Our Romantic Garden Wedding at Sydonie Mansion

One year ago, we were hustling to get everything together for our big day. Our family came into town, the house was undergoing renovations, and I was packing and finishing up last minute decor projects. It was a whirlwind. An exciting, exhausting whirlwind. We loaded what felt like our entire house into the SUV, and though Im exaggerating, I'm not that far off. We brought our marble end tables from the living room, our large gold vintage mirror from the dining room, and everything in between. The night before our wedding day, we put on Just the Two of Us by Bill Withers, and practiced our dance in our hotel room. We both realized it was the last time we'd practice it before we'd do it forreal as a married couple. That's when it sank in that i'd be saying "I do" to my best friend in less than 24 hours.

In honor of our wedding anniversary, I thought I would share some photos and details from our romantic garden wedding at the historic Sydonie Mansion. It was a magical day, with the most special people surrounding us, and during these times it couldn't hurt to share a little magic.

The venue | Sydonie Mansion

This was actually the first venue we visited and we completely fell in love with it. The dreamy garden courtyard sold me. I am captivated by climbing greenery and structures that are laced in it, whether it be english ivy or creeping fig, I love it all. From the lush greenery, the gardens, the antique iron-work, the copper gutters... I was smitten. Aside from all the beauty (and there is lots of it), the history behind the mansion is really cool (you can read more about it on their website). We had also just returned from our 3-week long Eurotrip where we got engaged in Italy, so we were looking for a venue with a Mediterranean feel. Sydonie was just the perfect backdrop for what we were envisioning. If you're interested in reading about our story and engagement, you can visit our Zola wedding site.

The theme | Romantic Garden Wedding

We wanted our wedding to feel natural, intimate, and timeless. I pictured lots of florals and greenery, with colors of peach, blush, blues, and ivory, and details that reflected who we are as a couple. We dream of having a large garden of our own someday, so a romantic outdoor garden wedding just felt right. We chose heart-shaped botanical seed bombs to give out as favors, and my bouquet included garden roses like peach Juliets and white O'haras. We love antiques & vintage pieces, so we tried to tie in those touches throughout, while still keeping it a bit modern and fresh.

The gown(s)

As you might've noticed, I wore two different gowns. This originally was not part of the plan! Here's the story: My mom doesn't live that close and she was coming to visit one weekend, so we decided to go looking at gowns locally. The only local bridal shop here is David's Bridal, so off we went! I didn't really know what I was looking for yet, but I did have a vision for the embroidery and beading- floral or vines, or both. We picked out a handful of gowns, and then we noticed what would end up being "the one"- it was an off-the-shoulder Oleg Cassini, had a gorgeous 90" long train, & was intricately embroidered with beads and lace appliques. The back had a beautiful sheer embroidered corset. Apparently it had just come out, so they were going to have to take it off the mannequin for me to try on. I first tried on the others, but wasn't convinced, and then my mom reminded the associate about "the one on the mannequin". I put it on and it was heart eyes all the way. Just gorgeous. I love love love the off-the-shoulder (I wore my mom's off-the-shoulder little black dress to my junior homecoming and never looked back). I didn't know if buying a gown on your first outing was a good or bad thing, but when DB informed us we were already cutting it close with shipping times, I went for it.

Weeks later, I was shopping on BHLDN (I'm a big Anthro lover), and there it was- the Willowby by Watters Hearst gown. So whimsical and romantic, with large floral appliques and embroidered vines. For days I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I looked at the return policy and reached out to them about sizing, and for the heck of it I decided to purchase it "just to see," (so I kept telling myself). I got notification it was delivered and I rushed home on my lunch break to try it on. If you couldn't already tell- It. Was. Gorgeous. I mean so gorgeous. And it fit almost perfectly. I couldn't bring myself to return it. I was so in love. Both hubs and my mom said you know what, just wear two! I felt so extra, but I also loved them both so much. I decided I would wear my ivory DB gown for the ceremony since the train is a stunner, and I wore the Hearst gown for the reception.

