Garden Wedding in OC

--> --> Jamie and Zac got married at the South Botanical Gardens in Orange County on Saturday, June 12, 2010. They wanted it unconventional but still honoring their Jewish culture.

Rabbi Laura Owens fit perfectly into the picture keeping the ceremony easy going yet sacred, humorous yet meaningful, with contemporary wording and Hebrew blessings. When Zac read his vows he promised Jamie to be open to her believes, murmuring: vegan...

Michael Franks of Melange, a friend of Jamie's dad and more on the traditional side of culinary culture, won the catering bid over Eco Caters. To make Jamie happy, he ventured into experimenting with vegan cuisine aside from offering various vegetarian options for the four different food stations, a catering trend my company promotes over the traditional sit down dinner or buffet, when it fits to the theme.  I tried Michael's melon mint gazpacho, potato samosas and the sweet potato/red curry quinoa cake, all delicious indeed. Jamie had to give up on some of our green ideas, like serving water in big jars rather than bottled but then Michael Franks made the extra effort and promised to recycle the bottles.

Their 145 guests loved the setting and decor, which was kept at casual  elegance. Some recycled materials, like reclaimed wood for the table numbers were used to create a vintage feel. The antique-white clay flower pots were re-used as in becoming gifts for the guests.

Many of the gorgeous girls wore high heels and the grass seemed to do them well. The brides maids in chocolate brown cocktail dresses though flip flopped them after the ceremony.

Jamie's mom Debbie created the gift box on the right and hand painted the beautiful cloth for the Chuppah below.

Jamie patiently collected and assembled the corks for the place card holders. Favors were donations to ASPA in the name of every guest.

Debbie's hand-painted Chuppah was decorated by Rebecca from Lily Pad, who created - very Jamie-like - delicate center pieces integrating succulents and whimsical flowers. The vegan cup cakes came from Jamaica's cakes.

 

I was glad that I arrived early enough to add some female touch to the general set up aside of my decor duties like re-arranging the ceremony seating, which had the isle ending in a dirt patch rather than in green grass... but in all Anza's crew did a really great job setting everything up in a small time window, their last minute balancing act on high ladders to fit the last strings of twinkle lights was rather Cirque du Soleil.

 

Unfortunately the rental company does not seem to care about anything eco-friendly and does not even recycle their enormous amounts of plastic trash. In honor of Jamie who hired me as an eco-friendly event planner and to calm my aching heart, thinking of those plastic islands in the oceans, I stuffed a bunch of plastic linen bags into my car and then into a recycling bin by my office. 

Of course there was that cute 2 year old who trotted behind the flower girl: "wait up, wait up"...

.... and otherwise curiously explored the premises.

Jamie's dad Moe encouraged the guests to party hard:" I don't want to take all this booze home" and  the three police guys who hung out in the staff parking lot for a bit, swinging with the rhythm of DJ Allan Carson, seemed rather tempted to try a vodka-triple sec- spiked lemonade...

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