Fuchsia Wedding at Cork Factory Hotel

The Story Excitement filled the air on the afternoon of April 17th as Valerie and Bryan, after seven years together, were finally getting married! The "theme" of the evening was black and white damask with fuchsia accents.

The ceremony took place at Willow Street Mennonite Church. As the guests arrived they were asked to sign a photo book with pictures of the gorgeous couple. The guests were then escorted to their seats by two of the bride's brothers. After the ring bearer was escorted down the aisle by two lovely flower girls, the bride then entered with her father. Her father was in a wheelchair and we searched high and low to find a church that would work out!

The ceremony was short and sweet. After their heartfelt "I do's" the bridal party exited. The bride and groom then returned to personally dismiss their guests, ensuring that they got to (at least briefly) speak to each guest personally. As guests exited they were handed fuchsia and black balloons (the balloons and the string they used were biodegradable...). As the new couple exited the church and got into their stretch hummer everyone released their balloons. It looked fantastic!

Guests then headed to cocktail hour at the Cork Factory Hotel where they were greeted by live music from The Faux Minx and a photo booth from Katy Trefry. Most of the guest tables were set with black table linens while a few were strategically set throughout the room with fuchsia linens and a damask table runner. Each table then had four votive candles with damask print - two with black candles and two with fuchsia. High-top tables were set with black linens and a fuchsia sash. The bride and groom decided to have a sweetheart table, set with a fuchsia linen with damask overlay. The bridesmaids were at one table while the groomsmen were at another.

After dinner and some dancing the cake was brought to the center of the room so everyone could see them cut it. Throughout the rest of the night the standard traditions were performed (such as the bouquet and garter toss). One of my favorite parts of the night was when the bride sang a song to her groom. She had been taking vocal lessons to prepare for this big moment. When the time came she was quite nervous, but after some coaxing (and lending her my iPhone for the lyrics) she got up in front of everyone and sang Taylor Swift's Love Story. It was so sweet. My assistant and I both had tears in our eyes watching this!

The remainder of the evening was spent with most of the guests on the dance floor having a great time. As I was walking around the room I heard many comments about how wonderful everything was and what a good time everyone was having.The photo booth was a huge hit and at the end of the evening Katy provided them with a guest book with all of the pictures in it with guests well wishes written by them.

As the couple was dancing their last dance to "Today Was A Fairytale" by Taylor Swift, my assistant and I grabbed some loose flower petals and took them down to the bridal suite. We laid some in a heart shaped pattern on the bed and scattered some around the hot tub. Hopefully that was a nice ending to a perfect day!

The Details

When I first met with the bride she stressed that she wanted her wedding to be different and to stand out from others. We did this with some little details. For example:

Guests were given a hint of what the evening would be like by the invitations they received. They were unlike any I have seen before. The couple designed them themselves. They incorporated the black and white damask with fuchsia accents and included pictures of the couple. They were even mailed in fuchsia envelopes!
The bridal party entered to Keith Urban's "Once In A Lifetime" and the bride entered to the traditional "Canon in D" but jazzed up. Both were performed by local jazz band The Faux Minx.
Before the bride entered, the ushers rolled out a black aisle runner to tie in with the black and white damask unity candle and damask ring bearer pillow.

We carried the fuchsia into the reception by accenting just a few tables with fuchsia linens. And all tables had votives with a damask print wrapped around them.
The cake (which one person called "sexy") tied in everything from fuchsia to damask and more! It was fabulous!

The photo booth - well I think everyone will always remember that! It even had fuchsia curtains!
The table numbers tied in the damask that was used in the invitations and had a picture of the couple.

They had both a band AND a DJ! Not too many weddings do that!

The Vendors

THE dress: was by Maggie Sottero. Valerie found this dress in a magazine and fell in LOVE with it. After calling a dozen bridal shops in the Lancaster, York, and Philadelphia areas...I finally found ONE at Enchanted Evening in Lebanon!

Bridesmaids dresses were custom made by Country Threads by Gail.
Ring bearer pillow was custom made by Renee Heller.
Ceremony was at Willow Street Mennonite Church.
Ceremony music and cocktail hour music performed by The Faux Minx.
Reception was DJed by DJ NAS.
Always gorgeous linens from Special Occasions.
Beautiful and tasty cake from Bella Manse.
Flowers from Petals with Style.

Photography by Sarah McAllister Photography.
Reception was held at Cork Factory Hotel.

I'd also like to extend a special thank you to Joelene Museousky of the up and coming In Your Shoes Event Design for being my assistant for the day! Couldn't have done it without you!

Head on over to The Examiner to see more pictures and read more about Cork Factory Hotel!