Fresh Navy & Peach Wedding at the History Center: Laura & Tommy

Bright and fresh, a navy blue and peach wedding color palette was perfect for the couple’s July affair. When Laura was a little girl, her grandmother nicknamed her “piccinina” – an Italian word pronounced “peach-a-nina”. The name stuck with Laura, as did an affinity for that shade. When planning her big day, the bride wanted to pay tribute to her late grandmother by incorporating the special color into the details. Pairing it with a classic a shade of blue and using blush pink, ivory, and gold as accents, the couple created an ambiance that was vibrant, summery, and cheerful. As a way to welcome their many out-of-town guests to Pittsburgh, Laura and Tommy chose the Heinz History Center as their reception venue. There, they infused the color scheme into the decor with floral arrangements of white hydrangeas and peach spray roses with pops of navy blue napkins on crisp white linens. A light and whimsical touch came courtesy of hand-painted wooden signs, fresh greenery chair swags, and even natural wreaths of branches, color-coordinated florals, and satin ribbons. No detail was left unturned as this girly but contemporary color combo was brought to life. Once you see these images from Leeann Marie, Wedding Photographers, you’ll be feelin’ just peachy. (I can’t resist a good pun.)

From the bride…

Tell me about yourselves! When and how did you meet? How long have you been together? How did you get engaged? All the juicy details!

In the fall of 2013, Tommy and I met as students at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. I started my first day as the Intramural Sports Graduate Assistant, while Tommy started his first day as an Intramural Official. I later found out through his friends that he had his eye on me! Tommy left his officiating job at the end of fall semester; when the spring semester rolled around, Tommy decided to contact me to get information about upcoming sports. Once the talking began, the dates followed shortly after – and the we have been inseparable ever since! We were together for two years when he popped the question, and then were engaged for 1.5 years while planning!

Tommy is someone who tries his hardest to always surprise me, but is not the best at keeping secrets. So when the day came for him to propose, I was sure I would know when and where it would be happening. Tommy said earlier the week he had to meet with a client near Santa Monica and I should come with him because the meeting wouldn’t take long and then we could have date night after. Friday rolled around and we were on our way. Tommy received a call from work saying his client cancelled at the last minute. Because we were halfway there, his work let him have the rest of the day off. We parked at the beach, and Tommy suggested we go to the pier to watch the sunset. As we were walking, Tommy said to me, “You know Laura, I want to spend the rest of my life with you…” Across from me, four people stood with signs spelling out the words: “Will you marry me?” (I later found out these were my friends who had flown in for this!) Behind Tommy, there were street performers singing “Marry You” by Bruno Mars, and a photographer was capturing every single moment. Tommy got down on one knee, pulled out the ring, and asked, “Will you marry me?” – and I said “Yes!” I was in awe and, quite frankly, extremely surprised! I had no clue he had this up his sleeve and could not believe all the details he had planned for this exact moment.

Describe the wedding and what inspired it. What was unique about it?

When I started planning, Heinz History Center was my first choice for our reception. I love how it has the industrial feel, but also more laid back with all the fun Pittsburgh history. Tommy’s family and friends are all from southern Ohio, so our wedding would be almost everyone’s first time to Pittsburgh, which made our reception even more special! I also knew exactly what the color scheme would be – peach and cobalt/navy blue as our main colors with blush, ivory, and gold as our accent colors. Peach was a sentimental thing for me – my grandmother was Italian and spoke it, and when I was born, she called me “piccinina” (pronounced peach-a-nina). From that, my dad has called me Peach ever since I was a little girl; always has and always will. When my grandmother passed, I got the tattoo of “piccinina” on my foot in remembrance. When I got engaged, I knew from that moment I wanted to have peach as a main color for those reasons – that and also orange was Tommy’s favorite color. It helped that we both loved blue and the two married together nicely!

What was your favorite moment of the day?

There were so many amazing things throughout the day, but the speeches were pretty special. Sitting hand-in-hand next to Tommy and hearing my father give the welcome speech, my sister give her MOH speech, and his brother give his best man speech where they talked about so many memories we had made it so special. Tommy’s brother had Tommy in tears, and my sister did the same for me; which is pretty hard to do!

Is there any advice you would give to other couples planning their big day?

Pick three things you absolutely cannot compromise on and stick to it. Wedding planning has a lot of decisions required, literally SO many. You have to go into planning with knowing at least three things you are not willing to give up – it is your special day and all. It can all be overwhelming, but once you get the main things figured out, it really does all fall right into place.