Erin & Clayton | Melrose Mansion, New Orleans, Louisiana

Erin & Clayton chose the intimate and beautiful Melrose Mansion for their Spring destination wedding. If you haven’t been there, it’s a beautiful hotel on  oak-lined Esplanade Avenue, one of my favorite streets in New Orleans. Erin and Clayton invited about seventy people to the wedding, and we turned the parking lot into a beautiful tented event space for the ceremony which was later flipped for the sit-down dinner.

The white tent was lined on two sides by a natural hedge wall that was already in the parking lot, and really looked beautiful. A ceremony arch by Urban Earth was the focal point of the ceremony. Erin had her two grandmothers, escorted by her grandfather, as the flower girls. They were so excited for their part in the ceremony, and these pictures make me smile!

After the ceremony, everyone made their way to the pool area for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. While the guests were enjoying cocktail hour, we flipped the ceremony space. The flowers were really stunning—Erin was going for neutral with a touch of blush, and we also included anemones with the dark purple/black centers. The black and white color scheme mirrored the black and white décor of the Mansion and really fit the space. During the cocktail hour, Erin & Clayton had their first dance on the balcony overlooking the pool and also cut the wedding cake.

Although we worried about the weather, the rain held off, and everything was able to proceed as planned. After cocktail hour, guests were escorted back to the tent space and enjoyed dinner followed by dancing. At the end of the night, everyone was secondlined out to Esplanade by Kinfolk Brass Band, and headed to Lafitte’s to keep the party going!

Vendor Credits

Styling and Event Production & Management | Satchel Planning & Design

Photography | Jacqueline Dallimore Photography

Hair | Amber Buxton Salon

Makeup | Makeup by Meggan

Prep, Ceremony, & Reception Venue | Melrose Mansion

Cake | Bittersweet Confections

Flowers | Urban Earth

Videography | Blue Couture

Catering | Food Art Inc.

Tent, Chandelier, & Dance Floor | Element

Other Rentals | Perrier Party Rentals

DJ | DJ Glenn Robicheaux

Second line | Kinfolk Brass Band

Rachel & Noam | The Ritz-Carlton & The Nopsi Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana

Rachel & Noam were married during the holiday season in a ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton, followed by a secondline to the Nopsi Hotel for the reception. There’s something about Christmas time in New Orleans, and I love the photos of them secondlining down Canal with the palm trees and Christmas lights!

I met Rachel & Noam for the first time at a neighborhood coffee shop where I like to meet clients. We got along so well right away, and realized we lived really close to each other, and I walked by their house all the time. I loved getting to know them better while we planned the wedding, and I also got to know and like Rachel’s family. By the time the wedding got here I felt like I was watching my friends get married, and I was so happy for them on the wedding day!

Our original plans called for a ceremony in the courtyard at the Ritz-Carlton. All week we watched the weather and things weren’t looking great. Ultimately we had to make the decision to move the wedding inside to one of the ballrooms, and we planned for Leaf + Petal to do a floral arch instead of decorating the courtyard gazebo as originally planned. I was watching the weather throughout the ceremony and in touch with the second line band as well as the police to see if the weather would cooperate for the second line. It was a little drizzly, but we decided to move forward with it and I’m so glad we did! The second line made a pit stop at Cajun Mike’s bar where everyone got a Miller High Life in a koozie that said “Rachel & Noam, the champagne of couples.”

For the reception, we designed the inside of the ballroom at the Nopsi along with the long hallway that leads to the ballroom so guests could use the entire space.  Johnson’s Tropicals did an amazing job bringing in and constructing crepe myrtle look-alike trees since crepe myrtles weren’t in season. The wedding cake was a focal point in the middle of the hallway leading into the ballroom, and the cake was decorated all around so it was beautiful from every direction.

This group was so much fun and the dance floor was full the entire night, the sign of a great party!

And the vendor team!

