Music Inspired Wedding: Tareeda + Jesse

bride and groom

Tareeda + Jesse have a passion for music and love that that influenced their day! From the gold painted record-turned-plate chargers to the tambourine wedding favors to the fun backdrop for the sweets table to Tareeda belting out Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” with her band filled with their family + friends, they day was filled with musical details! I also love all the paper flowers that they used for the ceremony – so creative!

Thanks so much to Brandon Kidd Photography for the photos and congrats to Tareeda + Jesse!

bride

mint bridesmaids dresses

bowties

first look

wedding party

bride and groom

bride and groom

tambourine invitation

paper flower decor


I love how bright and festive poppies are but because our wedding was in October, they weren’t going to be in season. So we opted to make paper poppies [if you love this idea, but don’t want to make your own, West Elm carries lots of lovely paper flowers] which gave us liberty to include a wide range of colors. They were nice splashes of color that added a lot of whimsy to our wedding.

heart

Our Musical Choices

Processional: Golden Slumbers – The Beatles (arranged by Organic String Quartet)

Recessional: All You Need Is Love – The Beatles (arranged by Organic String Quartet)

First Dance: The Night Time (Is the Right Time) – Ray Charles

ceremony

ceremony

ceremony

bouquet

bride and groom

signs


There were lots of great DIY elements for their day! My mom made all the boys’ bowties and the ribbon chandeliers as well as my second dress for the evening. My sister hand-painted all the signs. My aunt spent 3 months piecing over 300 paper poppies for our tables. Jesse and I did all the paper goods.

ribbon chandeliers

bow napkins

bow napkins


Our planners surprised us by adding in a last minute tabletop design element. They had spray painted 200+ vinyl records and used them as gold chargers. Our guests ended up flipping the records over to see which artist they got and some even did a bit of swapping! It became an unexpected game that gave our guests another fun souvenir.

wood table numbers

paper triangle backdrop

cake

desserts

first dance

Our Favorite Memory From The Wedding

Once we took the stage, we felt the energy and love of our guests. It's not everyday we have a stage to play music with our family in front of a live audience. It was exhilarating! Everyone was ready to dance and sing, and jam along with their tambourines. We played a set of 12 songs and the dance floor was packed right up till the end. It was really special to know that our guests were having a great time. The band was so awesome and we were so proud and grateful to have them be a part of our night.

reception


Having been to many weddings that featured wedding singers and bride/groom serenades, we had joked about having me perform a love ballad as our guests would expect. What I actually wanted to sing was Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” (but not to some worn out karaoke beat)! Instead, knowing that we have musically-talented siblings and friends, we thought we should put together an impromptu band and perform it live.

From Respect, more Motown songs were included to the set in order to keep the feel-good vibe going through the night (eg. Heatwave, Uptight, I Feel Good, My Girl). And as an added surprise, we featured our parents and aunts as they individually came up on stage and sang their hearts out! Tambourine favors were passed out to all our guests and they danced and sang along. It was truly a festive celebration!

reception


The short reception dress I changed into for the performance was made by my mom. I had always been in love with Vera Wang’s horsehair trim design element and asked my mom to modify it into a shorter version. I was so thrilled with how it turned out and it was definitely one of the highlights!

Our Advice To Those Planning Now

We are both graphic designers and have a lot of creative ideas. We knew what we wanted but it was so important to have planners help reign us in with design solutions and suggestions. They will help you enjoy your day from setting up all the decorations to making sure you get to eat! There's also always going to be a lot of input coming from everywhere about things that you must do, things that you must have. In the end, remember to make it about you and just enjoy your day.

photography: Brandon Kidd Photography // venue name: catering: Strawberry Farms Golf Club, Irvine, California // videography: Son of Sharkpig // desserts: Sweet and Saucy Shop // music: DJ James Dunn // officiant: Alexandra Armstrong, The Merry Ministers // planner: Gather Events // florist: Gather Events // sound: Mike Willson MAPS, Music & Arts Production Studio // lighting: Mike Willson MAPS, Music & Arts Production Studio // ceremony musicians: Organic String Quartet

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