Suzi and Spencer’s Madonna Inn wedding was inspired by all the things they love, “Persian-American mod-podged in glitter and influenced by kawaii” was how they described it to me! A lot of things they made themselves included the glittery table numbers and escort cards and the brooch flowers used in with the real flowers in the bouquets and centrepieces!
“I’m first-generation Iranian, so we decided to have a Persian wedding”, Suzi explained. “Spencer is from Washington, so we also wanted to include traditional wedding customs which we personalized. We started with a colorful and playful animated Save the Date film that poked fun at our differences. We had a hand in all of the design elements, including the invitations. Spencer designed an emblem of a cat and an orca, inspired by our personalities and Haida art from the Pacific Northwest.”
“It was a destination wedding at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo”, she continued, “so we put together an insert with illustrations that let people know different attractions in the area. We wanted to make sure that people felt inspired and that there were activities that they could add their own creative touch to, whether it was mad libs on all the paper materials or a guest book that encouraged scribbles and doodles.”
“One of my favorite things at the wedding was what we did as wedding favors. We decided to have a very talented friend who’s a photographer take portraits of our guests in their rooms, since each room at the Madonna Inn is unique and different. We sent an email to everyone that encouraged them to be creative, and consider the themes of their rooms. The results were amazing. We now have a complete book of artistic portraits of our friends and loved ones that was featured on the Huffington Post, and our guests have beautiful portraits by photographer Jonathan Grassi.”
“One of the priciest things was the custom canvas bags that we had made with the Haida art emblem, and filled them with Japanese candy from Little Tokyo. My sister was yelling at me about how expensive Japanese candy is, but it’s something that Spencer and I love and always have in our candy jar. We’re hoping our wedding experience was akin to the taste of a Japanese gummy candy. We also picked up some disposable cameras with graphics at Urban Outfitters. They were pricey, so we only picked up five and set them at a couple of tables. The pictures turned out amazing – especially, the pics with rainbows and unicorns and it was fun to see how the camera travelled through the room after the film was developed.”
“A lot of people have will come out of the woodwork to give you their input regarding how the wedding should be planned”, Suzi advises in conclusion. “Remember that it’s your wedding, stick to your instincts and plan together, so when it comes to the wedding day you and your guests feel a piece of both of you in the adventure.”
