setting, with desserts galore, the guests were grinning from ear to ear and dancing like mad!

And by the end of the night, the line had been filled with new photos of happy moments and wedding memories.

Congratulations Steffani and Ashaunte!  A very special thank you to Nate Broshot with License to Still for being so great to work with and sharing his images with us!  And thank you to Yanen Ali who joined us as staff photographer and creeped around when no one was looking to shoot all the little details!

See the inspiration board for this wedding design!