Emotional Hotel Peter and Paul and Columns Hotel Wedding

This Emotional Hotel Peter and Paul and Columns Hotel Wedding was featured on BOTH Martha Stewart Weddings and Carats+Cake, and we can totally see why the people are loving it! It was filled with so much color, movement, passion, joy, and most importantly LOVE! As a fully destination wedding for the couple and all guests, New Orleans offered us the perfect backdrop to have guests let their hair down and relax into this magical house party!

I’ll let the editors of Martha Stewart Weddings and the couple take over with all the eloquent verbiage about this emotional Hotel Peter and Paul and Columns Hotel wedding! Enjoy!

“Photographers Margot (right) and Carla (left) met through a mutual friend in Los Angeles over a decade ago, in June 2011. Margot admits that she felt intimidated by Carla at first; the two became acquaintances that would see each other occasionally at parties. But when Margot moved to Silverlake in 2015, she decided to reach out to Carla for a drink. The pair quickly bonded over photography and their dating lives at the time—and a few years later, in 2018, they came out to each other. “Three months later, I knew I wanted to marry her,” Margot says. In December 2020, Margot proposed in a cozy cabin in Big Bear, California, as the couple enjoyed sake by the fireplace.

Margot and Carla knew they wanted to tie the knot in Margot’s hometown of New Orleans, even if that meant planning the celebration from afar in Los Angeles. “We both love New Orleans’ architecture and history,” the couple says.

They invited 140 guests to Hotel Peter and Paul for their chapel ceremony and The Columns for the reception. “The Columns felt grand, yet somehow very cozy,” they say. “We wanted our wedding reception to feel like a big house party—one we would want to be invited to.” The couple worked with Elyse Jennings Weddings to design and execute their joyful Easter-bloom-themed event, complete with a saturated palette of spring shades—and added personal touches, like signature cocktails, their go-to scents, and New Orleans-inspired welcome bags, to make their big day their own.”

“Margot and Carla hired Laura of Jolly Edition to design their invitation suite, which was predicated on their wedding flower colors—apricot, pink, lavender, and muted blue. The result? A set with a floral border and loose, handwritten watercolor lettering. Laura even incorporated the moon, one of Margot and Carla’s lucky symbols, and created a map of all the locations related to the wedding, including the group’s hotels, welcome party spot, and ceremony and reception venues—and, in memory of Margot’s mother, used a wax seal featuring her favorite flower, the hydrangea.”

“Margot and Carla shared their first look on the upper balcony of their hotel. The pair got ready together, but they separated ahead of getting dressed. “Before, during, and after the first look, we felt so relaxed, relieved, and so happy,” they say. “We wanted to savor every minute.”

We designed their ceremony in the round, so the couple could feel the warm hug of their nearest and dearest! The statement piece at Hotel Peter and Paul was the lush semi circle of waist high blooms!

“Lush wildflower arrangements (featuring blue-and-white hydrangeas as another nod to Margot’s mother) lined the aisle and looped around the altar’s focal point; the installation was executed by their pair’s floral designer, Theia Flowers. “We were surrounded by a gorgeous lush circle of waist-high spring flowers and we could see our friends’ and family’s faces all around us,” the couple says. “It felt like a big, warm hug.”

A string quartet played “Moon River” as Margot made her way down the aisle with her father, Bill, and Carla walked down the aisle with both of her parents, Liliana and Antonio.”

“Margot and Carla held a unity tree ceremony; they combined soil from all the homes throughout their lives in a potted olive tree. “The olive tree symbolizes friendship, which seemed perfect for us since we started out as friends—and are still each other’s best friends,” they say. The couple’s family and friends collected the Earth from eight different places, including areas of California, Georgia, Texas, and Lima, Peru. “We saw this unity ceremony performed during one of our favorite weddings that we photographed together and it always stuck with us,” the couple says.”

After the most joy filled ceremony, the guests were transported to The Columns Hotel where they enjoyed an elevated house party and guests meandered through all of the rooms and the front garden!

“During the interlude, Margot and Carla stepped back inside the hotel to enjoy five minutes to themselves. “That memory will always stand out,” they say. “Taking a beat and allowing the moment to sync in—it was peaceful and we were just so happy.” They enjoyed a cocktail and some light bites on the hotel’s balcony and watched as guests started to segue to the reception. “It was fun to wave to our friends and family when they spotted us,” they say.”

“Each arrangement was artful in its own right—and no two were alike,” the couple says. Tables had pale blue linens and placed underneath strings of bistro lights.

During dinner, guests enjoyed shrimp and grits, roast chicken, seasonal vegetables, chicken gumbo, crab rice, green salad, French fries, and biscuits.”

“Margot and Carla hired Cubs the Poet to freestyle poems for their guests throughout the evening; they also doubled as favors. The creative interviewed each guest before he got to work, prompting them for a memorable experience they shared with the couple of the hour. “By the end of the evening, he created a beautiful book with the original poems,” the couple says. “It was a pretty amazing experience for both us and them!”

“The pair’s simple, gluten-free strawberry wedding cake was iced with white frosting—and drastically punched up by a dynamic fruit and flower display, arranged to create an ombré effect.

The newlyweds added New Orleans-themed cake pulls to the bottom layer. This local tradition involves the couple inviting up a few (typically single) loved ones to pull ribbons out of the cake—doing so reveals their fortune in the form of a charm.”

“As the celebration drew to a close, Kinfolk Brass Band guided the group through the streets and filled the night with music. “We danced up and down St. Charles Avenue,” say Carla and Margot. “Neighbors all came to their balconies and danced along with us. It was so New Orleans!”

To couples currently planning their own big days, they recommend hiring a top-notch photographer. “It’s probably the only time all those guests from both sides of your families will be together in one place. Having photos of everyone together will be priceless later on,” they say. “We feel so lucky that Laura Murray was there to photograph ours. These are photos that we will cherish forever.”

Hope you love this emotional Hotel Peter and Paul and Columns Hotel wedding as much as we loved planning it! Cheers to a million years of happiness Carla and Margot!

XOXO