• Real Weddings

It seems rightly so that after a decade of dating these two wanted to throw one huge celebration with all of their favorite people, and what better place to do that than in New Orleans! Their non-stop party kicked off the moment the ceremony started, followed by a second line parade, and onto their fun-filled reception that lasted well into the night.

The boho chic decor came alive with a fun 70s vibe that included disco balls over the dance floor, a custom neon sign, and endless cocktails. To keep the party going, they opted out of a formal dinner for a laid-back food station set-up so guests could eat, drink, and mingle at their leisure. Xistence Photography was there to capture all the fun, so check it out below + in the full gallery.

From the bride

Kaleb and I have been dating for 10 years so we had a decade of memories and friends we had to make an epic wedding weekend out of. This is what lead us to choose New Orleans, also known to us as grown up Disneyland. It's a city filled to the brim with a good time, bars that never close and streets that allow you to walk around with drinks...so we had found our destination. On top of this we decided to get married over Jazz Fest because what better way to celebrate 10 years of dating then an all out New Orleans weekend!

Fun 70s vibe

We wanted our wedding to have a fun boho 70s vibe with disco balls, bright colors and a lot of fun drinks to capture the ultimate theme of NOLA and CELEBRATION. We wanted fun and partying to be a major part of our wedding because hey that's where it all started for us...A PARTY! With all of the amazing wedding blogs out there today I decided I would design the wedding myself with help from my Dad and brother who are both artists.

boho chic design

I worked closely with firefly ambiance and the amazing Antigua Florist and explained my vision for the venue. They brought these to life in every way including everything from our flower chandelier over the dining area to our custom 'Price Price Baby' neon sign and my absolute favorite part was the disco ball/flower installation that was featured over the dance floor. I wanted to keep the tables simple because we weren't doing a big sit down dinner so I stayed with the boho vibe of layering macrame over lace with small but bright flowers and disco balls of course.

second line parade

We decided to have our ceremony and reception at the incredibly beautiful revamped 1800's home, Race & Religious. This venue could have had no decorations and be stunning but our vendors really brought this location to the next level. It was pouring rain all day until about 3pm it completely cleared out and we had a perfect weather ceremony and evening starting at 4:30pm. When guests arrived they received their first drink of the night and following the ceremony in New Orleans tradition we did a second line parade which was by far one of the best parts of the wedding because none of our guests or ourselves had ever been in a second line before so it felt extra magical (of course with a celebration drink for the parade)! Our reception followed with the official cocktail hour, passed appetizers and we had a station style dinner that opened right after.

eat, drink & dance

We wanted people to be able to eat and drink then dance and go eat more instead of having a formal dinner so we figured stations would be the best way to go-Oyster station (had to in NOLA!), Gumbo Station (again had to in NOLA!), Brisket Station (to cover our TX roots) and a Macaroni Bar (Bc who doesn't love macaroni!). We turned our ceremony arch into a photo booth area and put a guest book there where people could snap a polaroid, stick it in the book and write us a note. The night continued with a ton of dancing, drinks, shots, and most importantly a good time and ended with an after party at the Bourbon O Bar on the famous Bourbon Street. It was truly everything we could have every wanted to top off our decade long relationship and start our official future together!

Budget breakdown

Curious what a non-stop party like this may cost you? The couple was kind enough to share an idea of their totals with below.

Photographer: $5000
Videographer: $6500
Dress: $7400
Venue: $12000
Cakes: $800
Caterer: $17000
Bar: $800
Rentals: $3000
DJ: $1500
Band: $3000
Florist: $5000
Total: $100k

• Bridesmaid Dresses: Plum Pretty Sugar
• Accessories & Lingerie: Basch Calligraphy
• Cakes & Catering: Haydels Bakery
• Cakes & Catering: Palate
• Cakes & Catering: Cocktail+Creative Co.
• DJs: DJ Aarron Lane
• DJs: Kinfolk Brass Band
• Dress & Apparel: Jenny Yoo
• Event Planning & Design: Mint Julep Productions
• Flowers: Antigua Floral
• Groom & His Men: Generation Tux
• Lighting, Entertainment & Photo Booth: Firefly Ambiance
• Paper Goods & Calligraphy: Feel Good Invites
• Paper Goods & Calligraphy: Sean and Glenn Burke
• Photographers: Xistence Photography
• Rentals: Love Good Rentals
• Venues: Race and Religious
• Wedding Dresses: Adam Zohar
• Wedding Films: Wild Light Films