Rhode Island Woodsy Wedding

If you loved this shoot we shared last week with zebra wedding ideas, hold on to your seats. This wedding captured by Fat Orange Cat Studio used animal silhouettes paired with bright colors for one bold, utterly whimsical fete. Gaia and Gerald also did not forget about the kiddos at the reception — all 15 of them! — and had a “kid parade”. Did I mention that they had rub on tattoos for guests too?

From the Gaia & Gerald, the bride and groom: we chose Whispering Pines because it’s not only gorgeous but also felt like summer camp. People have mentioned our wedding looked and felt like the ultimate little kid’s birthday party, but our theme was simpler: fun! We wanted people to step into the lodge and know they were in for a fabulous time.

Since we wanted our palette and designs to reflect our theme, we used super-vivid pops of solid color against a neutral grey. Animal silhouettes seemed like fun to us, so we ended up incorporating them — with a buck and doe representing us — in every element of the wedding. Picking a design and color scheme early on ended up making a lot of design decisions later so much easier. We used our colors in everything, from the ties and belts the groomsmen wore (each chose his own signature color to wear under their navy blue suit vests), to the decorations strung across the dining room, to our invitations.

The decorations were all made by hand, and took a village. The abundant circle pennants and flag food-toppers were all made by Gaia’s mother, a dear friend sewed the pennants, another cut the crepe paper fringe, several arranged flowers, and on and on. The night before, we coerced a group of old friends to actually put it all up (and then thanked them with a fabulous dinner atop Julian’s restaurant’s double decker food bus!

From the photographer, Li : Invitations were created by Gaia herself, an illustrator and graduate of Pratt Institute where she met Gerald. Every piece of the suite from the main invitation to the RSVP card to the belly band to the stamps were created by Gaia and adhered to the overall design aesthetic. The colors, the animal themes, the use of banners and flags all matched the decor of the rooms. I found the illustrations to be incredibly charming! Gaia also designed the flower seed packets which were used as favors, as well as the various signage through the wedding. (end)

Wedding Songs:
First Dance: “Home” Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Father-Daughter Dance: “You’re the Top” sung by Gaia’s Aunt Pam
Mother-Son Dance: “Simple Man” Lynyrd Skynyrd

View all images from this wedding in the gallery!

Wedding Vendors (Rhode Island):

Venue: Whispering Pines / Photography: Fat Orange Cat Studio / Custom Necklace: Serasi Jewelry / Invitations + Decoration Design: Gaia Cornwall Illustrations / Custom Postage: Zazzle / Bride’s Dress: “Tyler” by Watters / Bridesmaid’s Dress: Butter by Nadia / Groom’s Suit: Banana Republic / Groomsmen’s Vests: Urban Outfitters / Rings: Satomi Kawakita, Tiffany / Flowers: Robin Hollow Farm / DJ: Drew Burrows from Beat Train Productions / Macarons: Moondust Macarons / Food Bus: Julian’s Restaurant: “Omnibus”