Yep you read that right! This stunning Winter wedding not only has the most beautiful bouquets of deep red blooms, and a sparkly colour palette of silver and gold, but also a rather unique wedding ceremony – the Magnolia Bridge over Bayou St. John! All flawlessly captured by Marissa Lambert, to say it is dreamy is something of an understatement…..

Catherine, a professional wedding photographer herself, & Brad met while studying architecture. And after 6 years together they decided to tie the knot following a non-traditional but perfectly them proposal…. “I was moving into my new house (and Brad was helping) and we were discussing our future. We both knew that we wanted to get married but it was a matter of when and how we’d get engaged. Well, not even 10 minutes later I heard Brad calling me from my closet. He had found a simple gold THUMB ring from my jewelry box (that wasn’t even unpacked yet) and I saw him down on one knee! I asked, “WHAT are you doing?!…I’m pretty sure that’s a thumb ring.” LOL And he responded, “I know. Your ring is already in the making but I don’t want to wait another day. This is a ring and that’s what I need right? So, I’m asking you today, because I don’t want to wait another day, will you marry me?””

Sounds like the perfect proposal to me! Once engaged there was only one place they could imagine exchanging vows, their favorite city in the world – New Orleans! Wanting a wedding that was whimsical, sentimental, and magical, they set their hearts on one venue in particular….but I will let Catherine tell you all about it…..

“My shoes were very important because they showed the entire day (as the dress was high low). They were a lovely ivory pair of sparkly Badgley Mischkas” Oh and ladies if you have fallen head over heels for them as much as I have, you’re in luck! They’re still for sale here.

“I love my dress! Because I photograph weddings for a living I wanted something unique. I chose a high low gown very faint hues of yellow in the top and blues in the bottom. I had my seamstress remake the top of the dress into a halter so that I could attach a Carol Hannah beaded capelet. I feel like that piece just MADE the dress!”

“My hair and makeup were simple with a trendy twist. Sara Buteaux is a goddess with hair/makeup and since she wasn’t available I used her sister Sam for my makeup! She did a beautiful job and made me feel so comfortable!!! For my hair I chose I soft fish tail bun and I wore the Nadia circlet from Jennifer Behr. No veil, because I just felt a veil didn’t fit the bridge location we were married on.”

“I feel like all of my floral dreams came true when I first saw my bouquet! It was a mix of the most BEAUTIFUL deep red peonies, garden roses and eucalyptus. Mia of Root Floral Design is an incredible visionary, and she and her partner Sophie really did an amazing job with our flowers! The bouquet was surely the focal piece of my look and I couldn’t have asked for a better one!”

“My bridesmaids both were gold. Since it was a “winter wedding” I wanted the colors to feel festive (reds, greens, ivory silver and gold). The dresses they wore were the ‘Annabelle’ in shimmering gold from Jenny Yoo . And they looked beautiful! Love my girls. Their dresses were purchased from Wedding Belles Nola.”

“We were married on the Magnolia Bridge over Bayou St. John…my DREAM location! As soon as we started talking about getting married, our hearts were set on the bridge. It’s right in the center of Brad’s old neighborhood in MidCity New Orleans and represented so many of our memories. We love to spend time biking and walking from his house to city park…passing the bridge along the way. And now, we will always think of our wedding!”

“We second lined from our ceremony on the Magnolia Bridge over Bayou to our reception at Pitot House with our band Three37.”

“The Pitot House… well, we didn’t even realize it was a wedding venue at first but thought it was just a beautiful, historic New Orleans home! It’s within 500 ft of the bridge and made the PERFECT location for our reception. The colors of the building are white and it’s a two-story gallery styled home with huge emerald green shutters!”

“But our actual reception took place on the lawn of the property under a clear tent! The reception started as the sun was setting and ended under the lighting of the string lights. With only 65 people in attendance we wanted the setup to feel cozy and intimate especially for the toasts. The bulk of the color for our reception came from the flowers. Root Floral Design created GORGEOUS garlands including peonies, pinecones, eucalyptis and roses. AMAZING!”

“My favorite finishing touches for the reception were the ways in which we personalized it. We had a map of New Orleans lazer cut and framed that would serve as our seating chart. Every name had on the seating chart was also lazer cut and connected with string to the part of the city that the person’s table represented. At their actual seat was a gold charger, our menu and their name lazer cut out of wood large enough to keep!”

“Our cake was created by Bittersweet Confections, Nola. We had to laugh, because at first I think they thought we were so funny about how minimal we wanted our cake!!! But coming from a background in architecture…we just wanted simplicity for everything. Our cake was two-tiered all white fondant, and we used a simple olive branch to decorate it. Aside from the look of the cake we were stoked about the inside! Almond cake with cookies and cream filling. Ya’ll. So. GOOD!”

Pearls of Wedding Wisdom from the Bride…

“I would say to do it big. You only have your wedding once so be true to who you are and your vision!”

“My favorite moment of the day was probably our exit. It was the culmination of an awesome, celebratory day with the people that we literally cannot breathe without. I’m still so grateful.”

Tell us a little about your photographer…

“Marissa was great! I knew I wanted a photographer who also photographed in film and I felt Marissa and I had a similar approach to wedding photography. We were also lucky to have our friend Kaylynn Marie accompany Marissa. They did an AMAZING job and kept such great energy ALL day!

I also want to sing the praises of Brock Gomez and his fiance’ Natalie. They also did a WONDERFUL job and we are so fortunate to be able to relive our wedding day through our wedding photography and wedding video!”

A huge congratulations to the happy couple Catherine & Brad! Thankyou for letting me share your wedding – CVB’s first bridge wedding! A big thankyou must also go to their photographer Marissa Lambert who captured the whole day, and all of those gorgeous colours, so beautifully. If you would like to see more of her wonderful fine art photography do pop over to her website marissalambertphotography.com. You can also find and follow her on Instagram and Facebook.

For more ideas for an intimate celebration, you might want to take a look at this rustic Autumn affair, or this rustic elegant celebration will charm your socks off! Or if its Winter wedding ideas you’re after then do have a peek at this bright Woodland wonder.

Amy

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Credits

Photography ~ Marissa Lambert // Videography ~ Brock Gomez Productions // Event Planning ~ Southern Couture Weddings // Floral Design ~ Root Floral Design // Bridesmaid Dresses ~ ‘Annabelle’ by Jenny Yoo // Wedding Dress ~BHLDN // Wedding Dress Capelet ~ Carol Hannah // Headpiece ~ Jennifer Behr // Bridal Shoes ~ ‘Rouge’ by Badgley Mischka // Reception Venue ~ Pitot House // Wedding Cake ~ Bittersweet Confections // Catering ~ Best Catered Events // Makeup ~ Sara Buteaux // Hair ~ Nicole Pigeon // Calligraphy ~ St. Blanc Calligraphy // Band ~ Three37 // Ceremony Music ~ Jesse Zenon // Getting Ready Location ~ Ashton’s Bed And Breakfast  // Wedding Branding ~ Haylei Smith