DANAE & DEVON'S INTIMATE FOREST THEMED WEDDING DINNER AT MASALA RESTAURANT

Rose Tinted Photography

My good friends Devon & Danae recently got married in a beautiful forest here in New Zealand (See beautiful images by Meg Courtney Photography here). It was a magical, fairytale of a day! The kind that you wish you could relive cause it was that memorable!

Instead of the typical "Wedding Reception", these guys had an all inclusive afternoon tea following the Wedding ceremony. There were picnic blankets, good food and great company. Danae & Devon made the cutest (Nae's) lemonade stand complete with planted Elysium, as well as a styled (Dev's) Snack Bar. The forest was decorated with dozens of metres of bunting flags made by Danae. The aisle was set with tree stumps rounds and large glass (Canadian) pickle jars filled with wildflowers. These arrangements were done by Cheryl, who is the mother of the bride and a creative genius. They had a tree covered with framed images of the couple and plenty of #devonanddanae signs to remind guests to document the day. This meant the overseas family could be a part of it by following via social media. Meg Courtney was also super quick to get the photos back to the couple, which meant the whole day was really well captured.

In the evening they hosted an intimate dinner at Masala Indian Restaurant (Bucklands Beach) for the closest of family and friends. Danae had a vision that included elements from their favourite film Moonrise Kingdom. Their invites were actually a mini film adaptation of the scene where the boy and girl characters are writing letters to one another. They were super cute and a unique way to invite guests. For the styling we included quirky camping equipment like lanterns, binoculars, antlers, forest animal ornaments, woodcut chargers, and other woodsy elements. Danae found the awesome bunny ornaments at a design store which she spray painted to be glossy white. She also hand-painted the twigs with her wedding colours of green, white and yellow to use as named place cards. They were unique to each guest. She also made the macarons for guest favours along with the amazing Eloise.. who also notably did all of the bridesmaids hair. The macarons were white & milk chocolate for obvious reasons.

We made little terrariums from a gorgeous wee plant that Danae previously had in her bathroom. We replanted them into glass fish bowls with some pebbles and soil and added cute Schleich forest animals (bambi, squirrel, fox & racoon). Instead of floral, we used lush greenery of fern & ivy. This fitted well with the forest / camp / Moonrise Kingdom theme, but was also an affordable way to do it since it could just be picked from the garden.

Big thanks to the beautiful Paige Horton, and my gorgoeus husband Louis who helped me set up the decor for the evening. Also to everyone that helped out with the set up for the rest of this spectacular day. This made my role as event coordinator so much easier with so many helping hands. I know how appreciative Danae & Devon are for your efforts!