Featured Wedding
Joni Essad and Denny Ryerson
Coordination: Sedona Wedding Planner / Karen Lynn
Photography: One Fine Day / Anne McCarthy
Venue: L’Auberge de Sedona
April 28, 2007
Joni and Denny are special in the hearts of everyone who worked
on their exceptional wedding. This wonderful couple trusted my vision
and denied me nothing. A year in the planning, this wedding was
absolutely gorgeous and a project Ken and I will always be proud
of.
The setting for this dreamy wedding was along babbling Oak Creek
at the lovely L’Auberge de Sedona Resort. Samyo and Brent
constructed a custom birch pole arbor that was draped with billowing
oyster voile. Mahogany dogwood branches and fresh mosses from the
rain forest of the Olympic peninsula were lashed to the birch poles
and bent over at the top to form an elegant dome. Honeysuckle vines
were woven into cone shaped sconces and overflowed with dozens of
spilling cymbidium orchid sprays, lilies, white-delphinium and ribbon
cane. The top of the dome was garnished with the same. Taupe chair
ties were tied to the sconces to coordinate with the chairs that
were softly draped with ivory chiffon. I noticed that the cymbidium
sprays had a distinct peachy fragrance that carried through the
afternoon breeze.
Joni carried a lavish bouquet of calla lilies, stephanotis, phaleonopsis
orchids, cymbidium orchids, white roses, ranunculus and gardenia
buds. Ken designed her stunning bouquet with his signature mixture
of blown garden roses and thoughtful combinations of textures, subtle
colors and fragrance. The bride’s maids carried peach roses,
white lisianthus, blush French tulips and white calla lilies.
Guests were given organza bags packed with peach and yellow rose-petals
and showered the bride and groom with a blizzard of congratulatory
color.
The reception was a vision. Marla and Samyo worked for weeks cutting
and sewing a thousand yards of voile fabrics that were ultimately
draped in elegant layers on every surface of the Monet ballroom
and even swaged across the ceiling. Every chandelier was adorned
with spilling cymbidium orchid sprays, white stock, roses, dendrobium
orchids and rich magnolia rosettes. The centerpieces featured rose-tinted
water in tall glass cylinders with submerged orchids topped with
an explosion of spring flowers including pealed French tulips and
even more orchids. Three heights of smaller glass cylinders with
hanging votives surrounded the larger cylinder of tinted water.
Flickering candlelight reflected in the stemware and glass beaded
plates multiplying the effect like a city of lights. In addition,
the flames were magnified and distorted through the water-filled
pedestal for a mesmerizing effect reminiscent of an eternal flame.
The sweetheart table highlighted yards of orchid garlands with cymbidium
orchids, dendrobium orchid sprays and lilies at the tie off points.
We chose combinations of peach, blush pink, and butter colored lighting
for the final touch. She cried.
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