Eclectic Rainy Day Wedding with Moroccan Accents

Today’s wedding brings us some beautiful bright hues, proving that even a rainy day wedding can shine. Next to Me Studios and Seven Stems Floral Design & Event Planning collaborated for Shara and James’ celebration in Temecula, where rare SoCal showers weren’t able to dampen all the goodness the couple had in store for guests. The day was peppered with bohemian accents like a macrame seating chart, hanging planters, and colorful Moroccan glass, plus vibrant flowers as far as the eye could see!

From the bride, Shara: Our inspiration for the wedding day was nature; and nature showed up big time with a very rare rainy stormy spring day in Temecula! Our original vision was of a sunny outdoor event surrounded by trees and greenery with bright rich spring colored flowers. We wanted a relaxed outdoor gathering that showcased our beautiful venue and our love for nature. We stuck to our nature theme with plantable seed paper invitations, sustainable menu provided by our venue, colorful flowers everywhere and lawn games and fire pits to keep people spread out enjoying the day.

We incorporated both of our inspirations into the wedding décor; I wanted a boho feel with Moroccan colors and textures and my husband wanted a rustic feel with woods and natural touches. We named our style ‘eclectic rustic bohemian’. We were a little non-traditional and had no groomsmen or bridesmaids, and my sister was our ceremony officiant. We had no true color scheme, I just wanted bright vibrant spring colors richly saturating the whole wedding, the venue and flowers were really the focus.

Some of my favorite elements were things that reflected us; gold silverware and multicolored glassware really showed off my personal style and the wood grain cake, wooden details, and amber glass vases were some of my husbands favorites. Our coordinator/designer/florist really helped bring my vision into reality and made sure to have all the little details we wanted. Our cake was a simple white with a wood grain look draped with our colorful flowers, it was one of our all-time favorite parts of the wedding look. We also incorporated little themes into the details that were really just for my husband and I. We love the Southern California hummingbirds that represent spring and nature to us so we hid little hummingbirds in many aspects, from our invitation, to our personalized wedding favor fleece blankets, to wooden signs. We also incorporated mixed metals and golds into the décor to accent the yellow gold in our wedding rings.

We had to make many last minute adjustments when it became clear that it was going to storm and rain the day of the wedding. We decided to fully embrace the rain as there was nothing we could do about it. I tried to think of ways we could make the rain fun and not a disappointment. We ran from store to store buying up all the fun colored umbrellas for the guests, I ordered blue rain boots to wear with my wedding dress as “something blue”, we bought a clear umbrella for our photos, we added a ‘rain addendum’ to part of the ceremony, and luckily our wedding favor was already personalized fleece blankets for everyone. We ordered clear tents with heaters for the ceremony and reception areas, and had to make adjustments moving the band, bar, and lawn games under one tent and had to give up the rained out fire pits. I also asked the hair and makeup stylists to stay until after the ceremony for touch-ups prior to the reception.

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

My advice to any bride facing the possibility of rain is first; always prepare for it during the initial planning. I asked every venue we looked at what they do in case of rain and many of the Southern California venues had no backup plan and everyone just assured me it never rains! I am so happy I made sure that our venue could incorporate tents if needed. Also, no matter what people tell you if the wedding is days away and there is a chance of rain… assume it will rain and change your plans accordingly. Three days before our wedding we were still not sure it would rain and many of my friends and family were just trying to be supportive and assure me it wasn’t going to rain, that’s very nice, but ignore them and make the plans! You will be thankful in the end that you are prepared. Next, try and make the rain part of the wedding, incorporate personal touches and rain specific themes that make it seem like the rain was YOUR idea. I also recommend just going with it, there is no point in fighting the weather, there is nothing you can do and yes, the day will be different than you originally envisioned. It’s ok to be a little disappointed, that’s normal, but feel it and then get over it and look at the bright side. Make the needed adjustments, and just have fun, if you are happy and having a great time your guests will as well. It really added to our day and made it so memorable for everyone that attended. Just remember there are many parts of a wedding that are out of your control, try to plan ahead but enjoy the moment no matter what! Our rainy day wedding was the best day of our lives, we would not have wanted it any other way.