Real Wedding: Addie & Nasser | Part Two

April 20, 2019 | Richmond, Virginia

Last week, we recapped Addie and Nasser's intimate ceremony and dinner that was held on Friday, April 19 and today, we are giving you part two of their wedding weekend -- the thematic wedding reception which happened the next day. When Addie began talking about everything she wanted, we were SO excited and thrilled to combine so many different facets of the couple infused into one party. Crystal has deemed it one of her most challenging designs yet - the goal was to combine over 10 different themes that reflected the bride and groom while still creating a beautiful event that worked with all of the various design components. In other words, we did not want it to look like an overwhelming circus of ideas. It needed intentionality and a very detailed design plan.

Addie and Nasser wanted their guests to step into their world. They wanted to include places, activities, animals, music, food. They decided to rent out the Country Club of Virginia and its multiple rooms and make it a true experience. There were three rooms for the main part of the reception that we decided would be great for their main favorite locations. The biggest ballroom played host to one of their fav travel spots - Paris. The next room, a tribute to the heritage of the groom - Morocco. The third room was modeled after their family ranch out in California.

From Addie, the bride: I loved that Crystal and Allie were on board from the get-go about having this ridiculous party. I’ll never forget Crystal telling me she had just gotten off the phone with our “camel guy.” The fact that she had found a “camel guy” was funny enough. We then learned that he was deemed a “non-denominational camel” and I about lost it.

Addie and Nasser had a couple of wardrobe changes but their arrival look was one of our favs. Their Cavalier, Olive, is pretty loved and she made her debut on various elements throughout the wedding weekend.

The Country Club of Virginia knocked everything out of the park. The events and catering team there is one of the best we have ever worked with. At our tasting, the chef had signage, props, presentation exactly how it would be at the reception -- the whole 9. The best part? We wanted something casual for the Ranch room, chicken fingers, smores and dips to reflect more of an easy mountain vibe. The Ranch Fountain was an all-time favorite something chef worked tirelessly on. He figured out how to take the heating element out of a chocolate fountain and fill it with Ranch dressing. A RANCH FOUNTAIN. It was incredible. Complete with various types of tater tots you could load up with extra toppings. We wanted the Paris room to feel like an open-air market and cafe. Menu items included an array of cheeses and fruits, a seafood tower of fresh shrimp and crab alongside Croque Monsieur and steak frites. The pastry chef created the tastiest and most beautiful macaron towers for our flower market area as well as sweet and savory crepes. Guests were also greeted with a few Beatles themed items (we had a mix of a Beatles tribute band in this space as well as a college favorite band that the bride and groom loved) like 'I want to hold your hamburger' and 'Let it BLT' sliders. The Moroccan room was a colorful boast of incredible cuisine. From the Moroccan souk station filled with fresh figs, dates, apricots, flatbreads and tomato salad to the tangine display with lamb, merguez sausage and variety of vegetables and cous cous. We also had a Maghrebi tea station with moroccan style tea glasses. I'll share the after-party menu below and you will love it too!

Scroll through to see all of the incredible details from Addie and Nasser's big day -- part two!

Addie wanted her Save the Date to be a bookmark (she loves to read -- even has an instagram account dedicated to her reads. Follow her @shelf_discovery) and we wanted to give a nod to the different themes of the party somehow. Working with Kara Anne Paper, we decided to include these book illustrations with the titles being subtle hints to the experiences of their big day. The image on the back was taken at their ranch in California for the engagement session.

The actual invitation was something we discussed for weeks. We wanted people to know what they were stepping into without laying all of our cards on the table. We eventually landed on a sort of map being the best way to tie the different worlds together in a beautiful colorful way. The moroccan doors were used as a way to open the invitation and we also had guests enter the reception through a Moroccan entrance.

The signature drinks were a Moroccan Mule (a different take on a Moscow Mule) and a sparkling Rosé. In addition to a food tasting, we also had an extensive wine tasting with the Country Club. I think between the four of us, we ended up with about forty empty glasses. That was one of our favorite meeting days for sure!

We turned this outdoor porte-cochere into a Moroccan oasis with gorgeous seating, Moroccan music playing, and a live camel. All guests entered through this before stepping into the ballroom in "Paris."

White Glove Rentals, Paisley & Jade, Ampa and Festive Fare knocked it out of the park with amazing rental selections for us.

This is Jasper. He was one of the most popular attendees of the evening besides the Bride and Groom. We decided we couldn't have a Moroccan theme without a camel. So after an extensive amount of researching we found a camel and the next step was getting the club to agree to having a large zoo animal on their grounds. Also, surprisingly an easy conversation. That's one of the reasons we loved working with them -- they made everything so easy. Our conversations with the camel owner were hilarious - we took notes on everything from what he (the camel) likes to stand/sit on to his personality to feeding him to getting him inside to clean-up. We also ordered attire for the camel and the handler which just added that extra dose of fun!

We worked with a handful of rental, drapery and prop companies on this project. The team at Mosaic was incredible and handled our custom build-outs like this cool Moroccan archway you see here.

A variety of cheeses and fruits in the Paris room

We really brought the outdoors in with this Ranch room. This section was complete with real trees and ferns, grass and cowhide rugs, tree stumps, and real nature sounds playing. Crystal is all about engaging all of your senses. The nature soundtrack really put this room over the top and was probably our favorite to be in.

We also created a smores roasting area with stumps and had the fireplace going for the ranch feel.

We were obsessed with these little make your own s'mores in the cast iron skillets. We had small little flames that guests could use to roast their own marshmallow. It was the cutest little dessert!

Florals were arranged very loose and wildflower'esque.

