Dear Wedding Day: Friendly Inspiration: Emma

Week Two: Emma

Our Relationship: I met Emma in the dorms freshmen year and now we live together!

Her Major: Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behaviour (she wants to become a surgeon!)

Her School: University of California, Davis

Her Interests: Country Night, TV (we both watch a long lists of shows), eating (especially Hershey's and In-n-Out)

(Emma is on the Right)

Emma's Questionnaire:

Colours: White, Light Grey, & little bits of Deep Purple

Feeling: Winter Elegance

Dress: Mermaid, Lace Shoulders, Very Classy, Light Sparkle - Not Obvious

Location: Outdoor Ceremony; Reception in Old, Dark, Wood-type Room

Special Requests: Likes White Roses

"It would be my dream to get married in the snow like Phoebe [on Friends]." - Emma

Emma's Dream Wedding:

The Invitations: Lace-wrapped invitations in cream and white introduce the winter elegance of the wedding.

The Attire: The dress that I found was everything Emma wanted in this dress by Claire Pettibone and to add to the winter feel of the wedding, we added a coat (much like Phoebe's) to keep her warm.

The Bride's Accessories: To allow the bride's bouquet to stand out, we chose white roses with some extra silver accents. Emma also loves unique shoes, so these offered just what she wanted.

The Bride's Beauty: For Emma's makeup, we chose Emmy Rossum's classically glamourous look; for Emma's hair, a romantic up-do like Nina Dobrev's was chosen; and for her nails, silver sparkles.

The Bridesmaids: To be in accordance to the bridal bouquet, we gave the bridesmaids plain white roses with an added accessory to match the grey dresses.

The Groom & Groomsmen: To stand apart from the bridesmaids, but still match, the groom and groomsmen are wearing charcoal grey suits with wintery boutonnieres and grey ties.

The Ceremony: Unfortunately, it's hard for snow to be available in California, and Emma really wants to get married on her grandparents' property, so I decided to create her own unique winter wonderland. My inspiration came from all-white ceremonies, drawing on the monochromatic colour scheme and elegance. To line the aisle, I chose birch trees accented with fake snow. To light the aisle, I chose to use uniquely shaped vases with candles that had a look of melted snow on them, set in snow-like glitter. (I chose battery-powered candles so that we didn't need to worry about fire while enjoying the outdoor ceremony.) I would also set out white blankets for the guests incase they got cold.

The Cocktail Hour: Emma loves food - particularly comfort food. I decided that mini versions of would be perfect for guests to snack on during the cocktail hour.

The Reception: Emma would love to get married in a wooden structure, so I went on the hunt to find one close to her grandparents' location; however, they are hard to come across. I did, however, find something similar at the Mill Valley Community Center.

The Reception Decor: My inspiration came from different winter weddings I had seen, and from there, incorporated my own take on them. In the Community Center, there are floor-to-ceiling windows, so to create a snow-like feeling, twinkly lights will hang to cover them and create an intimate feeling. To decorate the tables, finding a way to incorporate a little bit of the deep purple colour was on my mind. The table settings will be created using a silver tablecloth, silver chargers and plates, and a deep purple cloth napkin fastened with a silver snowflake. To add some candlelight, I found different sizes of crystal candle holders and silver and crystal candle bases. I would also add purple and white orchid petals to the table with some purple roses. Huckleberry willow branches in vases to will be added to create some height.

The Escort Cards: Pinecones dipped in silver sparkles will hold the escort cards.

The Cake: To incorporate the purple accents into the cake, this ivory cake was chosen. For the guests - and Emma's love of white roses - these cupcakes were chosen.