The Flood Mansion Wedding From Branch Out – Cliff Brunk

By Mallory Recor

Okay LBBers – I’m about to show you a San Francisco wedding sent to us from Cliff Brunk Photography. But the only reason I’m sharing it with you, is because I know you will totally, utterly, and completely fall for it as hard as I have. That being said – remember. We have to share. We have to share every stunning little detail. Every gorgeous little flower from Branch Our Floral & Event Design. Every inch of that stunning venue. So don’t go nuts over this wedding and forget that it’s for all of us to enjoy. Share. And definitely share this full image gallery with all your luckiest, wedding-obsessed friends. It’s only fair.

From the beginning we knew we wanted a wedding that would be uniquely us—classic but modern, traditional but fun, expressive of our personalities but cognizant of our backgrounds.

After looking a dozens of venues all over northern California, we came across the Flood Mansion in our own backyard. We were instantly enchanted by its beauty, unbeatable views, and little piece of San Franciscan history. The Flood Mansion’s understated elegance inspired our décor. Our goal was to enhance its soft, neutral color palate and classic architecture with simple white flowers, subtle golden uplighting, and romantic candlelight.

We married in the cortile, creating our own ceremony and wring our own vows, reflecting our faith and values, and incorporating traditions from both of our backgrounds. We mixed old and new: We began the ceremony with the new tradition of a ring warming, followed by an adaptation of the traditional Indian garland exchange. I walked down the aisle to Pachelbel’s Canon in D, but we recessed to Oasis’ Wonderwall!

Likewise, at the reception and dinner, we had traditional damask linens and a pianist, but mixed things up with modern place settings, and contemporary music. Food was a major priority for us. We knew we wanted fusion dishes that incorporated the groom’s Indian heritage, but still had mass appeal. We worked with Global Gourmet Catering to create a custom menu that adapted Indian flavors in a fresh, creative way. Alicia and Lauren were super accommodating—not just fulfilling the role of caterer, but also acting as day-of coordinators, allowing us to do many DIY projects.
We designed our own invitations and had them printed at a local letterpress company. We carried the design of the invitations—classical scroll flourishes with modern font—throughout the wedding: the signage, seating chart, place cards, wishing tree, table numbers, programs, etc.

In lieu of a guest book, we had a wishing tree. This non-traditional sign-in method yielded some of the most inspirational, poignant, touching and hilarious messages. Some guests even drew pictures!
As a conversation starter, we gave each guest a pin with their name on it, which they placed a board demarcated with years to indicate when they met us.

Our place cards, held by silver picture frames, doubled as favors, to be used in conjunction with the pictures from the custom photo booth designed and built by the groom. The photo booth was probably the biggest hit from our wedding. Everyone loved it— some a little too much!

But our favorite part of the night was after dinner. Knowing our crowd well, we opted not to have a dance floor and instead have a modern, swanky lounge with classical Indian musicians and all of our favorite desserts, including the amazing salted caramel and cardamom cream cake created by our ingenious baker, Jasmine Rae!

Photography: Cliff Brunk Photography / Floral: Leighsa Montrose of Branch Out Floral & Event Design / Catering + Day of Coordination: Global Gourmet / Rentals: Blue Water Party Rentals / Sting Quartet: Exeter String Quartet / Piano: Kent Strand / Lighting: Got Light / Cake: Jasmine Rae Bakery/ Dress: Custom Gown from Watters / Paper Printing: Mercurio Brothers Printing