For these high school sweethearts who wanted that perfect sunlit Cali vibe set in the hills, they sure nailed it with their rustic al fresco fete planned by Venus Event Design. Pops of peachy pink dot the florals from The Little Branch in the form of garden roses and proteas, while La Tavola dressed the tables in their breezy linens. onelove photography stole every sweet moment with their lens and tucked it away right here for our viewing pleasure.
From the beautiful Bride…Scott and I met over 10 years ago in high school! We didn’t have a cute high school sweetheart story but it was what seems a very serendipitous twist of events with friends of friends that led us to each other in San Francisco over New Year’s Eve over pizza three and a half years ago and we’ve been by eachother’s side ever since.
When we got engaged the very first thing we decided on was that no ifs ands or butts, we were going to do everything outdoors. We love hiking, camping and just being outside where we grew up (a small fairly rural town outside of Los Angeles) so we wanted the brushy hills, big trees and sunshine for the setting for our I do’s. After some driving up the coast we landed at the perfect spot in Templeton. As much as we love the beauty of being tucked against the hills with the open night we also wanted to be sure our guests felt like they were at a special dinner party with little pieces of our history tucked into the evening, so we enlisted an amazing helping hand in the planning process—Hana Malek of Venus Event Design. Hana helped bring this vision to reality by bringing in soft vintage pieces, and many glam touches. We also knew that onelove photography was our “go to” for capturing our special day. Molly and Margaret did an amazing job with our photos and we can’t thank them enough.
Music was super important to Scott and I, so we decided on a band which I initially was nervous about, but having live music was without question the best decision we made as far as the party went. From the start of our planning process Scott and I agreed as long as we had a packed dance floor of family and friends anything could go wrong and we wouldn’t notice or care for that matter!
My favorite moment from the wedding– that’s hard! We crowd surfed thanks to our rowdy friends egging us on! We were on cloud nine. Also, although this wasn’t a moment per say, but I loved how Venus Event Design was able to incorporate so many personal touches about our love story into the night without it seeming too obvious. I love subtleties that have meaning (we had my late grandmothers hankies sewn into my gown, antiques of my grandparents used as decor around the venue, French macarons in vintage compotes around the reception — which Scott used to propose, and we closed the night out with a late night pizza bar which is how Scott and I first hit it off!)
Word of advice to brides planning a wedding, especially one outdoors where all vendors must be brought in because they aren’t provided by venue: if budget permits a planner, this will save you so much time in doing research and comparing and contrasting different packages. Regardless of if you’re doing it on a budget or have a million bucks to spend, take a second and breathe! Don’t get too caught up in the speed bumps, it’s inevitable, not every vendor is going to be available on your date, the dreamy china might be out of reach due to cost, the late night food truck might not fit on venue’s driveway (my silly bridal let down). The minute you wake up on your wedding day, see your family, best friends and your groom nothing else matters. It’s crystal clear that it’s a day all about love and happiness as cheesy as that may sound. You could be wearing a potato sack and the wedding could be at the McDonalds down the street- take a sip of a mimosa and go have a blast!
The whole weekend of our wedding was total perfection and went off without a hitch thanks to our stellar team- big thank you to our amazing coordinator Hana, onelove photography team, and our amazing family and friends who made our day an absolute dream.
Photography: onelove photography | Videography: Surreal Wedding Films | Coordination: Venus Event Design | Floral Design: THE LITTLE BRANCH | Cake: Decadence Fine Cakes & Confections | Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Bridesmaids Dresses: Amsale | Catering: La Donna Dolce Catering | Makeup: Hale Koa phineas Estate | Hair: LunaBella Make-up and Hair | Entertainment: Soulville Band | Bridal Gown: Watters | Calligraphy/signage: Perfect Fete | Ceremony And Reception: Lago Giuseppi Cellars | Linens: BBJ La Tavola | Paper Goods: Hale Koa phineas Estate | Photobooth: ShutterBooth | Rentals: All About Events | Rentals: Embellish