Welcome back SMP-ers, hope you had a fantastic weekend! In my opinion, there is no better way to start off the week on Style Me Pretty than with a wedding that has been stripped of fuss and fancy, and infused with style, grace and completely approachable beauty. The kind of wedding that you know was built by hand by the bride and groom, that was lovingly crafted and thoughtfully edited. I could live forever inside this wedding, photographed to perfection by Marianne Wilson. To see even more, click right here.
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Our wedding venue was a 1940s ranch house in the Santa Monica Mountains, and despite the fact that we rented the location, I wanted the wedding to feel like it was organic, spontaneous party in someone’s backyard.
We chose colors that reflected the landscape (sage green, white, and purples) and kept everything clean, bright and simple. The ranch house is owned by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and that inspired a lot of what I loved about the wedding. We immediately chose succulents as the floral focus, because 1) we love them and 2) they’re everywhere in Southern California – they were definitely local and “green.” (We planted pieces from my bouquet and the centerpieces in pots and they’re still alive!) We had our invitations printed on seeded paper with soy ink. And we opted to give small potted succulents as our favors. I initially had grand plans to scour thrift shops and antique stores for 120 teacups to plant the favors in, but I stopped at eight, filled them with cacti and used them for the centerpieces for the cocktail tables. The favors were planted in tiny terra cotta pots, which I thought was pretty adorable.
As a family, we were all pretty hands on. Luke wrote out all the escort cards and place cards, my mom handled the candy bar and handmade all our chalkboard sign from plywood and chalkboard spray paint, and my dad potted all of the favors.
There are so many details I absolutely loved about that day (our beautiful cake, wonderful photographer, the fabulous photo booth, wearing the garter my grandma, mom and aunt all wore when they got married), but one of my favorite things was our hoopa, which was constructed by our incredible florist and incorporated one of my late great-grandmother’s table cloths.
In the end, the day was magic. It felt like the perfect mix between glossy, modern wedding and backyard soiree, which is exactly what we wanted. We were so happy that everyone had such a good time and were blown away by how much love really was in the air. Luke and I waited through a two year engagement for this wedding, and I couldn’t not be happier with the way I married the love of my life.
Photography: Marianne Wilson Photography / Flowers: Belle of the Ball Floral Design / Ceremony Location: Ahmanson Ranch House, Calabassas CA / Reception Location: Ahmanson Ranch House, Calabassas CA / DJ: I’m a Girl DJ, Lisa Kasberg / Makeup: Beau Ideal Beauty / Catering: Command Performance