Ann & Bryant – Married at Ehrman Mansion – Sugar Pine State Park – Lake Tahoe

Update!  Ann & Bryant’s wedding was featured in Real Weddings Spring 2012 issue!   You can view the feature here!

 

Ann & Bryant flew all the way out from Chicago to have their wedding at the Ehrman Mansion at Sugar Pine State Park. I can not say enough amazing things about this wedding. As you can see from the insanely large blog post (close to 300 images), the amount of detail that Ann put into planning this wedding and of course the gorgeous back drop of Lake Tahoe, which I am lucky enough to live only about an hour away from, it makes for one gorgeous wedding. Jen Swedhin of Jen Swedhin Photography flew out from Grand Junction Colorado to second shoot with me and Chad Brown from Reno, Nevada also came along to shadow. It was busy night and I am so thankful to Jen and Chad for their help!

Here’s a little note from the bride on her wedding day “For people that know us, it is clear why we chose Lake Tahoe for our wedding. Bryant grew up in Sacramento and spent many summers camping with friends and family there. As for me, I did not discover Lake Tahoe until the summer after my freshman year of college when I lived there with my friend Ali. It worked out that Bryant and Ali, my boyfriend and best friend from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, both happened to be from Northern California. Now, after almost a decade together, Lake Tahoe has become our favorite place. Bryant and I have been living in Chicago since graduation (that is where I’m from) but visit Lake Tahoe at least once a year. When we got engaged we knew we wanted the wedding to feel like us and decided that Lake Tahoe was the perfect venue. The only issue was that majority of our friends and all of my family lived in the midwest so people would have to travel.

Lake Tahoe’s beauty was the theme of our wedding. We wanted our wedding to be simple, yet elegant and also rustic. With Lake Tahoe as our backdrop, we knew that this would be a simple task. One thing we both really wanted was for everything to be outside which is why we chose July for our wedding. On average, Lake Tahoe does not get much rain during this month so we took a risk and planned everything to be outdoors. We looked at several venues but as soon as we saw the Ehrman Mansion in Sugar Pine Point State Park, we knew it was the perfect location for us. Not only is the water so blue there, but the historic mansion added the vintage aspect that we were looking for. Planning a destination wedding, we really had to trust all of our vendors to understand our vision. Lucky for us, we chose Summit Soiree as our wedding coordinator and could not be happier with all of their vendor suggestions.

In order to get the rustic elegant theme we were looking for we used mason jars tied with twine, farm tables with burlap runners, vintage signs (made by Bryant’s mom), candles, simple flowers, and neutral and natural colors.

The day was so much more then we ever expected. In fact, the entire week leading up to the wedding was unforgettable. Having a destination wedding was the best decision we made. We were finally able to share Lake Tahoe with all of our friends and family for an entire week! ”

 

All vendor information to follow is at the bottom of the post Enjoy and please let them some love in the comments!

 

The guys got ready at this awesome cabin on the north side of the lake.  The owners are Cal fans so of course I thought the house was perfect!

The girls got ready at a condo owned by one of the bridesamid’s family and it was also right on the water!

The middle photo of her mom and sisters cracks me up!  I don’t think I have seen 3 curling irons used at once before!

The flowers were to die for gorgeous and I LOVED the soft pale palate.  It worked so well with the entire wedding.

We were able to sneak off 2 more times though out the night for more photos.  The first was during the golden hour which is my favorite time of day!

The light was perfect during the first dances.  Just gorgeous!

We headed out a second time right at sunset.  This is what makes Lake Tahoe perfect.  This day was incredible!  I love that there was still snow on the mountain in the middle of July!

Bride’s dress: Caroline Deville (local Chicago designer – sample)

Bridesmaids dresses: Dessy Collection (House of Brides)

Guys tuxes: Mens Warehouse

Venue: Sugar Pine State Park : Ehrman Mansion

DJ: North Shore Entertainment

Coordinator: Summit Soiree

Florist: Stems by Diana

Hair and Makeup: Beach Brides by Heather Ellison

Table Rentals: Crest Cafe & Catering took care of all rentals – I believe she used Camelot

Wooden signs: Melanie Bedwell (Mother of the Groom)
Caterer: Crest Cafe & Catering

Cake: Tahoe House Bakery

Invites/programs: Mki Design (Morgan Ingersoll – friend of bride)