A Look Back | Cultural Explosion Wedding | World Trade Center-Seattle

Mai + Ben's August Wedding Ceremony at World Trade Center West (Seattle) and Reception at the Tea Palace (Renton) had everything you could have asked for and more.

First meeting the couple at the Seattle Wedding Show, this amazing couple knew they wanted a great party for their closet 500+ friends and family following an incredibly intimate ceremony.

With a color scheme of ombre purples, this very organized bride wanted every aspect of her dream wedding to include purple, whether it was her cake, bridesmaid dresses, flowers, programs, flowers, place cards to even the dessert table, she left no detail out. 

There were so many details and surprises for guests at every stop. From the step and repeat at the wedding reception to the groom's cake to the amazing Emcee to not 1 by 2 dress changes, guests were entertained for the entire night and we were thankful to be part of such a spectacular day.

Planner: Elegant Affairs | Photographer;  Ben B Photography | Videographer: Medici Studios | Ceremony Venue: World Trade Center West | Officiant: Kora Nan | Florist: Elizabeth Designs | Reception Venue: Tea Palace | DJ: Glen Rimando | EMCEE: Cong Thanh | Lighting: Green Light Productions | Cakes: Celebrity Cake Studio | Hair: Harlow | Make-up: Carol Le | Photobooth: AWW Snaps | Decor: Quynh Dao Tran

How to still wed in Washington state with wedding receptions prohibited?

Beginning at 12:01 am, Monday, August 10, there is a new rule that goes into effect in Washington state prohibiting wedding receptions for the unseen time being. But not all hope is lost as wedding ceremonies can still happen as LOVE CANNOT BE CANCELLED.

It has been very tough delivering the tough news to our remaining 2020 couples who have been holding out hope that COVID wouldn’t be a factor in their wedding plans, but at this point, all politics aside, this pandemic will be around for some time so instead of fighting against it, its time we understand all the new rules and plan accordingly.

So with the new rule going into effect, we want to educate everyone what is and isn’t allowed when it comes to weddings. By understanding all of the rules, then you can make the right choice when it comes to your wedding.

Here are the rules when it comes to weddings:

• Indoor Ceremony Capacity is limited to 20% or 30 people, whichever is less, if and only if six feet of physical distancing between households can be achieved. Outdoor Ceremonies are limited to 30 people, and at least six feet of physical distancing between households is required.

• Consistent with existing guidance, indoor ceremonies are prohibited in Phase 1.

• No Live Music including but not limited to live musicians and DJs.

• Receptions are prohibited.

Yes, that means no DJs for your ceremony. Trust me when I read that I was like come on, how is that even possible. But after talking to the Governor’s office for clarification, yes indeed is the new mandate. So what does this mean for music for your ceremony? Check with your venue to see if they have a built-in sound system that you can use. If you have an outdoor wedding, then this is when we need to be creative. I am still working on ideas for a few of our weddings and stay tuned as I will update this blog post when I come up with legal ways to have music for ceremonies.

For those of you still wanting to get married in 2020, you can still legally say I Do and there is no reason why you can’t and be a little creative in the process. If you are adventurous, maybe wed on a mountaintop, by a river, or your favorite place in the state. Chat with your vendors and come up with the best and most memorable way to wed. Luckily in the age of technology, you can live stream or have your ceremony videotaped to be shared with family and friends.

If you can’t imagine having a wedding ceremony without a reception, then the next step is to think about postponing your wedding. As a Seattle Wedding Planner, I encourage you to postpone to 2021, just to be safe. Then the next step if you choose to postpone is to contact all of your vendors and let them know you intend to reschedule your wedding. Work with your venue/vendors on their availability and understand their policies when it comes to postponements and if any additional costs will in incurred. Make sure you read over your contracts thoroughly and please be patient with your vendors during this process as the last five months have been disastrous to our industry.

The only thing we don’t know is just when receptions will be allowed. However, in the meantime, there is no reason why you can’t have the wedding ceremony you want and the party later to celebrate with friends and family. If you are lost in the process of understanding all these rules we are here to help and we would love to chat how we can make your Wedding Fairytale come true.

A Look Back | Summer Castle Wedding | Thornewood Castle

Vendors
Wedding Planner: Elegant Affairs  //  Photographer: Stephanie Cristalli Photography //    Videographer: Belscope Weddings  //  Venue: Thornewood Castle    //  Caterer: Twelve Baskets Catering  //  Wedding Dress: Pnina Tornai from Kleinfeld Bridal  //  Dessert: Better Than A Boyfriend Bakery and Celebrity Cake Studio   //  Beauty: Salon Maison  //  Florist: Diamond Custom Floral  //  Officiant: John Rosendale  //  Rentals: Sweet Buffet Lady + American Party Place  //  Ceremony Musicians: Puget Sound Strings

From the Bride: We initially fell in love with Thornewood Castle as our wedding venue and were really inspired to make our wedding classic & elegant to match the feel we got when walking around the castle & garden. My husband is European, so we loved having the ability to tie in his heritage to our big day through Thornewood. We decided on blush & gold as our wedding colors to tie back to the classic theme and immediately began working with our planner & florist to determine how to accentuate the features of this gorgeous venue without stealing away from it's natural beauty--and our team totally nailed it! Food was also extremely important to us and we were blown away by Twelve Baskets, Better than a Boyfriend, & Celebrity Cake Studio and our guests totally agreed. On the big day, we were SO impressed with how everything came together. From the beautiful garden ceremony, to the gorgeous reception underneath a tent in the back lawn & dancing and drinking in the grand ballroom, our day felt like it was straight out of a fairytale. Our wedding planner & team were beyond helpful throughout the entire process and were instrumental in making everything run smoothly and turn out perfect. We were SO thankful to have Stephanie Cristalli & Belscope Weddings there as well to help capture our big day and were blown away by the photos and videos we got to take away afterwards. In short, our day was a complete dream and above & beyond anything we could have ever imagined! We are so thankful for the wonderful team that helped make our dream wedding come to life and would highly recommend all of our incredible vendors to any bride & groom looking to create their perfect day!