I can’t believe we’re at the end of the wedding recap! This is arguably the post I’ve been the most excited to share because the details are what my mom and I both poured the majority of our energy into during planning. My mom has always said “Love is in the details.” and I couldn’t agree with her more! To me, the details are what really make just about anything in life stand out. Recapping the reception last week was fun, but the details are even better.
Our Invitation Suite
I couldn’t be more obsessed with how our invitation suite turned out. It was everything I had dreamed of and more. We worked with Annie of Gingerly Design Co. and she did the most amazing job bringing our vision to life. We created a custom toile pattern for the envelope liner and back of the invitation that featured different landmarks special to Newport Beach and our initials, but my favorite motif we used was the two foxes cheersing champagne as a nod to our last name, Fox. My mom and I are total paper enthusiasts, so the process of designing this with Annie was so much fun. We also went nuts and used 440# paper on the main invitation card and letterpress on all everything, which I just think added so much dimension and texture.
Getting Ready Details
Since we had a traditional church ceremony, we were not allowed to use personal vows, so we wrote letters to each other to exchange with our gifts the morning of. I ordered these cards, but I didn’t like the ribbon that came on them, so I replaced it with my own that matched the rest of the wedding ribbon.
My mom gifted me this beautiful bridal hanger for my dress at one of my bridal showers and it’s one of those pieces I will hold onto forever. Leading up to the wedding, I was obsessed with the idea of finding a “wedding day scent,” and I ended up choosing this Mediterranean Honeysuckle perfume from Aerin. It smells light and fresh and reminiscent of Summer! When we were on our trip to Europe last year, where we got engaged, I stopped into Officine Universelle Buly and picked up one of their personalized lip balms with my new initials. I didn’t open it until our wedding day! I’m so glad I saved it because it was exciting to finally open and use it that morning. I had a garter, but admittedly, I didn’t end up wearing it because I found it uncomfortable, and since we didn’t do a garter toss, it felt unnecessary. For my other undergarments, I opted for Hanky Panky, which is what I wear everyday, but I had a special pair that said “Mrs.”
We were so excited for Shane’s gifts to his groomsmen! My mom had actually found them, and they were perfect! Shane gave each of the guys one of these flasks from Smathers & Branson that said “Get Foxed Up!” Again, it was another nod to our last name and we personalized the backs of them with their initials. Shane ordered one for himself too with our wedding date on the back! I love gifting people mementos that they will also enjoy using for years to come, and these were just the thing without feeling too wedding-y.
For my bridesmaids, I gave each of them a comfy cotton robe from Lake Pajamas (if you haven’t tried Lake yet, you’re really missing out) and pearl earrings to wear on the day of the wedding. They all loved the earrings and I know they were excited to have and use the robes when they got home too!
Dress Details
My mom also gifted me this beautiful dress label from Extra Special Touch when she gave me the hanger I mentioned above. When I went in for my final dress fitting, I gave it to the seamstress, who sewed it into the hem for me! I looked at so many different dress tags online before showing this one to my mom and I really think it’s prettiest one out there… just my opinion!
The Bouquet Details
I was obsessed with my bouquet! I showed this picture to our florist that I had seen online ages ago and I think she executed it perfectly! The flower used was tweedia and she sourced fabric to create the custom bow.
The Boat Ride Details
I mentioned it in last week’s post, but we were so lucky that our family friends generously took us and our wedding party from the ceremony to the reception on their boat! They really surprised us with everything they did to make the boat ride special. They decorated it with flowers and custom flags that featured our watercolor crest, and had custom flex cups and cocktail napkins for drinks and engraved champagne glasses for Shane and I!
The Reception Details
Our Escort Wall said “Dinner Bells Will Be Ringing” across the top and each couple’s card was tied onto a silver dinner bell that they got to take home as their wedding favor. If you’re trying to decide what to do for a wedding favor, I highly recommend doing something your guests will keep and use for years to come. It’s been so fun seeing people’s bells at their houses or hearing about how they’ve used theirs since the wedding!
