Real Wedding: Laurel + Jake’s Palm Beach Wedding

Today I’m sharing Laurel + Jake’s fun Palm Beach Wedding. Laurel was a daily reader of GWS during her wedding planning and found a lot of her vendors on GWS including her amazing photographers, W. Scott Chester – Yay. Thanks Cristen + Scott for letting me share your photos today! A few details from Laurel about the day (and be sure to read her comments at the end for some great advice!):

I drew enormous amounts of inspiration from a couple ideas. I wanted my “look” as well as my maid of honor’s and all of our printed materials to be a nod to the 1930s. I also had this idea in my head very early on that I wanted the floral arrangements + the table design to include elements of Dutch still life painitings. And actually, that idea, coupled with the cut and fabrics used in the 1930s was definitely the direction I was able to take with my maid of honor’s dress which I absolutely fell in love with. Lastly, I took great inspiration from the Matisse painting, The Moroccans, which was on view at the MoMA in my early planning months. I found the color palette Matisse used in the painting- particular the champagne pink- so luscious. I emulated that were I could.

wedding program say i do

custom personalized ties

florida wedding

wedding present painting

Laurel commissioned a painting by a NY artist they both loved as a gift for Jake. Since she couldn’t transport the painting from NYC (where they live) to Florida, she printed out a photograph of that painting to give Jake on their wedding day. So sweet and what an awesome gift! And below is the rad ring that Jake gave Laurel! Oh, and ADORE those pretty pink shoes by Miss Albright below!

wedding shoes with a bow

bride with vintage lace shawl

bride in bright red lipstick

pink peony bouquet

outdoor wedding in florida

wedding vows

Inside the parchment bags all the guests received were lucky wishbones!

outdoor wedding with wishbones

wedding portraits in florida

Most memorable moment of your wedding day? There are a couple…First, the feeling of absolute certainty that I was marrying my soulmate and the most darling man in the world. Also, the overwhelming feelings of gratitude and love throughout the day and evening as I looked around at all of our friends and family who were there spending this time with us. This was truly the most special day of my life. Having my sister read a very personal blessing she wrote for us and having our dear friend perform a song he also wrote for us were two moments that really emphasized that. And as a bride and the person who had been obsessively imagining the day for months, the moment I realized that everything came together beautifully and that it was all “worth it.”

fun wedding portraits

Place card assignments were vintage postcards of the various cities both of them have lived and/or visited and were self addressed so the guests could write well wishes for the couple + send the postcards off!

travel reception details

florida wedding photography

red punch

wedding details fruit

desert table like a Cezanne painting

wedding sparklers exit

Any advice for those planning now?
• Remember to include the groom to the extent he would like to be and delegate any big details that he will really enjoy to him (for instance, among other things, my groom handled the music).
• Try choosing a couple things that are really important to you and focus on making those amazing and then just try to relax about the rest of it. For me those things were the flowers, the printed materials (invites, signs, programs, escort cards etc.) and the table design which, funnyily enough, are the things that many people (for example grooms and guests) say in retrospect don’t matter so much. To me they really did.
• One of the other things that Jake and I did very last minute and found it to be one of our best decisions was have a traditional receiving line. As guests were leaving the Cocktail Reception (which we had outdoors around the pool) and heading into the Clubhouse for dinner, we stood at the escort card table and handed each guest their table assignment. That gave us an opportunity to see everyone and personally thank them for coming. Of course it required our guests’ patience (and it might not be the best idea if your guests are likely to be really hungry) but we were so pleased we did it. That also meant we could sit down for a few minutes and take it all in over dinner rather than feeling like we had to rush around to all of the tables because that would be our one opportunity to greet our guests.

Surround yourself with a “team” you can rely on. In addition to having been blessed with amazing vendors- all of which I really found a pleasure to work with- I literally could not have accomplished a fraction of what I did or retained any of my sanity without the help and support of some truly fabulous ladies: My Mother-in-Law was the person “on the ground” in Palm Beach and brilliantly helpful throughout the process. The Club Manager was truly a saint and made sure that every last detail was taken care of. She was nothing short of amazing. My mother worked through the night to make my floral dreams come true. And last, but in no way least, I am so so so grateful that I chose the very best Maid of Honor a girl could hope for! I live in NYC, she lives in London and the wedding was in Palm Beach so to say we put this together “virtually” is an understatement. For the months leading up to the wedding we were in daily contact discussing details, sharing bits we’d found online, sharing links on GWS (really THE very best of the wedding blogs). Throughout the process she was incredibly generous with her time and energy. She had the most positive attitude while putting her look together, even though I pushed her into things she would have never chosen for herself. All along the way she shared my excitment and my frustrations. And she gave me her cheerful attitude and her hands for the whole week leading up to the wedding which we spent cutting, gluing, putting together and tying bows on each and every detail. No words can ever describe my gratitude for her unfailing patience and support.

Vendors
Venue: The Clubhouse at The Old Palm Golf Club, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Wedding Dress: J. Crew’s “Erica” dress with the bottom half completely re-made and Jenny Packham jacket
Hair and Makeup: Roma Demartino (hair) and Chantal Sauvignon (makeup)
Shoes: Miss Albright
Bridesmaid Dress: Warehouse, a British High Street shop (my MOH lives in London so we shopped for her dress there).
Hairpieces: (bride) Lo Boheme
Groom Suit: Theory; tie by Jenny at This Humble Abode (she also made my Dad and the Best Man’s ties… I found her through a GWS “real wedding.” She’s the best!!)
Photography: W. Scott Chester
Floral Design: My mother made the bouquets + other flower arrangments with the exception of the large ceremony arrangement which was created by Nicole at Gary New Design in Palm Beach.
Invitations/Paper Goods: Baumbirdy
Music: Our dear friend who introduced us, Hans Chew, wrote a song especially for us and performed it during the ceremony. We encorporated a couple of our favorite songs into the ceremony as well- I walked down the aisle to “I’ll Be Your Mirror“, by Velvet Underground of course, and we walked back as husband and wife to David Bowie’s “Heroes.” Jake’s cousin who is an amazing young singer, also treated us to a special performance during the Cocktail Reception. After dinner we all danced to some terrifically fun Latin music by the Latin Beat Band.
Catering: The Old Palm Golf Club

Thanks so much Laurel and big congrats to you + Jake! You can see more of their wedding on W. Scott Chester’s Blog.

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