The details

Personal and handmade details were important to us, so I shopped quite a bit on Etsy for many items, ranging from table decor & menus, to my jewelry, to the gift I gave my husband on our wedding day, and lots more. I must've spent hours going through vintage stamp listings just to find ones that were meaningful to us, yet complemented our colors. That was how I approached just about every detail of the wedding. My earrings are one of my favorite things. They were a splurge, but I adore them so much. Everything Sibo Designs creates is absolutely stunning, I wanted all of it! The gorgeous ribbons I bought to use for flat lay styling and to tie our bouquets were from Nettle and Silk. Our vow books came from La Pomme Et La Pipe Press. And so much more that I'll try to cover throughout the post. But the point is, these small businesses played a big part in making our vision to come to life. I hope this might inspire other people to shop small, especially in times like these.

The acrylic hand-lettered seating chart was made by the very sweet and talented Christie Clark from Copper Creative. We had a hiccup, but Christie was so professional about it and took care of it immediately. She was great to work with and we loved how our seating chart turned out! My father-in-law custom built the stand out of wood to fit the ledge it was sitting on, and painted it white to match.

Menus -- I was set on deckled edges and these were more budget friendly than others yet incredibly beautiful! The menus are placed in marble card holders I bought from Crate and Barrel, which I now use at our holiday table for name place cards :)

Marble & gold table numbers -- I showed Jess the lettering design I wanted and she matched it perfectly. I love them so much that I have them displayed in my house.

I purchased my robe from Plum Pretty Sugar. It's so soft and breathable. I still wear it, which justified the price to me. My bracelet was made by All About Romance. Kylie customized it for me and added a ribbon tie. It's such a beautiful bracelet!! My headpiece is from David's Bridal. There are so many gorgeous ones out there, but they can be pricey and things start to add up. I looked around for awhile, but couldn't commit to any. DB happened to come out with this one a couple of months before our wedding. It was adorned with fabric petals that matched my earrings, rose gold accents that matched my rings and bracelet, and the price was within my budget. I couldn't believe it, it felt made for me. They were also having a sale on veils, which at that point I hadn't found one yet that checked all my boxes. It just so happened DB had a cathedral length veil that did check all the boxes, so I scored both for a very good price!

Ok so, I love shoes and love heels, but there was one thing I was sure of- I did NOT want to sacrifice comfort for beauty for all those hours, and I actually prefer dancing in heels than anything else, so I was on the hunt for COMFY yet beautiful heels. Also, the venue has strict rules about no spikes or stilettos (not a problem for me), so I had to make sure I found a chunky heel (my favorite kind anyway). But it poses a challenge when you also want them to resemble those jewel-adorned wedding heels you see everywhere, and also be the right color. Well, thanks to my smart momma, she had the idea to check out Naturalizer since a pair of her fav work heels are from there and they're super comfortable. Would you know- Naturalizer happened to have exactly what I was looking for. Since when did they make super-cute on-trend shoes?! I remember receiving them in the mail and couldn't wait to put them on, hoping they fit and were actually comfortable. Spoiler- they were everything I wanted them to be and more! I wore them the entire wedding, they were comfy and easy to dance in. AND beautiful! These shoes saved me. I highly recommend!

Alex's suit was purchased online from Indochino. We had a certain shade of blue in mind and that was only place we could find it! Blue is totally Alex's color, he looked so handsome! His tie is from BHLDN, but is the Tie Bar brand. It's a beautiful shade of blush with a floral pattern sheen. His ring is rose gold like mine, with our wedding date engraved on the inside in roman numerals. On the day of our wedding I gifted him a rose gold tie bar and cuff link set. The tie bar has our wedding date engraved in roman numerals, and the cuff links have his initials AG (and mine!) engraved on it. I purchased it from Georgie Designs Etsy shop.

How adorable is our flower girl? Khloe is my maid-of-honor's niece, so it was very special to have her as our flower child :) I had a vision for her dress but was having a hard time finding something in the right price range. I was looking for something that somewhat resembled my gown and also tied into the colors, etc. We found a company online and took a chance after reading some good reviews and chatting online with them. It turned out so good! Her flower basket is a vintage french-wire basket that I found on eBay for ~$10. Score!!

My beautiful bridesmaids are wearing Hayley Paige chiffon dresses in a soft, ice blue color. They were able to choose the bodice style.

