Newland Barn Wedding!

I had the best job ever this summer. 

My daughter got married last month at the Newland Barn in Huntington Beach.  It was magical!  The venue was the perfect "clean slate" to start with ... a red barn, an old Victorian house with a white picket fence and a gazebo.

One thing I know from decorating is that there are always limitations.  It doesn't matter if your budget is large or small, there are always limitations.  We tried to stay within our limitations by doing everything we could ourselves and by keeping things SIMPLE.

We started with first things first.  

We found the bridesmaids dresses and that set our color scheme.  Easy.  Done.  

We waited until the week before the wedding and checked with the flower mart to see what was available.  White!  I LOVE white.  My favorite color!  That worked.  

Stock in all the colors of the dresses - perfect!  Done.  Check check.

We went to the L.A. flower mart and bought all the flowers and rose petals a couple of days before the big day - the weather cooperated and the flowers stayed cool outside.  We filled the refrigerator (every nook and cranny) with the petals.

White was the perfect choice!

We put mock packages on the gift table to identify it and used a lantern for cards.

The stock fit perfectly in the little Ikea vases and were very easy to assemble the night before.

We added lights and paper lanterns

We took the inside of the barn and covered the plain white walls with fabric and covered the ceiling with 36" white round balloons and three chandeliers from Ikea:

My daughter found this door in an alley the week before the wedding and we used it to display family wedding photos. It went great with our photo booth!

We made a couple of seating areas inside the barn with furniture we brought from our house and my sister's house. 

We served three kinds of cakes; red velvet, chocolate with buttercream frosting and coconut pineapple.  

Both Hayley and Emmanuel saved the slips of paper from the first time they exchanged numbers.  How sweet is that?

We spent days making the gifts, the coasters for the table numbers and the seat assignment tags 

A few great drink choices

Simple but delicious food

Wonderful entertainment

Wedding Details: 

The restrooms were not very impressive to start with and presented the biggest challenge; we could not put anything permanent on the walls and we could make no holes.  That meant we could not hang anything to cover the large span of plain dirty white walls.  We used removable stick-on chalkboard panels, a large leaning mirror (a vintage door) and a gorgeous rug to hide the flaws.  Burlap, twine and clothespins were essentials.  

We put photos of the bride and groom on the
women's and men's restroom doors

Organization was key to staying calm and enjoying the planning and the wedding day!

I would love to help you style your wedding. If you are interested in setting up an appointment to discuss your upcoming event, consulting appointments are $150 / hr and wedding planning / styling fees are determined individually for each event. I would love to help you with your wedding planning, details or decor. We also have photo booth & wedding photography services available. You can contact me, Sherri Cassara @ sherricassaradesigns@gmail.com or by phone @ 562.547.5247.  

We no longer charge for our rentals - they are included in our planning / styling fees. Here is just a sample of what we have as we add with each event we do. We have furniture, doors, and other props as well: