Kristen and Todd in Los Gatos, CA
A creative bride lets her imagination run wild
THE CELEBRATION
THEIR STORY
The August 2008 wedding of Kristen* and Todd Gullion was a fantasy come true— literally. “I love mermaids and fairies, so I wanted this enchanted Midsummer Night’s Dream theme,” says the bride, who also happens to be president of Bliss* Video Productions, Inc. She called upon event designer Sasha Souza to bring her vision to life at Nestldown, a private estate in the Santa Cruz mountains. Souza draped lavender and sea green fabric to create an underwater ambience in the barn, and transformed the grounds into a fairy-tale forest with arrangements of vanda orchids, angel vines, maidenhair ferns and gloriosa lilies on antique lace table linens. While a friend sang in the ceremony, the couple passed their rings among the 144 guests for a collective blessing. “I wanted everyone to feel how important it was to me that they were there,” says Kristen*. Before dining on organic seafood and vegetarian fare, followed by dancing, the crowd explored the property on a miniature train and filmed each other using the bride’s vintage cameras. Of course, Kristen* also had a professional videographer on hand to capture every moment of her own wedded bliss. —Courtney Muir
VENDORS
Wedding Dress
La Sposa, splasposa.com
Bride's Headpiece
Leah C, leahc.com
Groom's Suit
Al's Attire, alsattire.com
Bridesmaid Dresses
Holly Stalder, hollystalder.com
Bridesmaid Dresses
Bella Bridesmaid, bellabridesmaid.com
Cake
I Dream of Cake, idreamofcake.com
Wedding Planner
Sasha Souza, sashasouzaevents.com
Ceremony and Reception Site
Nestldown, nestldown.com
Photographer
Elizabeth Messina, kissthegroom.com
- This content originally appeared in Modern Bride magazine.
