Artistic, Classy, Fun, and Very Purple
Ashley & Zach, April 22, 2012
About The Couple
Zach and Ashley met at club Vinyl in downtown Denver. Zach came up with the classic, and very creative, one-liner when he asked Ashley for a cigarette…even though he doesn’t smoke. Zach is an amazing all around artist specializing in his self invented paper punch art. I was blown away when I saw his art and our first meeting went on for hours just enjoying their story and their company.
Ashley is a free-spirit, she’s fun loving and just about the most adorable person one could ever meet. They enjoy the outdoors, going camping and especially snowboarding. They live for their live music concerts, especially anything at red rocks and have traveled many places and seen tons of amazing shows. I made sure they had the very best DJ to rock this wedding party.
The Car
Their classic, luxury wedding car was a 1936 Auburn Roadster that belongs to Zach’s uncle Darwin Conley. He brought it all the way up from Dallas TX for them to have for pictures and to have the opportunity to drive on their special day. It was a huge hit!
A Unique and Memorable Touch
Instead of a unity candle or a sand ceremony, Zach and Ashley incorporated a Wine Box into their ceremony that was handmade by a man named Tim Nederhoed. Inside the box it included a bottle of wine that was chosen by the couple and two wine glasses. All of their parents wrote letters to the couple with personal wishes, and their hopes and dreams for the couple in the future. On the box there were 2 different locks with 2 separate keys (one for the bride and one for the groom); each mother locked the lock of their new daughter-in-law’s side of the box or new son-in-law’s side of the box, and then they gave the couple their keys.
Ashley and Zach will decide how many years in the future they will wait to open the box, and then drink the bottle of wine and read the blessings and wishes from their parents. This is one of the most unique touches I have ever seen at a wedding. So creative, meaningful and memorable.
Designing Their Wedding
This was a fun one to design and decorate. They wanted something artistic, classy, bright purple and an overall style that reflected their personalities. It made sense to me that this creative couple chose purple as their main color against a black base. Rich and vibrant, purple is often associated with royalty and riches. It is believed to help people be creative, and if purple is your preference, chances are you’re an artistic and unique individual. Many “eccentric” personalities prefer purple to any other color. We started with the ceremony and the romantic, yet contemporary feel they wanted. The end result was absolutely gorgeous with over 100 candles flickering to create the most romantic setting possible.
Water and fire adorned the aisle with massive glass cylinder vases, white orchids and floating candles. No details were left out in this romantic ceremony setting. Their guests were welcomed into the dinner ballroom after the cocktail hour. Much to their delight, the room reveal was a jaw dropper with rich purple lighting that reflected off the ceiling fabric, romantic candlelit dinner tables with fresh purple iris’s submerged in tall vases and lots of drama with funky twigs and dangling crystals.
It was artistic and gorgeous… just they way they had imagined it.
Ashley Writes About Their “Dream Wedding”
“There were so many amazing memories of my wedding. I’ll never forget my grand entrance during the ceremony standing at the top of the stairs in the ceremony ballroom and seeing my best friends there smiling at me and encouraging me on. They even clapped when I came to the top of the stairs. I will always have a vivid memory of the 30 seconds when I was standing there by myself, hardly able to breathe from the excitement ,and seeing Zach for the first time. My entrance was everything I’d ever dreamed of especially with all my family and friends cheering me on and supporting me at this once in a lifetime moment. The night went off without a hitch, the cake cutting, the slide show and of course our very personalized first dance. I will also never forget walking out on that dance floor for our surprise first dance knowing the spectacle that was about to entertain our guests, and it did! It was perfect and everyone loved it. To us our wedding was priceless. I would have given anything to have the day I had when I was planning and dreaming about this day, and it surpassed our wildest dreams.”
“Our wedding was classy, beautiful, fun, and so personal. It was exactly us. It felt unique and special, not at all cliche or tacky. No one wanted the night to end and I still receive compliments everyday about one aspect or another. Our parents were so happy and impressed. They couldn’t believe how carefree and easy everything was. They all expected to have so much to do and literally didn’t have to do a thing. They also said how personal and gorgeous everything was.”
“It was an unbelievable feeling to be able to share this once in a lifetime moment with so many of our family and friends. They mean so much to both of us and we could have never done this without them, they’re our rocks. Our friends are our family and this wouldn’t have been the same without each and everyone of them.”
Why We Chose The Bella Sera
“When we first started looking for places for our wedding, everywhere we looked was just “ok”, and not really exactly what we wanted. We always felt like we were settling, taking less then what we wanted, and the price was out the roof. Having to pay so much to settle felt wrong, and we felt lost. Then we found the Bella Sera.
Looking at the photos online I told myself not to fall in love because we’d never be able to afford it. It was beautiful, large, close, and most of all affordable.
After going in to meet with Elisabeth and getting a price quote we were stunned. It was completely within our price range and literally everything we wanted. We were sold, we had our wedding venue! And everything just flowed perfectly from that moment on. The personal attention and love everyone at the Bella sera gives is priceless.
There is not one moment of our wedding we regret and I hope every bride gets to be as lucky as I was to find Bella Sera!”
The Team of Experts
Wedding Designer: Elisabeth Montoya, Bella Sera
Wedding Venue: The Bella Sera Event Center
Wedding Package: Bellissimo
Catering: Bella Sera Catering
Wedding Photography: Mark Alison Photography
DJ: DJ Guy
Floral Design: Vickie’s Flowers
Transportation: 1936 Auburn Roadster