Ashley & John are Married!

After much anticipation and work for their absolutely amazing wedding, Ashley & John Rausch are finally married! They were married in a breathtaking ceremony in front of 700+ guests on Saturday in Fort Smith, AR.
I've got some iphone pictures and guest photos to keep you tied over until the professional photos from Benfield Photography are ready!Ashley's wonderful family flew in from Oregon at the beginning of the week and immediately got to work. Her aunts and grandma Rose, who own a floral shop in Oregon, got started on the gorgeous flowers, and her uncles and cousins helped as we transformed the Fort Smith Convention Center into a stunning wedding venue.

left: Ashley's Grandma Rose working on the pomander centerpieces.

center: the beautiful bouquets.
right: Ashley's uncle Milt who helped us to install the drapery throughout the space.

The hard working bride helped with the flowers & drapery too in the days leading up to the wedding!

The ceremony space was truly breathtaking. I've heard it compared to scenes from movies and music videos in the past couple of days from guests and others who have seen photos. We knew early on that Ashley wanted a candle light ceremony, so I designed the ceremony space around a photo she showed me of a mantle adorned with flowers and candles. We designed the altar pieces first, which were custom built for Ashley to resemble fireplace mantles. These were adorned with candles and overflowing with gorgeous flowers. Then we worked our way down the aisle using candelabras to bring in that traditional elegance that Ashley wanted to be seen throughout the wedding. We alternated the candelabras with cylinders filled with candles, topped with pomanders and lined the custom aisle runner with rose petals to create a look of pure perfection! The custom lighting, by Steve at Event Production Group in Fayetteville, AR was the perfect compliment to the decor and really gave the space that wow factor! The final piece was an 8 foot tall cross hung from the ceiling to transform the space from convention center to the perfect wedding ceremony space.
As the guests enjoyed string quartet music during the cocktail hour, we put the finishing touches on the dining room. We brought in ivory carpet to warm up the convention center space, and the room was surrounded by beautiful drapery to complete the transformation. The tables were topped with beautiful ivory marquis damask linens from BBJ Linens, gold chargers, set with glasses, and finished with 3 bottles of wine and gold chiavari chairs. The custom paper suite by Amy Hannon of Sincerely Yours Paper, Inc. were truly the icing on the cake. They were the perfect extension of the wedding design and consisted of everything from water bottle labels, to chair signs for the bride & groom. There were stickers for the candy buffet, reserved signs for the family & bridal party, and much much more. She did an incredible job!

The post family owns Mount Bethel Winery in Altus, AR, so of course guests were served wine from the family vineyard with custom labels for Ashley & John.

The gorgeous cakes by Shelby Lynn's were incredible! The bridal cake stood 4.5 feet tall and was exactly what Ashley wanted. The groom's cake was designed to replicate John's plane and was absolutely perfect!

The beautiful lounge was filled with furniture from Eventures Party Rentals and lightly draped to separate it slightly from the rest of the reception and give guests a space to rest their feet after dancing the night away to the music of The Rockets!

The wedding was absolutely incredible. We've heard innumerable compliments from family members and guests and are so thrilled that everyone is happy! Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Rausch!! Have a wonderful honeymoon in Turks & Caicos!

Keep checking back from the amazing photos from Benfield Photography. I should have them soon!