Gourmet Foodie Wedding

This wedding from Blue Window Creative is just… beyond words. It’s that wedding that as a guest, you wouldn’t want to miss. Bride and groom Shanti and Chris are foodies at heart, so having amazing food at their wedding was a no brainer. They had a 9 course meal. I know you too wish you would have been invited. They focused on what was most important to them, and handmade most of their decor themselves. They chose turquoise, pink and purple hues as their guide for color palette, and we’re just smitten with these day-of images!

[We wanted] something with that rustic cozy and vintage with a family focused feel- on a farm, with a huge emphasis on the food!
Through word of mouth we heard that our favorite local chef was living on a farm on Vashon Island and doing some private events. We contacted him, went to visit the place, and we were sold on it right away. We were blown away when we found out chef Matt Dillion & his crew agreed to cook for us! The communal dinner concept was an important requirement for us. We were truly ecstatic to have Matt create mind-blowing seasonal cuisine for our guest and us. The dinner was awe-inspiring!

Shanti made their escort card wheels from one of our projects in our DIY gallery. Click here for instructions.

We made some critical decisions to plan an event that was just right for us, even though that may have offended some of our more traditional-minded family. I was not okay with the thought of public speaking. Its just not my style, to be on display in front of a large group, especially reading my quite personal vows! So, we decided to have only family at the ceremony and not to have a wedding party.

Chris and I decided to walk down the aisle together, which was perfect for us. To honor our parents, we had them participate in the ceremony in different ways. My father played his classic guitar for the processional. This meant the world to us, as he is not a big fan of public performances (like me!). Each of our mothers gave a reading of their choice during the ceremony. Also, my big brother was the officiant, and my dear cousin held the ring pillow, which she made! She included some vintage fabric that once belonged to our grandmother, who had been an amazing seamstress.

We also spotted our alphabet bunting, which you can download here.

She used our free download for their cupcake pennants. Adorbs.

Any advice for brides planning their weddings now?
I know this has been said before, but…: hire a wedding planner! I really thought I could plan it all myself, since I actually enjoy planning and organizing. We were budgeting to have a day-of-coordinator all along, but in the end I really needed someone to help me pull together all the details. I wanted everything to be well organized and ready to go before family started arriving (a week before the wedding!). Holly-Kate from Sweetpea Events was amazing. She stepped right in and made sure we were on track and helped me with the timeline and delegating jobs.

See Also

A Bold Berry-Colored Vallejo Wedding

Have a very honest and open talk about wedding planning with your fiance. I thought (silly me) that Chris would get really involved, but it was not his cup of tea. If we had hired a planner in the beginning it would have saved us a lot of headache and stress.

A note from the groom: “I lost interest quickly with items that I had no expertise with. If it wasn’t related to food or music, I lost focus. Bottom line: communicate with your partner on what help they need and also what end-result they’re expecting.”

Even though our dearest friends did not get to attend the wedding ceremony, we really wanted them to have a great experience. So we did thoughtful things to make it special for every attendee. We had a welcome table with the sprigs of rosemary and had an accordion player performing gypsy classics while guests arrived, which set a festive mood with Slavic undertones. There was a farewell table with milk and cookies for guests to take on their way out. We had oodles of lawn games including: croquet, bocce, and horseshoes. Plus, there were goats, cows, and chickens to visit!

View oodles more photos from their wedding here!

Wedding Songs:
Processional: Pachelbel’s Canon played on acoustic guitar by the bride’s father
Recessional: accordion music played by Steve Rice (no particular song)
First Dance: “Strangers” by The Kinks

Wedding Vendors (Washington):

Venue: Old Chaser Farm, Vashon Island / Wedding Photographer: Blue Window Creative / Table Number Holders: IKEA / Catering: The Corson Building / Wedding Planner: Holly-Kate from Sweetpea Events / Hair & Makeup: Lindsey Watkins / Flowers: Blooms & Things / Accordion player: Steve Rice / Wedding Dress: custom, by Trish Jens / Hair Accessories: ban.do / Earrings: Rebekah Brooks / Shoes: Annie Shoes Gable Flat / Finger print tree guestbook: bluedetoi / Papergoods/signage and jam placecards: Katrina Hess / Groom’s suit: All Saints / Groom’s Shoes: Fluevog, Socks from Paul Smith / Reception music: iPod playlists / Wedding Dessert: Instead of spending a bundle on one or two fancy cakes, we decided to order lots of deserts from some of our favorite bakeries in town. We also served a dessert cheese selection since Chris is a cheese nerd. Bakery Nouveau, local fruit tart and a croquembouche Kingfish Cafe – red velvet cake Dahlia bakery- coconut cream pie Flying Apron- vegan chocolate cake with raspberry filling Cameron Catering- whoopie pies (they also made the chocolate chip cookies for guest to take on their way out). Cheese selection consisting of Comte’, Etorki, Monte Enebro, Shropshire blue, Drunken Goat, and Vashon farm-produced Dinah’s Cheese; all sourced by DeLaurenti‘s in the Pike Pace Market / Wedding invitations: Designed by Eric Fisher (contact info available upon request), printed at local printer AlphaGraphics / Registry: Crate and Barrel, Amazon.com, and Honey Fund