THE GOLDEN HOUR
Coordinating the cocktails’ hues and flavor profiles with your color palette or theme is a great way to make the wedding reception cohesive and beautiful. Together, Flawless Weddings and Events and Colette’s Catering & Events took inspiration from the Muckenthaler Mansion in Fullerton and created a design influenced by that magical time of day known as the golden hour. The venue is renowned for its stunning sunsets, and the grounds are replete with beautiful Italian gardens, citrus groves and nut farms. With that in mind, Colette’s whipped up fresh citrus cocktails in an array of sunset shades, and the accompanying floral arrangements include fruits and greenery.
Blood Orange Mimosa in a Champagne glass
Passionfruit Margarita: Passion fruit nectar, tequila, Cointreau, honey syrup, fresh lime and passionfruit with a salt rim on ice.
Tuscan Spritz: Sparkling wine, sweet vermouth and a squeeze of citrus topped with club soda and garnished with a dried orange and rosemary sprig. Served over
ice in a stemmed goblet
The Blanco: Tequila, Cointreau, Fee Foam, Meyer lemon, Luxardo cherry, shaken and served up
The Villa: vodka, blood orange , vanilla, cardamom syrup, Fee Foam and petite florals with a chai sugar rim, shaken and served up.
SET THE SCENE
Nicole Alexandra Designs and Leta Verbena Floral Design make a visual impact with their design at Cielo Farms, a venue nestled in Malibu’s Santa Monica Mountains. The oak bar is encircled by emerald-hued greenery and a cascade of garden-inspired blooms including Clooney ranunculus, butterfly ranunculus, blooming branches, drooping pieris japonica and fresh fruiting tangerine branches. The beautiful scene complements the brightly flavored drinks created by Sweetwater Cocktails featuring herbaceous ingredients such as lavender and rosemary.
Gin, elderflower liqueur, pink grapefruit juice, lavender simple syrup in a Champagne coupe
Vodka, lemon, rosemary simple syrup, sparkling water in a highball glass with floral swizzle stick.
For a more whimsical scene, the team adorned Sweetwater Cocktails’s Prohibition-era truck is in sunset-hued florals, creating a picturesque backdrop for the 1920s-inspired cocktails—made all the more beautiful by the golden sun slipping beneath the horizon.
Gin, raspberry, lemon and Champagne served in a coupe adorned with a laser-cut “cheers” sign.
Rye, cognac, flambéed banana in a highball glass.
