It all started with a trip to Palm Springs to visit family.  That’s exactly when this stunning Canadian duo fell madly in love with the breathtaking landscape of The Golden State.  And after they were engaged on a hike overlooking their adopted city, it only made sense that they also tied the knot in the land of sunshine and gorgeous weddings.  Which, with the help of a devoted Mom and CCL Weddings, is exactly what they did… throw a magical (+ classic) soiree that will seriously take your breath away.  See every beautiful moment captured by Candice Benjamin in the full gallery.

And a breathtaking film from studio205films to start your week off with even more pretty…

 

From the Bride… Early in our relationship, we took a trip to Palm Springs, California to visit my parents. We instantly fell in love with the warm weather, sunshine, hiking and, most of all, the golfing!  Many trips later, we were engaged in Palm Springs on a hike overlooking the city.  It is a place that means so much to us, we knew we wanted to share it with our friends and family.  The night of our engagement we had dinner at the Waldorf Astoria La Quinta Hotel.  As we drove in the grand entrance with the lights hanging between the palm trees, we decided then and there that we would be married in California.

Two days before the wedding we did our engagement photos at the same hiking spot where he proposed. We live in Canada, so we had not yet had a chance to work with our photographer.  So we had a ton of fun dressing up in contrast to the desert landscape, while getting warmed up for our wedding photos.

Because we lived so far from our destination, we relied a lot on my mother and wedding coordinator (Catherine Cindy Leo) to make sure it all came together.  My mom found our photographer, florist, caterer, DJ, and almost everything else.  We couldn’t have done it without her help!  For the theme, we decided on a classic feel and chose white, blush pink, and grey as our wedding colors, so as not to compete with the vibrant setting of the venue. The mercury glass candle sticks and vases, on top of white linen table runners, and white flowers with dusty miller accents were perfection.  Our wedding invitations were done as a gift from a family friend, and the programs were a DIY project I tackled.  We kept the same calligraphy (Hillary Featherletter) for the invitations, escort cards, and other details, to create a unified feel even though our stationery came from different vendors.  One of my favorites pieces was our hand-painted sign from Julie Song for the donation we made to the Canadian Cancer Society in memory of my father who passed away.

The dessert table buffet was a huge hit with our guests, as it featured red velvet and carrot cake pops, mini apple pies, as well as our favorite desserts and candy growing up. There wasn’t a single chocolate chip cookie left at the end of the night.  But the highlight of our night was the Same Day Edit.  We had a videographer film us that day and then play the highlights that evening at the reception as a surprise for all our guests.  

My advice to future brides is to decide what elements of the wedding are a must-have, and then compromise on the rest.  Its easy to get caught up in thinking that everything is as important as the next, but having a clear idea of what is truly important to you will keep you happy throughout the process. We knew we wanted a Same Day Edit, so we spent a larger portion of our budget on the videographer, and then compromised by spending less on the invitations.

Wedding Photography: Candice Benjamin Photography | Wedding Venue: : La Quinta Resort & Club in La Quinta, California | Event Planning + Design: Catherine Cindy Leo from CCL Weddings | Officiant: Sallie Albertine | Wedding Cinematography: studio205films | Floral Design: David from Desert Florals Importers | Wedding Cake: Sweet & Saucy | Wedding Invitations: DIY | Shoes: Jimmy Choo

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Let’s talk about fun duos for a minute, shall we?  Because these darling Monarch Beach sweeties really know how to have a good time.  Like a fist pump at the altar, smile in every last photo, dance the night away good time.  They are in love… and it takes just one glance at their tradition-filled Dana Point glam-fest to know it.  On hand to capture all the happy?  Goddard Studios Photography, who snapped up those gorgeous florals from Square Root Design and every last second planned to perfection by Maria Lindsay Weddings.  See it all in the full gallery.

