APRIL 23RD
Kat and Weston's joyful springtime wedding at Ellas Vineyard was a celebration of color, featuring a cheerful palette of cabernet, coral, sage, seafoam green, teal, navy, and slate blue. Since Kat and Weston first met as lab partners in an organic chemistry class at U.C. Davis, they wanted to incorporate their love for science and nature into their wedding day. Instead of standard vases, we used science beakers, Erlenmeyer flasks, and test tubes for floral arrangements—including a few flowers hung in test tubes down the aisle, for an extra pop of color!
WEDDING CEREMONY
For the couple's guestbook, guests were invited to highlight a favorite Bible verse for the couple to read later, and to savor for years to come as they built their marriage on a foundation of faith. The wedding ceremony itself was beautifully heartfelt. Kat's father was the officiant, so every word had extra love and meaning.
RECEPTION
Throughout the reception, we created a few playful nods to the couple's love of all things science. Guests found their seats on glass microscope slides, each one with their name hand-scribed. For the lounge, we stacked a few science-themed books on the table...and we couldn't help but set out a throw blanket with the scientific table on it, for guests to cozy up later in the evening.
DESSERT & DANCING
Since the couple loves Greek food, we brought in Jaffa to cater dinner. After a night full of great dancing, the end-of-the-night surprise was SLO Momma Sweets' ice cream truck rolling in to "At Last" by Etta James. It was the perfect treat to end the night...something sweet and unexpected!
LOVE LETTER FROM THE NEWLYWEDS
"I cannot express just how thankful we are for Sam and the Zest it Up team! They took so much of the stress away from planning a wedding. We spent about a year and a half planning the day, and Sam was there from the very start to guide us through every process. She is prompt and thorough when answering questions, and she is always down to hop on the phone to talk ideas through. Moreover, my husband and I were planning our wedding from out of state (all the way on the East Coast!), so having someone local to the area where we were getting married was essential, since we couldn’t see venues or meet with vendors in person. Sam helped to initiate conversations with our vendors and introduce them to us. When it came time for the wedding, Sam and her team were phenomenal in helping us deal with several last minute changes and putting our minds at ease. We had the misfortune of having multiple immediate family/wedding party members test positive for COVID just a few days before the wedding, but Sam was ready with a backup plan in no time, such that those family members could still be a part of the day. Sam is also detail-oriented and very creative; we had a rather different vision for the day (science-themed to reflect where we met), but she was 100% on board with our ideas and helped pull them off. She even improvised with supplies she had on hand to fill out our décor in ways that fit our story and theme perfectly. She is considerate and works tirelessly to help the day move smoothly for the couple, down to making sure you have plenty to eat and drink during the event. Overall, Sam and the Zest it Up team were beyond awesome in helping us pull together not just the big, moving parts of a wedding, but every little detail too."
THE DREAM TEAM
If you loved Kat and Weston's wedding, check out their wedding video here! It was such a joy to work with them and make sure every little detail of their day reflected their love story! A special thanks to all these incredible vendors who helped me make it happen:
VENUE: @ellasvineyard
COORDINATION: @zestitup
PHOTO + VIDEO: @cobblestoneproductions
FLORAL: @flowersbydenise
MUAH: @thequeensbees
RENTALS: @allaboutevents
LOUNGE: @curated_sol_rentals
CATERING: @jaffa_cafe_santa_maria , @criuhospitality
BAR: @mixedevents805
ICE CREAM: @slomamasweets
DESSERT: @bris_sweet_retreat
MUSIC: @modernsymphonydj
xo,
Sam
Blog post by Olivia Cook