I ordered custom flex cups and matchbooks from For Your Party for the reception. I did two different designs for the matchbooks, one featuring our watercolor crest and the other one featuring the fox motif from the wedding invitations! I added our wedding date and the “The Foxes” to both designs. I’m so thrilled I found this website because they make so many fun custom party items beyond just wedding things. I know I will use them for many more events in the future!
For our reception stationery, Awe really tried to carry the feeling from the invitation suite. We used our custom toile on the menus that were at each person’s seat and had their names printed at the top of the menu so they would double as place cards as well. When it came to assigning tables, instead of using traditional numbering, we named each table after places we love in Newport Beach. Our table, of course, was The Fun Zone!
For our head table, I worked with Heidi from The Embroidered Napkin Company to design personalized dinner napkins that matched the feeling of the rest of the day. The best part about these is that we brought them home and now we’ll get to use them for parties at home.
As a wedding gift to us, my mom hired one of our favorite artists Timree, who also happens to be a Newport local, to come and live-paint our reception. People loved popping over throughout the evening to see her progress and now I get to see it and relive it every night from our living room!
We only had a few kids at the wedding, so we wanted to ensure they wouldn’t be bored! My mom put together these amazing kits that included candy, a coloring book, crayons, stickers, and other fun activities. The kids loved them, but I think the parents loved them even more!
Instead of a traditional guest book, I had one of our engagement photos printed, and I ordered a custom extra-wide mat to put around the photo for our guests to sign. Since the wedding, I’ve had it framed and it now hangs in our hallway for us to admire and remember! You can get a better look at it here.
On the back of our main wedding cake, my mom had the The Butter End make a mini version of Rosie, our family dog, out of fondant! Rosie is known for getting herself into anything edible that’s around her, so they created a little heart-shaped hole in the cake! I couldn’t believe the details on this… the leftover crumbs on the cake stand, and even frosting smudges around Rosie’s mouth. It was so cute!
Since Shane is an Auburn alumnus, and there are few things he loves as much as he does his alma mater, I surprised him with an Auburn-themed Groom’s Cake! I know many people don’t do Groom’s Cakes anymore, but I think they’re such a fun touch and a great way to bring some personality into your wedding. Aubie the Tiger is their mascot and is just so adorable so I wanted the cake to be Aubie themed. I sent them this inspo photo, and they perfected it. I actually like ours more than the original inspiration!
Our Welcome Boxes
Our Welcome Boxes were my mom’s baby. She spent MONTHS working on these leading up to the big day and they pretty much took over her entire house. We filled them with local goodies and things we thought our guests might need and enjoy during their stay! I designed a welcome card and weekend itinerary that fit with the rest of the stationery we used for the wedding and had them printed at a local printer. Inside, we had waterbottles with custom labels featuring our watercolor crest, salted caramels from the Balboa Island Museum, a copy of The Scout Guide Newport Beach, a recovery kit with things like electrolyte packets, shout wipes, and advil, and the best part… Hippo Cookies! Hippo Cookies are a local favorite from Dad’s Donuts on Balboa Island. They’re colorful iced sugar cookies shaped like hippos that are just absolute heaven (one of my favorite treats)! The team at Dad’s custom-dyed the icing to match our shade of blue!
Creating these recap posts has been such a fun way to relive the wedding and I hope you’ve enjoyed them as well! I’m kind of sad that it’s coming to an end. Next week, for the final Wedding Wednesday, I’m going to be doing a blog post dedicated to all things Weddning Registries. I will be putting up a question box on my Instagram Stories later this week, so stay tuned! As always, if you have any questions, you can reach out to me via DM on Instagram or by commenting below.
In case you missed them, you can check out…
Our Wedding Video here
The story of my wedding dress here
The details of the morning of the wedding here
Our ceremony recap here
A peek into our reception here
You might also like:
Last week’s Wedding Wednesday Recap
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