Ranch fountain, tater tots and all the fixins'

Addie came up with the idea that the women's restroom would be a shrine to one of her favorites and the men's would be for one of Nasser's favorites. The ladies room had these Lana Del Ray posters and flower crowns and fake cigarettes. The men's had this cardboard cutout of Cam Newton (Nasser is a huge Panthers fan) and some eye blacks and masks from The Incredibles. It was so cute to see more and more guests as the night went on have flower crowns and face tattoos.

From the bride: We got a band from our college to perform and then supplemented it with two different Beatles sets. The Beatles band wore suits for the first set and then switched into Sgt. Pepper outfits for the second. They could be seen mingling around with guests the whole night. 

From the bride: The chef got really into it and all of the food reflected the themes from the whole night. We had I Want to Hold Your Hamburgers and Strawberries Fields Salad for the Beatles, couscous served in tagines for Morocco, cheese plates and macarons for Paris, s’mores and a tater tot buffet with ranch dressing fountain for the ranch.

A caricature artist was set up in the Paris themed area. We ordered her a beret and placed her right under an umbrella for that perfect street scene right out of Paris. Guests loved taking a seat and having themselves sketched.

From the bride: Then there was the hallway – a stretch that we filled with lots of our other favorite things: a book wall to reflect our love of reading, a Dumbledore impersonator as an acknowledgement of Nasser’s Harry Potter obsession. We had a table filled with all the crafts I used to make out of duct tape as a child and we had stacks of postcards to serve as our guest book. Our photobooth had props reflecting all the wild themes of the night – a camel hat, berets, a stuffed animal of our dog, a cut out of Nasser’s face painted like a Carolina Panther, signs from Harry Potter, etc.

We had a box built to place this Eiffel Tower on and then covered it with blooms. It made the perfect centerpiece in the bar area in the Paris room.

Another favorite of the bride's -- The Bachelor. That is the groom's face as "The Bachelor." We joked that the rose on the table was the final rose for Addie.

They also love Harry Potter so a Dumbledore impersonator was a must! He was SO great. Mosaic brought our book wall to life and made this little nook just perfect for photo ops.

Addie had an outfit change during the Beatles band portion of the night. Isn't she the cutest?

We had to get a team photo with Jasper (and the precious Mother of the Bride!)

After the formal reception, guests moved to the back of the country club to an after party complete with college party games, Friends themed bar, The Office themed Pretzel Day snacks, mini golf, and a DJ.

Office themed seen here complete with pretzels and paper stacks.

From the bride: After a certain point we wanted a change to younger music so after the band was done we then got people to head down the hall to another venue. There, we had a DJ and included nods to our favorite TV shows, The Office and Friends. We had a Pretzel Day bar, a stapler in jello, Serenity by Jan candles, Dundee awards. We had a sign that said “The One Where Nasser and Addie Got Married,” late night coffee served by a sign for Central Perk and the famous orange sofa. We even had beer pong as a nod to our college days and a putt-putt hole to acknowledge Nasser’s love of golf. 

From the bride: Southern Posies took every wild idea we had and brainstormed ways to add on to it, make it better, and then found all of vendors to supply all our needs. They found us a camel guy, a photo booth girl, a Beatles band, a Dumbledore impersonator, a DJ, a photographer, a videographer, multiple design and lighting companies, places to rent putt-putt holes and Eiffel Tower statues. The amount of time, dedication, and organization to pull this off must have been insane but on top of that they handled everything with such grace and never once lost it when we changed our minds or when things didn’t run as planned. I’m so grateful that I got to spend nine months planning with this team. I miss them all the time and want to get married again just so we can have an excuse to hang out and plan ridiculous themes while eating Chick-fil-a.

Vendors and Creative TeamPlanning, Design and Florals:  Southern Posies

Friday Venue:  Home of the Bride

Friday Afterparty Venue: Quirk Hotel

Saturday Luncheon Venue: Home of the Bride

Saturday Reception Venue:  Country Club of Virginia

Photographer:  Nancy Ray Photography

Videography:  The Paperboys

Friday Stationary / Paper Products:  Ink Sugar / Katie Blackwell

Saturday Stationary / Paper Products:  Kara Anne Paper

Placecards (Friday):  Sarah Burkeen

Friday Catering + Bar/Beverage:  Commonwealth Club

Saturday Catering + Bar/Beverage:  Country Club of Virginia

Saturday Luncheon Catering:  Portico

Cake:  Great American Cookie Company

Entertainment (Main Band):  Otis Wedding

Entertainment (Beatles Band):  Abbey Road

Entertainment (DJ):  Eastcoast Entertainment / DJ Patrick Zurn

Entertainment (Photobooth):  Eastcoast Entertainment / Richmond Photobooth

Entertainment (Sound Tech):  Eastcoast Entertainment / Cruz Productions - Joel

Entertainment (Dumbledore): MSE Productions

Camel:  Private Owner

Caricature Artist:  Stage Right Entertainment

Rentals (French Cart):  BD3

Rentals:  Paisley & Jade

Rentals:  CE Rental / Festive Fare

Rentals:  White Glove Rentals

Rentals:  Ampa Events

Rentals and Production Build Outs:  Mosaic

Linens: Nuage Designs

Linens:  La Tavola

Linens:  BBJ

Tent:  Skyline Tent Company

Beauty:  Lou Stevens

Brides Gown:  Tiffanys Bridal

Travel:  James River Transportation

Travel:  TNT Limousine

Valet:  DayStar Valet  

Lodging:  Quirk

Lodging:  The Graduate

Camel Stir Sticks:  Etsy