Art and crafts wedding in Thomas Mann's mansion

I had a lot of fun designing Amy and Neal's wedding on September 5 in Pacific Palisades. Not only the couple, who had traveled to over 50 countries ( not all together) was inspiring but also the venue, German writer Thomas Mann's house in Pacific Palisades co-created the literati theme.
Buddenbrooks anybody?

It took a while to tie 135 travel tags escort cards on Amy's mom's vintage suitcases, in which we found old dolls from the fifties. Her mom used the suitcase last when she was a little girl... It was worth the effort though as guests enjoyed finding their names on the "antiques" referencing the adventurous couples past and upcoming travels.

Bridesmaid helped tie eclectic gold strings and ribbons around the jute napkin rings, so all looked slightly different.  The details were a lot of fun and many actually from the house, from friends and relatives and often with stories attached.

 

I was amazed by Amy's grand ma's hand blown champagne flutes, wings being a sweet obsession of mine.  

 The details were a lot of fun and many actually from the house, from friends and relatives and often with stories attached.

 

Neal brought one of his cigar boxes for the gift cards, Nikki added a candelabra from her grand parents and the house offered hand painted boxes, bronze candle sticks and bowls.

It was amazing working in the famous writer's original office, shellf packed with his first editions... being a published writer myself it had a bit of a sacred feel to it.
 

We displayed one of Mann's quotes in the antique type writer, of course one of his happier ones, matching the gorgeous event and the sweet occasion.