What do you do after you decide to elope while on a Royal Caribbean cruise vacation? Come home and celebrate with your family and friends, of course! That’s exactly what Ashley and Brian did. Once the couple decided they wanted to tie the knot (after a five year engagement), they didn’t want to wait. With a vacation already planned, they knew it was the perfect opportunity to surprise family and friends. Upon their arrival, the newlyweds planned a modern celebration at Eastlyn Golf Course with personalized touches that sure made a party to remember. Luckily, Serena Star Photography was on hand to capture all the details below.
From Serena Star Photography…Ashley is a hair stylist (mine included) and has talked mentioned one day she and brian would finally get married. One day I came into the Salon and found out She and Brian had Eloped on a cruise while they were on vacation, but came back and threw a big reception party at home.
Tell us about your wedding! What was the inspiration behind your day? Did you have a specific theme, style or color palette? Did you incorporate any cultural or religious traditions in any part of your day?
We Eloped! After 5 years of being engaged and together a total of 11 years, when we decided it was time we didn’t want to wait. We had a cruise already planned so I contacted Royal Caribbean and they planned the rest. We sent out wedding announcements to our family and friends while we were away at sea. No one knew what we were up to and everyone was really happy for us when they found out. But we had to celebrate this fantastic occasion with everyone so we had a Happily Ever After Party! I’m a hairdresser and my hair was very pink at the time so I went with it and all the accent colors were various shades of pink and accents of silver.
Let’s talk wedding decor. How did you decorate your space for the ceremony and the reception? Was any part of the decor DIY?
I added my own personal style with a lot of little details. Because our family and friends were not at our ceremony I decorated with pictures of our wedding day in various styles of frames. There was also a screen rotating pictures from wedding and honeymoon. I used Etsy for really cute PDF printables for our cupcake sign, seating directions, and our version of a guest book that was a Jenga set.
Did you personalize the day in any way (food trucks, guest entertainment etc.)? What were some of your favorite parts of your wedding?
As a couple we are not very traditional. instead of dinner we had heavy appetizers. My husband loves tacos so I suprised him with a taco bar. He loved it. I am all about the dessert so the dessert table was a big focal point. It featured all of our favorites from 4 different local bakeries. Cupcake tower, macarons, chocolate chip cookies, mini eclairs, and 3 types of petit fors. I also had dessert bags for guest to take some home.
Location: Eastlyn Golf Course / Photographer: Serena Star Photography / DJ: A-1 Entertainment / Floral Designer: A Garden Party / Cake Designer: Stella Baking Company / Chocolate Chip Cookies: Rudolphi’s / Mini Desserts: Baked Pastry Shop / Gown Designer: Diane von Furstenberg / Tuxedo and Mens Attire: Express / Jewelry: Diamonds and Designs / Hair Stylist: Salon Fabrojae / Invitations: Zazzle / Favors and Gifts: Oriental Trading Company / DIY or Handmade Goods Designer: Etsy
