Sometimes the perfect wedding venue just so happens to be practically in your own backyard! Nichole + Will have spent countless weekends hiking through, near + around The Presidio (Golden Gate Club) in San Francisco with their Alaskan Malamute, Kaiyuh, and along the way have fallen in love with its charm + history – and just the fact that it’s a such a huge + beautiful park right in the middle of the city! They spent a lot of time looking at other venues around the Bay Area before realizing the perfect space for them was always right nearby. (Bonus points that it felt oh-so quintessentially SF!) Below N + W tell us more about how they personalized the space + designed a day that was totally reflective of the two of them:
We really didn’t have a theme, but just wanted to embrace and showcase the beauty of and our love for the Presidio. We mixed vintage style with modern design elements and we were really happy with the outcome when it was all put together. Our color palette was inspired by a bunch of dahlias I bought one day at our neighborhood farmers market. We found our florist, Tali of Thistle, through a friend and loved that their floral design is just so effortlessly beautiful. I really felt like my bouquet was just picked out of the park!
Thanks so much to A Fist Full of Bolts for the stunning images and to Satra Zarghami for the gorgeous event design. And, of course, big congrats to Nichole + Will on a perfect day!!
For Will’s gift on the day of our wedding I commissioned a painting from an old friend/director, Randy Walker, that I used to work with during my Seattle days. He paints what he calls “Bad Wedding Portraits” over old oil paintings he finds at thrift stores and flea markets. The photos of Will opening that painting are so great and it now hangs right in the front hall of our house.
So in love with ceremony site Thistle + Satra Zarghami created. That hanging piece of greenery + dahlias plus a vintage rug aisle…so up our alley!
There are really so many to count. But I think our vows were most definitely the most memorable of them all. Will and I chose to write our own. We sent them to our friend/officiant, Brian, separately. Brian looked over them to make sure ours was close to the same length, and to make sure one wasn’t too silly vs. too sentimental, etc. And when Brian told both of us not to change a single thing we were kind of surprised. Day of the wedding I went first and was relieved to make it through the entire thing with minimal “ugly crying.” But when Will read his to me I nearly lost it. There were at least 4 different things he said to me that was literally word for word what I had just said to him. That feeling of being so right for each other had never hit me harder. It was perfect. At the end of the ceremony too, Brian had surprised us by having each one of our bridesmaids and groomsmen read us a word that they had chose for us to remember and take with us into our marriage. It was so amazing having those closest to us be so involved in our ceremony too.
For our wedding design, I illustrated a geometric “wolf” head with a diamond on the forehead. Our dog Kaiyuh has a heart shape on her forehead so the design was really inspired by her.
Processional: Eyes Be Closed – Washed Out
Recessional: Love Never Felt So Good – Michael Jackson
First Dance: Hysteric – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
See even more from this beautiful day in the film below, captured by the couple’s friend, Ryan Leggett!
Make it personal and surprise each other (and even your guests). It really is a day of celebrating the love that you two share and the people you have there to share it with. Incorporate the things that are meaningful to you and represent you as a couple, it will really make the day that more special and memorable.
photography: A Fist Full of Bolts // venue name: Golden Gate Club, Presidio in San Francisco, California // event design: Satra Zarghami // planning: Satra Zarghami // florals: Thistle // hair stylist: Jennie Altman-Siewart // makeup artist: Anna Taylor (friend) // videography: Ryan Leggett (friend) // cake: Pretty Please Bakeshop // officiant: Brian Coate (friend) // lighting: Monique Albert of Just the Lights // photo booth: The Magnoilia Photo Booth Co.
That’s so cool that they just stumbled upon their dream location.
-M
http://www.violetroots.com
So beautiful. Love their sense of design and style. ;)
Thank you for sharing this wedding! One of my favorites and loved being a part of it!
wow, this is so good! love the dog!
Always nice Sean! You rock!
great work and story!!!
Love the dress. Who’s it designed by?
My dress was the Pandora gown by Modern Trousseau. It was one that I wasnt looking for in the beginning but was totally surprised by at the end of my search. Thanks for the love! :)
All the decorations look beautiful and I love the bride’s dress. Also, it’s very cute how they incorporated their dog into the wedding!
Love the painting you gave him! Is that artist that painted it still doing “bad wedding portraits”? If so, where could I find more of his work and contact him?
He sure is you can find more of Randy’s work and contact info here: http://randy547.wix.com/randywalker#!bad-wedding-portraits/c1cel
Your wedding is so beautiful! Do you mind me asking where you had your paper goods done? The design for “what happens next?” card, I love it!
Thanks so much! We actually designed all the paper goods ourselves and then had them printed in Oakland at Bloom Screen Printing Co.
So beautiful!
I have stumbled upon this wedding and I think it is fantastic. Lovely shoots.