Emerald Olympic Valley Wedding

Bride Ashley planned her color scheme around her emerald engagement ring, a color which matched perfectly with the wedding’s Lake Tahoe setting. If emerald green is gorgeous as is on its own, when paired with aqua is pure perfection. This romantic Tahoe wedding shot by Anita Martin with beautiful flowers by Jiosia Designs is filled with details to pin!

From the bride, Ashley: The one thing we knew for sure was that we wanted a beautiful, unique, intimate gathering which is what led us to a destination wedding (we have a very large social circle). Once we decided on Lake Tahoe, the style and ideas for decor and colors just came naturally! We also started with emerald green in our color palette due to the beautiful emerald engagement ring Josh designed for me. It also worked nicely with the rich landscape of the Aspens in Tahoe and the mountainous backdrop we were so fortunate to have.

If I could sum up the style in 3 words, I’d say I was going for romantic, rustic and chic. We wanted to leverage the natural beauty that Tahoe offered, so we complemented with rich greens, fresh lavender and a million unique touches. I also really wanted an accent color and something unexpected, so we offset the deeper greens with vibrant mint greens. Oh my gosh, the ENTIRE wedding was DIY. Every single element of decor was hand done by my mother who spent an entire 8 months dedicated to it! We had hand designed ‘place mats’ at each seat that doubled as a place for guests to leave us well wishes that now live in a scrapbook we will have forever. Our name cards were made from vintage spools- we put paper straws in them and a tag with our guests name. Also, the letter flash cards we used to organize the name cards are vintage and my mom has had them for many many years. The silver candlesticks we used to line the head table were my grandmothers. My mom handmade ribbon wands that our guests waved when we were announced as husband and wife. We also used vintage style hankies in lieu of napkins that doubled as our wedding gift to our guests. I could go on forever, but absolutely everything was made unique with love by my mother.

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Decide what’s most important about the day to the BOTH of you and make sure that you do your best to focus on the important things and just let the rest happen. Things will go wrong, stress will pop up, things will get expensive, but just get back to what is MOST important to you and focus your efforts there.

See Also

A Tuscan Inspired Wedding with Pastel Hues at California’s Filoli Gardens

Wedding Music:
Bridal Party Processional: “Marry Me,” Train
Bride’s Processional: “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”
Recessional: “Forever and Ever Amen,” Randy Travis
First Dance: “Wicked Game,” James Vincent McMorrow
Father/Daughter Dance: “Brown Eyed Girl,” Van Morrison

Wedding Location: Olympic Valley, CA / Photographer: Anita Martin / Floral Design and Wedding Coordinator: Amanda Drobnica of Jiosia Designs / Wedding Venue: PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn / Wedding Dress: Allure Couture / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: I gave them a color palette of emerald green dresses and mint green shoes / Hair: Laura Seegmiller of Salon Bella Vita / Makeup: Jennifer Ergut of Kiss & Make-up / Groom’s and Groomsmen’s Ties: The Tie Bar / Ceremony and Reception Music: Eric Dennis (family friend) / DJ: Derek Tarpey, Lake DJ / Officiant: Reverend Mark Frady