Our lifelong friends & fam, and truly beautiful people. So much love! The guys are wearing rented navy suits from The Black Tux and the same blush floral tie as Alex. We thought the different shades of blue would be fun, with Alex standing out in his shade of blue.

Let's talk florals. They're only one of my most favorite things. I envisioned peach juliet roses, garden roses, white anemones, peach ranunculus, dusty miller, olive branches, eucalyptus, and wispy jasmine. Loosely arranged with long stems and an organic feel to it. I then worked with my florist to fill in the design with majolica roses and white wax flowers. She was ultimately unable to get quality jasmine vine, so in its place she added genestra flowers. I asked if she could pluck off some of the leaves on the Italian ruscus to give it that wispy look I was after, and I think it worked!

She surprised me with icelandic poppies in my bouquet the day of- which I really loved. Unfortunately we had a lot of mishaps with this vendor as she was also our day-of-coordinator. It led to a lot of stress for us due to her lack of communication among other things, and it made everyones lives harder leading up to and on the day of the wedding. I felt like her throwing in the poppies was a way to apologize. I did appreciate the gesture though and again, I loved how my florals turned out. They are what I envisioned and I'm thankful for that. However I say all of this to you guys to 1- keep it real, and 2- let future brides know that I had many-a-things not go exactly as planned throughout the entire process, but things turned out ok.

We purchased a ton of guaze material from Anastasiia. She custom made the color I was looking for and worked with us to find the right shade. She truly wanted to make sure I was happy with my purchase!

Having good dessert (and good food for that matter) was very important to us! Both of us love to eat. When I say these cakes are some of the best I've tasted, they truly are. We had a 3-tier cake and assorted Italian cookies, all made by the talented Michael Anthony Cakes. I asked if he could custom color the rainbows cookies, making them in a peach ombre instead of the usual green, white and red; they were perfect! The cake had 3 different flavors: tiramisu, marble with french custard & chocolate mousse, and chocolate bananas foster. The outer frosting was buttercream. I wish I had some cake now, which actually I would have if it wasn't for the Safer at Home order. Michael Anthony bakes you a mini-cake for your one-year anniversary so that it is fresh, and not a frozen piece from the wedding day! How sweet is that? He was a joy to work with and the more I talk about this cake the more I am craving it!

Our cake was decorated with fresh olive branches and peach juliet roses. The placement of the greenery and florals was originally supposed to be different from this image, but my coordinator (and florist) somehow confused our cake design with something else and this is what we got. I was surprised when I didn't see the design we agreed on, but the cake was still beautiful and tasted incredible.

Most of the gorgeous furniture, including the seating area above, is rented from Ocean Hawks Rentals -- A super talented husband and wife team with the best decor and custom made pieces! Steph was so fun to work with and brought my vision to life! When you're the bride, you can't also play host, and I struggled with that because I'm so used being the latter. Steph gave me confidence that things would be styled beautifully. And it most certainly was! I was so grateful to have found them!

At the end of my vows, I recited a favorite poem of mine to Alex-

the orange trees refused to blossom

unless we bloomed first

when we met

they wept tangerines

can’t you tell

the earth has waited it’s whole life for us

celebration -- rupi kaur

Vendors

Photography & Videography:Josh & Rachel

Venue:Sydonie Mansion

Rental Decor & Styling:Oceanhawks Rentals (lifesavers, I <3 you guys!)

Catering:Cuisiniers (food was delicious and affordable. People still talk about it!)

Cake / desserts:Michael Anthony Cakes

Hair & Makeup:Bella by Yanica

Jewelry: Adiamore, Melanie Casey, Everett

Gowns:Willowby by Watters Hearst Gown & Oleg Cassini Mermaid Beaded Gown from David's Bridal

Groom's suit: Indochino

Bridesmaids dresses: Hayley Paige

Groosmen suits: The Black Tux

Invitations: Elli.com

I want to also say that while I was writing this, I couldn't help but think of all the couples that were supposed to get married now, but had to post-pone everything due to the times we're in. All the work that goes into planning a wedding, especially when you don't have a wedding planner and are detailed-oriented (me all day) is hard work and stressful enough already. I feel for you all. Try to keep positive, hopefully we'll get past this soon enough and when we do, your day will be that more special. Virtual hugs.