 

From Goddard Studios Photography… Anthony has had a successful business in Orange County, California for many years. Ginny came to work for Anthony about seven years ago, and this is how they fell in love. Together for a long time, and even having a six year old boy together already, they finally decided to get married. Since they had waited so long, they wanted to make sure they made this the perfect day. They hired Maria Lindsay to be their planner, chose the St. Regis as their venue and Square Root as their flower and design vendor. For their flowers they loved a clean contemporary style and they loved the St. Regis because it had a Great Ocean View and the mix of Mediterranean contemporary they were looking for.

Ginny’s dress, most beautiful- made by (of course) Vera Wang! Before the “first sight”, Anthony showered Ginny with gifts. Several pieces of jewelry, all from Tiffany. 

It was such a pleasure to shoot Ginny and Anthony’s wedding. They were fun people, which you can tell from looking at the pictures. Everything starting out “serious” (like for example the posed family/bridal party shots), ended up in laughter and joking around. Great to see a couple, who’ve already been together for quite some years, be this in love and so wonderful for one another.

Wedding Photography: Anna and Collin from Goddard Studios Photography | Wedding Venue: St.Regis Monarch Beach in Dana Point, California | Wedding Planner: Maria Lindsay Weddings | Floral Design: Square Root Design | Catering + Wedding Cake: St.Regis | DJ: Divel Entertainment | Ice Sculpture: Ice Bulb | Wedding Dress: Vera Wang | Makeup + Hair: Design Visage

There are garden parties, and then there are garden parties hosted by Julia Lake Parties, who just so also happens to be the floral-crowned Bride gracing the gorgeous images of Lauren Ross in this I can’t believe it’s real, wedding. Because this garden party brings such fêtes to an entirely new detail-filled level. With a all white dress code for their guests, handmade floral crowns for all the ladies and guests that dined under twinkling lights on the family heirloom china – it’s safe to say, this wedding is a stunner. See it all here.

 

From the Bride… Because I throw parties as a profession, my wedding day was like my tour de force. People always tell you not to get lost in the details but I ignored them and put all my focus into the details.

I wanted the day to feel sacred & intimate so I asked guests to wear all white, head to toe. Even I didn’t realize how ethereal it would look and it really set the tone so that the overall vibe was untouchable. It was as if we were all part of the ceremony. The actual ceremony took place in a circle made up of guests sitting on hay bales arranged in a circle with old linens thrown over them. It was incredibly intimate.

We had a few different DIY projects that we did Which Included bundled love letters. I color photocopied some love letters that my husband and I had written to each other in the last 5 years, cut them out in their original shapes & sizes and tied them together with ribbon. Each person had the stack of love letters waiting for them on their pillow when they arrived to read through before bed the night before the wedding. it was incredibly intimate but i thought a nice way of sharing our love with our loved ones.

Flower crowns: The day before the wedding all of the ladies came to my house and sat on blankets on the lawn and weaved flowers crowns together to wear at the wedding- so on the wedding day each woman had a flower crown of her own.

Wedding programs: I made the wedding program cards on the back of vintage wedding photograph postcards and my bridesmaids looked edwardian- even though we found all of their dresses in my mothers closet 2 nights before the wedding in an epic dress up session.

Downton Abbey: Because I wanted to use all of my mother’s passed down family silver, antique china and old european linens, it ended up looking like an outdoor garden party in a scene from downton abbey. In the end I only rented the glassware and tables. I kept the color palate clean and only used white aside from splashes of pink because my dress was made of Czech linen with hand embroidered pink flowers on it so every now and then you’d have an accent of pink.

Wedding Photography: Lauren Ross | Wedding Venue: Family Residence- Esser Vineyards in Napa, California | Wedding Cinematography: Thomas Hughes Films | Event  Planning + Design: Julia Lake Parties | Floral Design: DIY by the Bride via SF Flower Market | Wedding Invitations: The Bride | Wedding Dress: Custom via The Cotton Bride | Bride’s Shoes: Badgely Mishka “Zowie”