Anelisse and Braden's Tropical Themed 'Dance Party' Wedding in California by Alexandra Wallace

Yesterday I delighted the pages of the blog with Fabio and Catia’s stunning living coral themed wedding. Well today I am carrying on the colourful theme with this gorgeous tropical themed wedding. Anelisse and Braden wanted a modern, laid back wedding with a formal twist that allowed them to party the night away. They brought in lots of colour with beautiful Protea and tropical foliage and mixed in some fun decoration ideas, including a pink neon sign. This wedding in California is filled with laid back outdoor vibes that I know you are going to love. Big thanks to Alexandra Wallace for the lovely images.

Our wedding was a full blown dance party from start to finish. Braden and I love to dance and party with friends and family so it reflected us through and through.

Anelisse and Braden were married on 5th October 2019 at The Casitas Estate in Arroyo Grande, California. ‘We always dreamt of getting married somewhere with Spanish vibes, somewhere quaint and outdoors. The Casitas checked all the boxes. It also was an easy decision after interacting with Pat and Tony, the owners, who were an absolute pleasure to work with and would recommend them to anyone and everyone! Wwe had 150 guests and it took a year to plan.’

How they met
We met in college at a mutual friend’s party when we were just 19 & 20 years old. We have been together for almost a decade.

The proposal
We’re big campers and hikers and have always wanted to adventure to Big Sur. After 8+ years of talking about it, we finally booked a trip up there. On one of our hikes, we came across a beautiful waterfall, and being the only two people there, it was the perfect environment for an intimate proposal. Our trip to Big Sur was well worth the wait,

How did you allocate your budget?
We narrowed down what was most important to us and chose to allocate more funds to those specific areas vs. others. Prioritizing is key!

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We splurged on the venue, florals and the décor (tables, seating, etc.). We wanted the whole day to stand out and that meant bringing in the best of the best!

How did you choose your photographer?
We came across Alli’s work and fell in love with her style. She’s so talented in capturing all of the emotions that come with the wedding day. Not only is she talented, but she’s SO kind and easy to work with…it was a no brainer to go with her.

The dress
Dress was by Lovers Society. My shoes were Sam Edelman.

The suit and bridesmaids
The suit was by The Black Tux. We didn’t have a bridal party.

Theme or colour scheme
We focused on tropical foliage and colours. The theme was laid back Tulum with a Black Tie formal spin to it…sounds weird, I know, but turned out exactly how I designed and envisioned it.

Flowers
Our main flower was Protea and tropical foliage. We also had a big pop of colour from our arch being covered in gorgeous bougainvillea.

Decoration
We used white wedding papel (Mexican garland) hanging over our guests to give a romantic feel. We added a pink neon sign that said “life is good” to add some fun dance vibes and party favors/seating assignments were maracas which our guests LOVED and used throughout the entire dance party.

Food
We served tacos to go with our spicy margaritas.

Wedding cake
We cut a small cake for ceremonial purposes but served our guests an assortment of different sweets, spread throughout our Dessert Bar.

Entertainment
We had our college friend, Brett Hunter, perform acoustic for the ceremony and cocktail hour and then DJ Camacho for the reception. Both are SO talented!!

Special moments
We asked our mothers to be the officiants of the wedding and we felt that was a true highlight of the day. We felt moms never get the recognition they truly deserve so we wanted them to play a key role in our special day!

Advice for other couples?
Have fun with it and don’t get too caught up in all of the planning. At the end of the day, it’s a big party, celebrating your love for one another and the day should reflect just that. Plain and simple.

Biggest surprise of the day?
We didn’t expect to have as much fun as we did…which I know sounds odd, but you hear all of these stories of getting tied up with having to talk to all of your guests and not getting much of a chance to dance. That was the complete opposite of our reception, where Braden and I were able to dance for 4 hours straight – which is exactly what we wanted. We woke up the next day smiling from ear to ear and it was truly the best day ever! I think keeping the wedding to a smaller size made this possible.