This vibrantly organic ranch wedding by First Comes Love Photography is sure to brighten up your day. It is bursting with delicious pops of color, eye-catching patterns and textures and lovely, natural details. The centerpieces that combine baskets of fruit and blossoms inside modern, glass orbs might be my favorite part. Click here to see all the cheerfully crafted details in the full gallery! We’re sad too see Alison of First Comes Love Photography leave the west coast but if you’re anywhere near Michigan than you are certainly in for a treat as that is where she now calls home!
Click here to see the entire gallery of images!
From the Bride…We first met in a student co-op house in college, but really got to know each other several years later, when we became roommates in a warehouse in San Francisco. We dated for almost 7 years before getting married, and lived together for the last three of those years. We’d done some international traveling together already, spent holidays with each other’s families, and decided to start a family — by the time we actually got married our lives were already intertwined and we had no doubts about going forward together.
The general feel of our wedding was fresh, bright and outdoors. We brainstormed dress-up themes for a while but ultimately just encouraged people to dress flamboyantly if they were so inclined, but overall be comfortable and casual. An unspoken theme for us was that the wedding be very personal and very “us.” We spent a lot of time choosing which aspects of traditional weddings we wanted to maintain and which we would pass on, and what parts of alternative culture, such as Taiwanese/Chinese traditions and pagan rituals, we would like to include.
It was very important to us that as many guests as possible be able to stay on-site for the weekend, having lots of time to relax, meet people and be together. We had a vision that people could park their car on Friday and not need it again until Sunday. Dawn Ranch was a great venue for this, both for the venue itself and for the convenient hotels and restaurants within walking distance. We also liked the value Dawn Ranch places on organic and local food and wine. In general, its balance of elegance and rustic charm, comfort and nature, professionalism and environmental values, was a great fit for us.
We were recommended to Alison by a trusted friend and felt comfortable with her right away when we met her. She clearly could relate to our values and lifestyle choices, and felt like someone we had a lot in common with. We liked that she was easy to talk to and laugh with, but also took her responsibilities as our photographer very seriously.
We started off thinking 120 guests would be ideal, and our final count ended up over 170! As we went, we saw that adding guests was not that much more incrementally in cost, and we kept thinking of more people we would like to be part of the celebration. We saw the event as not only a way for us to include people we care about, but a way for our family and community to connect with each other. It ended up being something of a college reunion!
Wedding Dress: No Ordinary / Alterations: Janene’s Bridal Boutique / Groom’s Suit: John Varvatos / Tie: Ted Baker / Shirt: Thomas Pink / Cinematography: Weddings on Film / Bride’s Shoes: Kelly & Katie / Hair + Make-up: Salon 12 / Floral Design: Lila B. Design / Venue + Catering: Dawn Ranch Lodge / Wedding Photography: First Comes Love Photography / Band: Brass Monkey Brass Band + Tipsy Gypsy Trio / Wedding Cake: Satura Cakes