This day of pretty isn't done yet - oh no. While you are packing up to call it a day, we still have two gorgeous weddings coming your way. And this one from Red Ribbon Studio, might make you want to "work" a bit later this evening. It's an al fresco evening wedding with elegance in the air, and I am absolutely in LOVE with the fact they sat all 100 of their guests at one gorgeous table. Swoon. It's all equally as elegant, so be sure to check out the full gallery for even more!
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From Red Ribbon Studio... Hillary and Jon were married on the lawn of the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. An amazing feast followed at the coolest wedding table I’ve ever seen, one long table for all 100 guests. It felt like dining with royalty! Every detail was perfect but not overdone. Just right. Simple elegance at its best. Paired with a lot of fun too, including one of the best wedding dance-offs I’ve ever seen, between Hillary and a very energetic dancing guest! Jon’s trusty canine best friend, Andy, was the flower girl. Hillary and Jon are the sweetest couple. I love their story, they dated in high school, went their separate ways for a while, but found their way back to each other. Thanks to Rebecca with Red Letter Day Events for awesome coordination and Annette Gomez for such pretty flowers to photograph.
From the Bride... My husband Jon and I are originally from Las Vegas, but we wanted to be married in a place that was both relatively close and still felt like a vacation. San Diego is one of our favorite cities and has some personal significance because my mother is a native and my parents were married there. We went for a weekend to check out possible wedding sites, and I drug Jon to about 10 venues, all of which Jon displayed mild interest in. When we stopped at our last venue, the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, my previously disinterested fiance got extremely excited and said “We HAVE to get married here”. We loved the Inn’s feel: casual yet really refined. We also loved that, because it was a historic building, it would always be a place for us to return to and relive the magic of our wedding day.
Once we had the venue, we knew we needed a great coordinator to help us do everything from afar. Rebecca from Red Letter Days totally got my vision, had amazing ideas and was patient enough to put up with my 30-page wedding power point deck (which I showed to anyone who would show even the mildest bit of interest). I really lucked out because my friend and fellow book club member Maribeth Romslo just happens to be a world class wedding photographer and was willing to travel from Minneapolis for the big day. How lucky am I! With the venue, coordinator and photographer in place, we could really narrow in on the look and tone of the day.
Because I am a brand manager by profession, it was really important to me that my wedding looked and felt really cohesive from every single touch point. From the website to the floral arrangements to the napkins, I wanted it to feel elegant and romantic but not be overdone or stuffy. We wanted the evening to be mostly outdoors and to have distinct areas for each part of wedding that would flow into each other perfectly but would also build up to the big party at the end. I wanted the property’s Spanish style architecture, gardens and natural beauty to be showcased, so we opted for almost no color. Everything was shades of white and ivory with a few gold accents.
One of our favorite places at the Inn is the huge Brazilian pepper tree on the croquet lawn and it was the perfect backdrop for our vows. We wanted the ceremony to be really simple and focus on us coming together as a family. Our siblings all participated, our dear friend performed the ceremony and our dog Andy acted as the flower girl. We chose to have Flamenco guitar for processional music and during the ceremony. Our guitarist, Anthony Garcia, was just amazing and gave the ceremony the perfect feel.
It was a dream of mine to have all 100 guests at one long table. I wanted the dinner to feel like a fun outdoor dinner party vs. a standard wedding so we had it on an enclosed lawn in a relatively small space. We timed the dinner to be after sunset so the area was lit only by candles and strung lighting.Walking into the dinner area with that huge table filled with white candles and white flowers and lights strung everywhere was one of my favorite parts of the evening. Rebecca had the brilliant idea to bring in a grand piano on the lawn and the music, lighting and ambiance made it a magical dinner. Kudos to Annette Gomez for the gorgeous design, my wedding coordinators Mia and Rebecca for making it happen and the Inn for perfect execution. Once the dinner commenced, we went to an adjacent ballroom for dancing. We wanted this area to have more of a lounge feel so we brought in all white furniture and just used candles with minimal flowers. I wanted to keep the party energy up, so we brought in an espresso bar right off the dance floor and it was a huge hit with guests. The only downside was that I was still wide awake at 4:00 am!
Wedding Photography: Red Ribbon Studio / Venue: Inn at Rancho Santa Fe / Wedding Dress: Monique L'huillier / Bride's Shoes: Jimmy Choo / Veil: Borrowed / Make-up + Hair: Claire Young / Bridesmaid Dresses: Custom Flutter Boutique / Groom's Attire: Hugo Boss / Planning: Red Letter Day Events / Floral Design: Annette Gomez / Invitations: Bella Figura / Calligraphy: Sue Strumwasser / Wedding Cake + Dessert: Elizabethan Desserts / Sign-In Table Design: Amy Strodl at Varnish Design / Flamenco Guitar: Antony Garcia / Reception Music: The Money Band