1. Real Weddings

A Rustic Intercultural Wedding at Calistoga Ranch in Calistoga, California

Moni Akinwande, 29, and Jake Pawlowski, 29, met on the first day of college at Dartmouth and quickly became friends. Friendship turned to dating a yea

Moni Akinwande, 29, and Jake Pawlowski, 29, met on the first day of college at Dartmouth and quickly became friends. Friendship turned to dating a year later, during the pair's sophomore year. "We were dating seven years before we (finally!) got engaged," says Moni, a senior associate at StepStone Group, of her relationship with Jake, an associate at McKinsey. "As such, we essentially grew up together, developing into the people we are today." One Saturday in September, Jake was acting strange all day, leaving early in the morning for "work" (he was really picking up the ring at his father's house in Connecticut), being abnormally fidgety, booking reservations at a local spot for dinner and suggesting that Moni look nice. When Jake came to pick her up at their Lower East Side Manhattan apartment, he was dressed in a tux and carrying a bouquet of roses with the ring. Thus began their two year engagement, a time-frame that Moni appreciates, since the two were able to enjoy being engaged and knock off big things (like booking their venue and florist) before diving full-force into planning. They ended up choosing Calistoga Ranch, a winery in the Napa Valley region of California and a destination wedding for their two families. "Napa Valley was the perfect destination wedding for us - we love to travel and explore new places together and wanted to share our love of adventure (and wine!) with our guests," says Moni. The couple wanted the natural beauty of the vineyard and intimate wine cave to shine through, so they chose an enhancing color palette of ivory and leafy green accented with pops of gold and blush. "Knowing that we would be utilizing three different spaces on the property (the wine cave, vineyard and lawn) we wanted to make sure that the colors felt cohesive yet natural to each space," says Moni. "We thought a neutral, yet romantic color palette would be best to add some refinement without detracting from the natural beauty that the setting offered."

"Stationery was a very big undertaking that took much more research than initially anticipated!" says Moni. "We wanted the invitations to be custom, and very reflective of the feel of the wedding. We worked with calligrapher Audreey Oba who has an Etsy storefront to create the template. We then worked with Village Invites to find our paper, texture and color selection. The overall suite was a mix of cream, white, gold and a leafy green. We chose an off-white, heavier textile for the main invitation with gold foil letterpress font."
Golden Bridal Shoes with Bow
"I had seven bridesmaids all with different styles, heights, skin tones and body types. I wanted everyone to feel comfortable, yet cohesive. I went with the Jenny Yoo Aidan convertible dress in blush because it was delicate, but could be structured to fit everyone's individual style," says Moni. "Jake had 12 groomsmen – giving us a real logistical curve ball at times! But his groomsmen included a great representation of those most important to him: his cousin (also his best man), my brother, several longtime childhood friends and a mix of his Dartmouth rugby teammates and fraternity brothers."
"I had two bridal looks," says Moni. "One classic, western bridal look and an outfit change that paid homage to my Nigerian culture. My wedding dress was Jim Hjelm. I dressed it up with an embellished belt with a satin bow, plus I wore a very classic looking necklace from Dana Rebecca Designs, a beautiful piece that Jake bought for me years ago."
"The style for our wedding was designed to be romantic, natural, simple and clean. Our main colors used were white, cream, ivory, green, and hints of blush," says Moni. "Our florist used a wide variety of garden roses, peonies, dahlias, astilbe, greenery, seeded eucalyptus, and hydrangeas in our arrangements and bouquets."
Gold Wedding Ceremony Programs
"In the cave for the ceremony, the soft lighting and candles created a very romantic and spiritual setting. It was great to be able to capture that feeling outside of a church," says Moni. "The ceremony was emotional, surprisingly interactive and a great showing of the support of our friends and family."
"With only 105 guests, a guitarist playing acoustic music for the processional and recessional, and a kind, warm reverend officiating, there was a real sense of togetherness and participation of everyone in the room. By the middle of the ceremony, I don’t think there was a single dry eye in the entire wine cave!" says Moni of the ceremony.
"I think our wedding ended up being a different and unique experience for just about everyone in attendance -- it wasn’t a traditional Nigerian wedding, and it wasn’t a traditional American wedding, but instead was a one-of-a-kind blend of cultures and experiences that truly represented us as a couple," says Moni.
"Guests had name cards on a bulletin directing them to their tables," says Moni. "We used the calligrapher who addressed our invitations to do the cards on cream paper with gold font."
"Dinner took place on Lommel Lawn, which is breathtaking on its own without any embellishment," says Moni.
"At the reception, we had two long queens tables that were decorated with cream table cloths, gold vases full of white and cream flowers with lush green accents," says Moni. "The table numbers were made of wood and painted gold, and there were scattered mercury candles throughout the tables."
Calistoga Ranch Wine Cave Lounge
The pair danced to the song, “Like a Star” by Corinne Bailey Rae. "It's a real soulful love song that just felt like us -- conveying deep emotions and longing all at once," says Moni.
"Halfway through the reception Jake and I changed into full traditional Nigerian native wear custom made in Lagos, Nigeria, while the groomsmen and bridesmaids were accented with Nigerian headwear (known as 'gele' for the women and 'fila' for the men)," says Moni. "The guys were given the filas early in the day and would not take them off, even before it was time for traditional dancing. It made for great pictures and in retrospect, given how popular they were, we would have gotten them for the entire wedding!"
"The Nigerian wear was custom made with lace handpicked by my mother. The colors were cream with gold to go with the color scheme of the day," Moni says. "She coordinated my headdress with my bridesmaids and the cultural attire that my husband and his groomsmen wore. It was beautiful!"
"The cake was placed on a gold cake stand and displayed on a wine barrel in the wine cave," says Moni.
"The interior of the wedding cake was a layered mahogany and chantilly sponge cake, with an exterior of ivory buttercream decorated in rough spatula style, with fresh white flowers and a green, olive garland around bottom," says Moni.