This Natural History Museum Wedding for Amanda + Mike was one for the Anything But Gray Events history books! Quite Literally! With a mix of elegant designs, nerd-chic flare and a whole lot of dinosaur bones, this wedding rocked! Have you ever wondered what it’s like to spend a night in a museum? Wonder no more. It’s even cooler than you could imagine!

Anything But Gray Events is so thrilled to announce that this one of a kind, Natural History Museum wedding has been featured on Green Wedding Shoes. Head over to GWS blog to see even more photos and hear from Amanda + Mike on their favorite parts of the epically Jurassic Natural History Museum Wedding!

 Fashion & Beauty:

Amanda’s classic red lip and loose up do from Face It Sugar was perfectly matched with her Watters beaded gown with plunging, netted décolletage and full tulle skirt. And let’s not forget those mirrored and glass beaded Emmy London wedges!

Custom custom custom was the word of the day for this fashion forward groom! Mike went with a custom, dark blue look from Malcolm Alexander with their wedding date embroidered on the shirt sleeve and a jewel toned feather bow tie from Brackish Bow Ties to complete his dapper look.

 First Look:

Are you ugly crying right now like I am?!? All the feels with this first look and that fabulous natural light!

Amanda + Mike took a second to just relax and be silly with each other before the wedding day officially begin.

They practiced their first dance after their first look at The Jonathan Club. 

Flower Power:

The fierce florals created by Flower Duet were straight out of the Jurassic Era. Giant King Protea, air plants, palms, and succulents were used to create the personal florals full of rich textures and sublet colors for this Natural History Museum Wedding.

While some couples opt to not see each other before the wedding. Amanda + Mike could not wait! When you look this good, how can you blame them?! Since their wedding was full of so many details and a larger wedding party, they opted to take as many photos with their bridal party and families before the wedding to ensure they captured everything. With so much time and detail going into this wedding, they didn’t want to miss one moment! Taking photos before hand allowed them to enjoy some down time at the Cocktail Hour which happened BEFORE the ceremony.

Natural History:

Cecile’s Paper Co. crafted this Jurassic inspired invitation and paper good suite for this Natural History Museum wedding featuring dinosaur bones, gemstone and fossils. Because the venue was so massive and we did not want guests to get lost or head into areas that we not available to the public, Cecile’s Paper Co. also created a giant, magical map to direct guests to all locations they were permitted in throughout the museum space. This included special access to the Hall of Gems!

 Ceremony:

The ceremony was held in the African Mammal Hall. The couple traveled to Africa together a few years back and getting married in a room named after a place they had made so many fond memories just made so much sense. Oh, and there was an elephant! It doesn’t get much better than that! The reception was then held at the opposite end of the Natural History Museum in the American Mammal Hall.

“The most memorable moment would probably be the ceremony and vows, since this was kind of our introduction to our wedding guests and the most important part of the night! We both really enjoyed each other’s vows, and couldn’t resist throwing in a few jokes here and there. Close second would be the dancing, though! Our first dance was choreographed to an 80’s montage, and our awesome wedding planner, Holly, who surprised us later in the night with a dancing T-Rex, which our guests are STILL talking about.” – Amanda

Tips + Tricks:

Getting married in a historic museum can be tricky. There are many additional rules and regulations you must follow for museums and historical properties. Since the Natural History Museum is open to the public every day, our vendor team had a very short window of time (2 hours) to load in after the museum closed and before the wedding started. This is were hiring a professional and talented wedding vendor team makes all the difference. 2 hours of set up for a wedding of 150+ guests in 3 locations with 3 tablescape designs, lighting installations, a kitchen build out and 10 pages of rentals is more than a challenge but when you hire the best, you get the best! When you are planning a high production wedding, it is crucial to make sure your timeline it tight and right! One late vendor or mistake can cause a domino effect.

Design + Details:

This Natural History Museum reception was located in the American Mammal Hall. A jewel toned color palette resembling agate stones in dark purples, greens and fuchsias with 3 different floral centerpiece arrangements to go with each linen color gave the dark wood room a pop of color. Over 100 gold dinosaurs figurines were hidden throughout the tablescapes. Kind of like the ‘Where’s Waldo’ of the Jurassic world! Natural agate stones etched by The Bleu Dahlia acted as place card holders as well as favors for the guests to take home. The slate chargers and marbled flatware from Town and Country rentals played into theme perfectly.

And let’s us not forget all the taxidermy that surrounded guests. In every direction throughout this Natural History Museum Wedding there was something to see, do and learn.

Guests were treated to hearty and classic comfort foods from Room Forty catering. Who doesn’t love crispy fried chicken?

Dancing + Dessert:

Guests grooved with a dancing Dino and raged the night away with throw back tunes from The Flux Capacitors: 80’s Band.

The Sugar Philosophers brought down the Mesozoic house with this Natural History Museum themed styled dessert display.

Complete with a cutting cake by Baked Goods Unlimited and custom, “I Dig You, We Rock” cake topper by Cut It Lab. 

At the end of the evening, guests watched as Amanda + Mike drive away in their Jurassic Park get away car.

Some people make an entrance but these pre-historic cuties know how to make an exit!

Amanda + Mike and I spent over a year dreaming, designing and planning their Natural History Museum Wedding. It was my ABSOLUTE pleasure  help this incredibly creative couple through the wedding planning process. I wish them all the luck and love in the world! Their wedding will go down in History and HERstory!

Check out more details on Green Wedding Shoes. 

Vendor Team:

photography: Jenn Emerling // venue name: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA // event design: Anything But Gray Events // planning: Anything But Gray Events // florals: FlowerDuet // wedding dress: Watters // wedding dress boutique: Nordstrom // hairpiece:Twigs and Honey // bride’s shoes: Emmy London // hair stylist: Face It Sugar // makeup artist: Face It Sugar // groom attire: Malcolm Alexander // videography: Wandering Study // paper goods: Cecile’s Paper Co. // calligraphy: The Bleu Dahlia // catering: Room Forty // cake: Baked Goods Unlimited // desserts: The Sugar Philosophers // tabletop rentals: Town and Country // furniture & linen rentals: Town and Country // light: Pacific Event Services // music: The Flux Capacitors