Romantic Summer Wedding at Rancho Valencia
The elegant simplicity of this Bride's gown, the colors of the romantic venue, her son walking her down the aisle; all these parts came together to create a wedding to remember, warming my heart at every glance of Troy Grover's photos. LVL Weddings & Events made magic with La Tavola's linens and Sweet Marie Designs, and Luke Lindgren captured all the live action, making my tear right up - all this way!
From Troy Grover Photographers... Ranee and Josh met in Basalt, Colorado, when Josh bought Swedish Painting Company, including the condo above it. Little did he know, his future wife lived there with her son. As luck would have it, Ranee’s dishwasher broke about two weeks later. After trying to fix it, Josh ended up buying a new one. The day it was installed, she came home to find a note on it that said, “Let’s celebrate clean dishes with a drink. Say yes!” And the rest is history.
Although Ranee is from Texas and Josh had called New York home, they settled together as a family in Aspen, Colorado. When trying to choose a location for their upcoming wedding, they knew none of those locations were quite right for them, and decided sunny San Diego would be a perfect getaway for their guests. When they stepped into Rancho Valencia, Ranee and Josh fell in love with everything about it. Upon learning that Josh’s parents celebrate their anniversary there every year, they knew it was fate!
The vibe of Rancho Valencia was less formal than Ranee originally envisioned their wedding to be, but using Josh’s love for the color blue, and Ranee’s love for monogramming, they created the perfect theme for their day. Their custom logo they designed ended up being the center of the design for the wedding. It was on invitations, linen napkins, cake, chair backs, guest gift bags, cocktail napkins, and even the ring bearer’s pillow. Ranee’s favorite detail to plan was the navy linen napkins with the white monogrammed logo that was at every seat for the reception. Because the napkins were used after she officially became an “Austin” she changed the logo from “RJ” to just an “A.” Because of that, they were able to give some of the napkins to Josh’s parents, who helped so much with the wedding, and his grandmother.
Above all, Ranee’s favorite thing about the whole weekend was watching her son add the final touches to his very own cake and meeting Lindsey Sinatra and team at A Wish and a Whisk. Her son is an avid watcher of cake designing shows, so the couple decided in lieu of a groom’s cake, to have a special cake designed by her son instead. When Ranee mentioned this detail to Heather Hoesch, their wedding planner from LVL Weddings & Events, she knew Lindsey was on one of the Food Network shows and was available to make the cakes. After enthusiastically creating many ideas, Ranee’s son decided on an Aspen themed cake, with the top reading “Let’s make new tracks.” Lindsey created all the details so he could add them onto the cake himself. Ranee’s son said this was definitely his favorite part of the wedding!
Their main priority for their wedding was for all their guests to feel like they were on vacation and to have a relaxing wedding day. Ranee started the day with just her and her son, laughing and spending breakfast together - her favorite memory of the day. Then the girls took a yoga class before getting ready and the guys took a tennis lesson. Rancho Valencia provided the rest of the atmosphere and the day felt exactly like they had hoped. She urges brides planning their weddings just to focus on the day, family, and friends. All the little things you worry about, no one will notice, they will just remember the ambiance and how fun the day is.
Although Ranee is from Texas and Josh had called New York home, they settled together as a family in Aspen, Colorado. When trying to choose a location for their upcoming wedding, they knew none of those locations were quite right for them, and decided sunny San Diego would be a perfect getaway for their guests. When they stepped into Rancho Valencia, Ranee and Josh fell in love with everything about it. Upon learning that Josh’s parents celebrate their anniversary there every year, they knew it was fate!
The vibe of Rancho Valencia was less formal than Ranee originally envisioned their wedding to be, but using Josh’s love for the color blue, and Ranee’s love for monogramming, they created the perfect theme for their day. Their custom logo they designed ended up being the center of the design for the wedding. It was on invitations, linen napkins, cake, chair backs, guest gift bags, cocktail napkins, and even the ring bearer’s pillow. Ranee’s favorite detail to plan was the navy linen napkins with the white monogrammed logo that was at every seat for the reception. Because the napkins were used after she officially became an “Austin” she changed the logo from “RJ” to just an “A.” Because of that, they were able to give some of the napkins to Josh’s parents, who helped so much with the wedding, and his grandmother.
Above all, Ranee’s favorite thing about the whole weekend was watching her son add the final touches to his very own cake and meeting Lindsey Sinatra and team at A Wish and a Whisk. Her son is an avid watcher of cake designing shows, so the couple decided in lieu of a groom’s cake, to have a special cake designed by her son instead. When Ranee mentioned this detail to Heather Hoesch, their wedding planner from LVL Weddings & Events, she knew Lindsey was on one of the Food Network shows and was available to make the cakes. After enthusiastically creating many ideas, Ranee’s son decided on an Aspen themed cake, with the top reading “Let’s make new tracks.” Lindsey created all the details so he could add them onto the cake himself. Ranee’s son said this was definitely his favorite part of the wedding!
Their main priority for their wedding was for all their guests to feel like they were on vacation and to have a relaxing wedding day. Ranee started the day with just her and her son, laughing and spending breakfast together - her favorite memory of the day. Then the girls took a yoga class before getting ready and the guys took a tennis lesson. Rancho Valencia provided the rest of the atmosphere and the day felt exactly like they had hoped. She urges brides planning their weddings just to focus on the day, family, and friends. All the little things you worry about, no one will notice, they will just remember the ambiance and how fun the day is.