A Gorgeous Summer Wedding With A Beautiful Neutral Palette At Annie Wright School In Tacoma

Real Wedding
Written by
Lainey Dow

Hannah and Will tied the knot in Tacoma during a gorgeous outdoor summer wedding. The day was full of sweet personal details and exquisite design elements, including breathtaking florals from Flora Blume Design and timeless neutral decor from Love Blooms Wedding and Event Design. The couple had a custom-made wedding pinata of their beloved calico cat Layla. Upon entering the reception, guests were asked to write pieces of advice and sweet notes to the newlyweds, who plan to open the pinata on their one-year anniversary.

From the bride:

"As far as the proposal goes--my Husband Will proposed to me while on vacation in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. He proposed with a beautiful silver leaf ring (rather than bring the diamond on the trip, I'm a number one clutz, so I'm glad he didn't!) and I also wore that ring on the wedding day, which you can see in some of the photos. We returned to Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica for our honeymoon exactly a year later. We also honeymooned at Nayara Springs Hotel in central Costa Rica.

Some of my favorite details would be:
1. The Venue--Annie Wright is a private school in Tacoma, WA founded in 1884 and originally was only a girl’s boarding school. Both my grandmothers attended Annie Wright Schools when they were young girls, which made it a very sentimental place. When we visited for a tour, we both automatically fell in love with the outdoor courtyard area. As one guest said, "It looks like Hogwarts Elementary." The school is still an active boarding school and students from their Chinese Exchange Program gazed out the windows during our reception watching our party unravel. My dad and I were escorted through the dorms as we got ready for our entrance to avoid guests spotting the bride. It was also fun that the groomsmen got ready in the library and the bridesmaids in the great hall. We chanced it and didn't rent a tent with no back-up plan, and luckily it was the perfect day!

2. The band: Our main aim for this wedding was a to create a huge celebration and the live music was integral to making that happen. We had a seven piece band that played for six straight hours, from a solo guitar strumming an instrumental version of the Beatles "Here Comes the Sun" as my dad and I walked down the aisle, to a two piece grouping getting jazzy during the cocktail hour, and then the full group jamming all night. They killed it and had every one of our guests on the dance floor all night long.

3. Metropolitan Market should sponsor me for being their biggest consumer and buyer of "The Cookie." Everyone who knows me knows this is my favorite treat, so it was amazing to have our dessert bar decked out with them. They were so popular Will and I didn't even get one! We also had donuts from Pao's Donuts that my family used to frequent growing up.

5. Floral: Our florist was amazing. My biggest inspiration was the flowers adorning the arch that we got married under. I sent her so many Pinterest inspiration photos and she created something that was beyond my imagination. The greenery and the candles created such a special flare to the arch that we got married under.

6. Menus: My co-worker, friend, and creator of Squeaky Bird Press, custom made our menus on translucent velum. We loved that the title of the menus was F2 (F Squared), as my last name is Franke and Will's last name is Finney. We both are keeping our last names so it was a fun way to incorporate our union while still keeping our individuality.

7. Officiant: Our family friend officiated our wedding and did an amazing job! It was so comforting to have a familiar face facilitating and also blessing the marriage.

8. The dress: The name of my dress is the "Frankie" which is so close to my last name of "Franke." It was fun to find a dress with my namesake and it made everything feel even more perfect.

9. Favorite moment: Getting Domino's delivered during the dance party was clutch."

WEDDING PRO TEAM

Photography
Hair & Makeup
Videographer
Photobooth
Doughnuts
Menus
Bridesmaids Gowns
Groom's Attire
Groomsmen's Attire
Invitations
Transportation