Lizzie and Matt-The Parker, Palm Springs

We have been coveting these photos for months but can finally share them with all of you. This was a beautiful wedding we did at The Parker in Palm Springs this past October. We had the pleasure of working with a truly inspirational couple who's well honed design aesthetic (Lizzie is a design blogger and writes for various magazines) made our job very exciting. We had the pleasure of collaborating with Danielle Rowe Zunt from Brown Paper Design on the event design and from start to finish it was a fun filled adventure.

Lizzie and Matt chose the hotel for its funky ambiance and mid century glamour as well as it's close proximity to Los Angeles where many of their guests were traveling from. It was important to them to have a wedding location that was a laid back, fun gathering place for all their guests to spend the weekend together. Most people arrived Thursday night and were welcomed to the Parker with a custom Maptote bag filled with hand picked personal favorites of the bride and groom like lobster gummy candy, In and Out Burger notepads, Hadley's date cookies, and salt water taffy.

Saturday was the big day. Lizzie and Matt rented out the Gene Autry residence at the Parker as the main gathering area for all wedding party and family members. The front door was adorned with a huge L and M made out of flowers by Danielle of Brown Paper Design so all the important people knew they had come to the right place. Fiore Beauty out of Los Angeles set up shop inside the residence and had a full blown hair and makeup production line going.




The ceremony took place on the croquet lawn under a large olive tree. Danielle added color to the space with a thick carpet of rose pedals down either side of the aisle. White orchids were hung from the tree and puddled on the grass to create a modern backdrop for the ceremony. Lizzie wanted to keep the ceremony simple so the only arrangements were two large urns full of bright pink peonies that marked the beginning of the aisle. They included their adorable dog Harrison in the ceremony who sported a big pink bow. The bouquet Danielle made for Lizzie to carry was beyond gorgeous. It was a wild bouquet of bright sweet peas, imported fuchsia peonies from New Zealand, and angel grass tied with grosgrain ribbon from France. Lizzie wore a Peter Langer gown. Matt's boutonniere paired pheasant feathers and euphorbia and was finished with a black and white gingham ribbon. The bridesmaids carried different combinations of white sweetpea, green cigar millet, and white peonies, tied off with wide green satin ribbon.






After the ceremony, guests moved to the fire pit lawn where they enjoyed a Lillet cocktail based on Lizzie and Matt's favorite recipe and an assortment of tray passed hors d'oeuvres. Light gray cocktail linens and vintage glass vases in different jewel tones filled with several varieties of white flowers adorned the cocktail tables. The escort card display was inspired by Lizzie and Matt's love for fly fishing. Each dining table was named after a specific fly lure and the display as well as the table names were decorated with hand drawn illustrations of each lure by calligrapher and artist, Cynthia Warren.

The color palette for the whole evening was based off of two of Lizzie's favorite colors, bright coral pink and a rich turquoise blue. From there we added different accent colors to make each space have it's own look but still feel cohesive. The inspiration for the look and feel of some of the design elements came from Little Door, one of Lizzie and Matt's favorite restaurants in Los Angeles. Lizzie has an incredible eye and had an opinion and vision for every aspect of the event. She was a lot of fun to collaborate with and was really inspiring to work with.



For dinner, guests were invited into the Palm Court which is a grassy area filled with palm trees. Custom drape installations by BAM Specialty Fabric Draping created a formal entryway to the space and made the open lawn feel more intimate. Lighten Up hung chandeliers from the palm trees and we brought in a 12' long mirrored bar for a hint of glamour. The dining linens by La Tavola were a rich turquoise color and were accented by bright coral menu cards, mercury glass vessels, and tons of white hydrangea. Classic Party Rentals provided the bulk of the rental items. Because she could not find the perfect coral pink paper to use for the menu cards, Cynthia Warren decided to paint the paper the exact pantone swatch we picked out. The result had a tactile handmade feel that went perfectly with the rest of the decor. Cynthia created individual cut outs on each menu card to form a window where she attached the calligraphed names of each guest in the place of seating cards. At each guests place setting was a bundle of sparklers tied off with gingham ribbon (tied by Alison's mom who assisted us that day) and a box of matches. The guests dined to the sounds of Ikebe Shakedown, an Afro-Funk band flown in from New York.

After dinner, everyone moved to the ballroom lawn for espresso, cake, and lots of dancing. From the beginning, Lizzie was adamant that she hated ballrooms and did not want to have anything to do with a ballroom. So we all came up with the idea of completely draping off the wall of the ballroom essentially making it disappear. Danielle found a gorgeous raspberry print for the drape from David Hicks' line which Lizzie and Matt now own and are planning to use for their next reupholstery project. Recycling at it's finest.


Birdcages adorned with wildflowers and candles accented the vintage inspired bar and rattan chandeliers were hung on either side of the cake. The couple surprised their guests right after the cake cutting with an intense five minute fireworks display and from there it was time to dance. DJ Michael Antonia kept everyone on the dance floor with his diverse playlist. After the official party end time, some of the guests continued the celebration back at the Gene Autry house where they munched on sliders and fries cooked up by the Parker. Thanks to Max Wanger for all the lovely photos.