Chic Backyard Cocktail Party Wedding

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Today we’ve got a gorgeous wedding to share with you guys that might just shake up how you think about a traditional wedding reception set-up.

Allison & Dan got married with an elegant garden wedding at Dan’s parents’ home. But instead of a conventional sit-down reception, they chose to give their wedding a chic, cocktail party vibe, creating different spaces throughout the garden, with high tables, bistro lights and food truck catering.

Combining informality with beautiful style, Allison wore a gorgeous Vera Wang wedding dress (the back is stunning!), the tables were adorned in sequin linens, and sophisticated floral arrangements were dotted throughout. Oh and there was the ubiquitous pool party swan float!

With planning by Holly Patton of Perfectly Posh Events and photography by Joe and Brittany of Blue Rose Wedding Photography, there are lots of gorgeous touches to borrow from this wedding.

(And make sure you click over to watch Allison & Dan’s wedding film too!)

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Our Love Story

Dan and I have been friends since the 7th grade. Although we didn’t start dating until after college, we were good friends and spent a lot of our high school free time at Dan’s parent’s home in Woodinville, WA.

After high school Allison went off to Washington State University and Dan stayed in Seattle. We remained good friends even though we were on opposite sides of the state and saw each other on school breaks and in the summer.

In 2009 we ran into each other the night before Thanksgiving, and the rest was history! We were pretty close to inseparable after that.

We choose to get married at Dan’s parent’s house because we have many fond memories there – both before as friends and as a couple.

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Our Wedding

We wanted our big day to feel like a big party that combined fun and elegance! Rather than a traditional wedding reception, we opted to host a fun cocktail style wedding with some unique touches and lots of romance.

Since we didn’t have a formal sit-down dinner, we created different lounge spaces throughout the property.

One area had lawn games and palette furniture that we built, another area had cocktail tables with gold sparkly linen, and pool-side tables with a large swan floating in the pool because no party is complete without a giant swan!

Our main décor element was the bistro lights that we strung throughout the property, which created a canopy effect over the main lawn area.

We choose a classic and chic color palette of navy, gold, light pink and white.

Guests danced the night away to an awesome band and the party continued into the wee hours of the night!

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The Photography & Videography

Our photographer was recommended by Holly, our planner, and we loved everything about Joe and Brittany!

Their clean and classic style was exactly what we were looking for with our wedding photos. They were super sweet too and we actually got the ice-cream sandwich idea from them!

Our videographer was out of state – but we had to have him. He has shot quite a few of our friends’ weddings or friends of friends, and we love all of his work.

We’re biased, but we think our wedding video is the best!

The Food

A delicious yet memorable menu was important to us.

Our guests enjoyed a walk-up food truck serving Pacific Northwest and BBQ fusion food, “his and hers” signature cocktails, a “build your own ice cream sandwich” food truck {major hit!}, and our favorite Top Pot Donuts for dessert.

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Advice for Other Couples

Always have a Plan B! Our wedding was outside in August, which is typically pretty dry and warm, but Seattle weather has a tendency to surprise you.

We were really glad that we had a Plan B for rain with a large tent and indoor space for the band because rain was in the forecast on our wedding day.

It ended up sprinkling a little but luckily it wasn’t a downpour so our guests could still enjoy the outdoor elements of our event.