{real couple} Rosemary + Cesar at Land’s End Part II

Yesterday, I first introduced the lovely couple Rosemary and Cesar and shared the first half of their amazingly thoughtful, detailed and simply stunning October 10 wedding at Land’s End. Today, I’m back with even more DIY details and handmade elements, as photographed by the talented Photography by Verdi.

Rosemary and Cesar’s wedding seamlessly blended elements from each heritage (Irish and Peruvian, respectively) ~ for example, while the favors I showed you yesterday were handcrafted in Peru, Rosemary and Cesar chose an Irish wedding bell and a claddagh-themed unity candle, champagne flutes, and a knife and cake server. For welcome music, they even had bagpipe music to represent Rosemary’s father’s Irish heritage.

Rosemary says, We got our cake topper – a “parejita de cholos” handmade of terracotta by Angelica Enriquez Donasca – from CIAP in Peru. It was shipped in the same box with our favors. We loved the bright colors and the musical instruments. It complemented our favors nicely. I’ll never forget the smile and surprise on my father-in-law’s face when we unwrapped it. “She looks like my sister used to look,” he said, “with her braids just like that!”

We were so excited about our cardbox purchase – it’s a custom-made functioning birdhouse that comes with two roofs – one for use as a cardbox and the other for use as a birdhouse! It’s made by John Mack of Door County Woodworks in Wisconsin. We bought it from him on Etsy. You should’ve seen Cesar and I sitting on the couch picking out the roof color and the house color and the window color… you’d think we were buying a real house! Our first house together! Next to it we placed a framed Irish blessing: “May your home always be too small to hold all your friends.”

Ribbons secured underneath an extra-special wedding day cake were pulled by some special single ladies just after the cake-cutting. In Peru, the single ladies pull ribbons secured under the wedding cake. One ribbon has an engagement ring and – as in the tradition of the bouquet toss – the recipient of the ring is the next to be engaged.

We had a special cake made for this, and we added a New Orleans twist. In New Orleans, each ribbon has a charm, and each charm has a meaning. We bought the charms from WeddingCakeCharms.com, and I designed and printed cards with information about the charm pulling custom. a list of the charms and their images, and their meanings in Microsoft Publisher. I was thrilled that our future sister-in-law Mercy (who will be marrying Cesar’s brother Javier, the best man!) got the engagement ring.

Congratulations to Rosemary and Cesar for a beautifully planned wedding ~ you two are just lovely! Many thanks to the talented Mindi and Rich at Photography by Verdi for sharing their love story with us!

Vendors ~

Venue: Land’s End ~ Sayville, NY
Florist: Lovin’ Oven Floral Designs ~ Sayville, NY
Day-of Coordinator: Francesca Leonardini of Dazzling Affairs ~ Mineola, NY
Dress: Maggie Sottero
Cake: Audrey’s Fine Baked Goods ~ Sayville, NY
Cardbox: Door County Woodworks
Flower Girl Baskets: Bragging Bags on Etsy
Thank You/Señor & Señora Signs: My Primitive Boutique on Etsy
Welcome Music: Jerry Dixon, The New York City Piper
Irish Wedding Bell: Irish on Grand ~ St. Paul, MN
Claddagh Unity Candle: The Gift Corporation ~ Dublin, Ireland
Claddagh Shamrock Champagne Flutes/Knife and Cake Server: The Counties of Ireland ~ Troy, NY
Wedding Cake Ribbon Charm Pulls: Wedding Cake Charms
Photography: Photography by Verdi

Tagged as: DIY bride, Etsy, fall, handcrafted, multicultural weddings, Photography by Verdi