Planning & Design | Satchel Planning & Design

Photography | The Masters in Love

Bridal Prep & Reception Venue | The Nopsi Hotel

Ceremony Venue | The Ritz-Carlton

Florist | Leaf + Petal

Bridal Gown | Wedding Belles Nola

Trees | Johnson’s Tropicals

Secondline Band | Kinfolk Brass Band

Cake | Bittersweet Confections

Transportation | Limousine Livery

Photobooth | Boogie Booth

Rentals | Element

Lighting | Luminous Events

Hair | Glam Nola

Makeup | Tisa Camet

Reception Band | Musical Fantasy

Invitations | Scriptura

Secondline Drinks | Cajun Mike’s Bar

Elizabeth & Patrick | Marche, New Orleans, Louisiana

Elizabeth and Patrick were married in late February at Rayne Methodist Church, with a reception following at Marche. This was the second wedding I’ve had the honor of planning for this family, and it was just as much fun as her sister, Susannah’s wedding, the year before. Yes, they planned two weddings less than a year apart!  Since I already knew Elizabeth pretty well from planning Susannah’s wedding, and I knew her parents very well, there was none of the “getting to know your client stage.” I already knew what they liked, how they liked to do things, what they worried about, etc. It was awesome being able to go through this with them a second time, and really enjoy all the time we had together—I think overall there was less stress and worry, seeing that they had just been through a wedding, trusted me, trusted our other vendors, and were pros at this! I think I talked to at least one member of the Howard family at least once a week for close to two years! All that to mean when the wedding arrived, I was especially excited to see these vows, because I truly felt like we were all good friends. 

The only one I didn't know well before this wedding was the groom, Patrick. From the first time I met him I could tell he was such a sweet, genuine, and laid back guy, and these two are perfect together! 

The ceremony was at Rayne Methodist,  the same church Susannah and Karl had been married in. I loved the look on Patrick’s face when he saw Elizabeth walk down the aisle, and I definitely got a little teary-eyed sending off Elizabeth and her dad, Jonathan down the aisle!

The reception at Marche was a blast! The venue was stunning, with greenery and lighting everywhere, by Poppy & Mint & Luminous Events. Elizabeth and Patrick seemed so calm all day, and were just so joyful and happy. After the party got going, we passed around glow sticks and glowing head pieces, which everyone had so much fun with. By the end of the night, the bride and groom were on the stage dancing. I loved looking through these pictures and reminiscing about how much FUN everyone was having! Truly one of my favorite weddings I’ve been a part of!

Vendor Credits

Event Production & Styling | Satchel Planning & Design

Photography | Brocato Photography

Bridal Prep | The Terrell House  

Ceremony Location | Rayne Methodist

Reception Location | Marche  

Bridal Transportation | Limousine Livery

Guest Transportation | Hotard

Florist | Poppy & Mint

Lighting | Luminous Events

Reception Band | The Atlanta Showstoppers

Rentals | Yur Event Rental

Makeup | Katie Malone

Hair | Beth Washington

Cake | Bittersweet Confections  

Church Music | Harry Hardin

Pedicab | Need A Ride Pedicab

Videography | Lipari Films

Andre & Andrea | Beauregard-Keyes House, New Orleans, Louisiana

If you think a brunch wedding may be too tame, I have a few words for you- mimosas, Bloody Marys, and day drinking! This was my first true brunch wedding (I’ve done a few day time weddings before), and I’m now a huge fan! Andrea is a planner, and was definitely the most organized bride I have ever worked with, which made my job easy! She and Andre are also two of the nicest people I have met, and I couldn’t be happier for them!

The rain plan all along had been to move the ceremony inside the BK House. Rain was forecast all week, and a few days before the wedding, Andrea changed her mind and decided she wanted to get a tent. Of course, that close to the wedding, and in prime wedding season, all the tents were booked. We both started calling all the companies in town and finally found an available tent, which went up in the back courtyard. It looked like it was going to rain all morning, but nothing ever happened, so the ceremony was able to take place outside as originally planned.

The rain held off for the rest of the day. All the guests moved into the BK House after the ceremony for brunch and mimosas. Once the DJ kicked up, everyone started dancing, and the day drinking continued. These two had a great group of family and friends and everyone was having so much fun! Congratulations to Andre and Andrea!

Vendor Credits

Coordination & Styling | Satchel Planning & Design

Photography | Chris Deville

Officiant | Judge Kevin Centanni

Prep Location | Beauregard-Keyes House

Ceremony/Reception Venue | Beauregard-Keyes House

Florist | Pick-A-Petal

Cake | Bittersweet Confections

Ceremony Musicians | Keisha Slaughter

DJ | Countdown Sound & Uplighting

Linen & Other Rentals | Perrier Party Rentals

Hair & Makeup | Friend of Bride

Tent | Big Easy Event Rentals