Embracing New Orleans wedding traditions in classy-as-hell style

The Offbeat Bride: Mandana, entertainment attorney

Her offbeat partner: Sean, video editor

Date and location of wedding: Ceremony Venue: St. Louis Cathedral; Reception Venue: Maison Montegut, New Orleans, LA — October 3, 2015

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

Early on, we knew we wanted a destination wedding and wanted it to be somewhere easy to get to and not too expensive. We wanted our guests to have a special experience for our wedding weekend and not just go to a party and go home right after. Our ceremony had to be traditional and we both wanted to exchange vows in a beautiful cathedral with a reception held outdoors. We were lucky to find both within one block of each other in the French Quarter in New Orleans where I grew up and still have family. New Orleans was the perfect destination because our guests from NYC, California, Germany, and Sweden could get there relatively easily and be surrounded by great food and fun things to do.

Tell us about the ceremony:

It was really important for us to have a Catholic ceremony and to include New Orleans traditions such as the second line parade, cake pulls, and groom's cake. We also wanted to include small details of our personalities such as the welcome bags, custom dolls, family photos, and '80s alternative music.

Tell us about your reception:

Our reception venue, Maison Montegut, couldn't have been more perfect for us with its gorgeous courtyard and ballroom on the second floor. We knew we had to have chandeliers hanging from the old Magnolia tree in the courtyard and have our custom designed cipher displayed on the wooden bar, second line hankies, to-go cups, and photo strip folders which were our wedding favors for our guests to put their photo booth photos in to take home.

Another favorite detail of ours were the custom dolls we had made to look like us which we used as our version of a second cake topper which we placed next to the groom's cake in the shape of a voodoo doll.

We both love lavender and tried to incorporate it as a theme in our wedding. We wrapped our invitations with a black silk ribbon and included sprigs of dried lavender in the knot of the bow which provided for a wonderful scent once the recipient opened the envelope. We had lavender cocktails as our signature cocktail at the reception and had small vases of dried lavender placed throughout the reception.

Most importantly, we wanted to have family who are no longer with us be present on our special day. We place photos of each of them in frames throughout the reception rooms.

What was your most important lesson learned?

Get a wedding planner who was amazing and so helpful. If you can't afford a planner, try to hire someone to take care of the wedding day details and agenda for you so you can focus on what's important that day. Take the whole experience in and enjoy every minute of it. Once you walk down the aisle, the time will fly by so try to take it all in. And most importantly, don't let anything bring you down.

Most importantly, we couldn't have had the event of a lifetime without the help of all the amazing vendors. Do your research and choose the vendors that can meet your expectations.

Vendors

• Photography: Zoeica Images
• Coordination and Linens: Get Polished Events
• Ceremony Venue: St. Louis Cathedral
• Reception Venue: Maison Montegut
• DJ: by a friend
• Florals: Nola Flora
• Stationery: Scriptura
• Event Rentals and Lighting: Firefly Ambiance
• Photo Booth: Deep Fried Photo
• Videography: NorthSouth Video Productions
• King’s Cake and Petit Fours: Haydel’s
• Wedding Cake and Groom’s Cake: Royal Cakery
• Second Line Band: Free Agents Brass Band
• Bridal Gown: Tara Keely from Kleinfeld’s
• Groom’s Suit: Holland and Sherry Bespoke
• Rings: Tiffany’s, www.tiffanys.com
• Hair and Makeup: Beauty and Brains Design
• Catering: La Bellas Catering

Gallery

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