Offbeat, Multicultural Wedding at The New England Aquarium

This summer we had the pleasure and honor of working on a fun, offbeat, multicultural wedding at the New England Aquarium in Boston. And while there is so much to share about this very cool wedding, I will share some of my favorite things about it and try to let the pictures tell you the rest of the story!

The Groom was of Egyptian descent, and the Bride- American from Louisiana. They wanted an offbeat party to celebrate their union which was going to happen in a private affair. This was to include their family and friends into their new life, so it was a big wedding reception party to celebrate their union!
They wanted it to be laid back, whimsical, colorful,but elegant and classy. They wanted it to reflect their easy going personalities, without it looking too informal or too plain. The location for this fun soiree was the beautiful New England Aquarium with the Boston harbor as their backdrop! A very good choice!

What we gave them?
A colorful, offbeat, laid back celebration with details that represented both their fun, unique personalities and cultures.

The bride and the groom wanted to minimize the use of flowers to keep the festivities environmentally friendly, so we used minimal flowers, that were mostly locally grown and concentrated on creating centerpieces that were mostly non floral. We used Egyptian ceramic lanterns and candles in varying shapes, sizes and colors.

We used a mix of colorful hand blown bottles, egyptian alabaster containers and tabasco sauce bottles for the flowers. The tabasco sauce bottles were an ode to the Bride who mentioned a love for tabasco sauce and the fact that it was something she grew up with while the alabaster was an ode to the Groom's Egyptian roots.
The flowers we used were inclined towards being fillers as well as unusual looking - some evoking sea creatures to continue to play with the Aquarium theme they had started out with, as well as to cater to the Bride who was not keen on a typical floral look.

We also included the use of feathers and crystal beads to represent one of Louisiana's fun traditions- Mardi gras!

To continue with the Aquarium theme that they had chosen with the location, we added corals and shells to the centerpieces and used colors that evoked the same feel.

One of the fun surprises for the couple was the chandelier we created that hung right above their table to create ambiance that was reminiscent of the Aquarium. What fun it was to see the looks on their faces when they walked in for the first time to see the space.

The colorful table numbers!

We created all the menus, table numbers and seating chart to fit the offbeat aquatic theme as well.

Other fun details:

Fun mismatched plates and napkins to keep things light and playful!

The Mother of the Groom mentioned that her favorite flowers are Stock flowers, so we included them as a surprise to her! Yes - she was very pleased!

The Lanterns and alabasters lit up beautifully after dark!

The Bride didn't want anything fancy or huge for a bouquet so we created something light, colorful and playful to match her personality. The result was a thrilled Mother in law because the Bride was in fact carrying a bouquet, and a thrilled Bride because she carried a bouquet that didn't feel or look much like a bouquet! A win- win if you ask me!

The couple opted for cupcakes in lieu of a wedding cake so the cupcake tower was dressed to fit in with the rest of the decor. The wonderful staff at Kickass cupcakes were willing to work with us on the design of the tower so that it fit in perfectly with the entire design! Those cupcakes really are Kickass by the way, so go try one when you are in the area! Totally worth the trip! And yes- they were a hit!

The dance floor was flanked with large ceramic lanterns and large candles to add ambiance to the space and the dance floor for when it was time to get down on it!

The lovely bride!

The couple chose to mingle with their guests at cocktail hour and then left the cocktail area before the guests were directed to their seats to prepare for their very cool entry!

The couple chose a few friends to sing the zaffa song they entered to! Their friends rocked that zaffa!

A zaffa song is a traditional Egyptian wedding song that the couple makes an entrance to! The zaffa includes shakers, ululations, dancing, singing and clapping! There are usually belly dancers and sometimes even fire spitting, sword twirling and drumming! They kept it basic but it was pretty great!

There was lots of laughter!

Lots of dancing!

Lots of beauty!

And so much love!

We were honored to have been able to witness it, and to participate in the beautiful day that it was! We are grateful to the staff at the New England Aquarium and Be our Guest for their flexibility and all their help to pull it off. It was such a great day and a really awesome reception party! Congratulations to Stephanie and Youssef! Thanks so much for the honor!

Credits
Location: New England Aquarium, Boston
Design, Decor and Planning: Creative Wedding Solutions
Stationery Design: Creative Wedding Solutions
Event rentals: Be our Guest
Flowers and Bride's bouquet: Creative Wedding Solutions
Cupcakes: Kick Ass Cupcakes
Photographs: Allan Sinclair