Wait until you sink your teeth into this wedding pretties. Not only are there magnificent photos by the talented Karen Wise Photography, but this bride has an adorable blog called What’s Gaby Cooking filled to the brim with yummy recipes. Yup, this blogger beauty teamed up with Whoa Nelly! Catering to create the menu of her dreams for all her loved ones to enjoy. And I can’t forget the scenery! The Green Ribbon Party Planning Co. transformed this green lawn into a chic secret garden complete with fluffy florals and twinkle lights. The gallery is seriously overflowing with gorgeousness.
From the Bride… After a fabulously planned proposal, Thomas and I were so excited to finally be getting married! We dated for just over 6 years and so by the time we got engaged, we were both pretty much on the same page with what we wanted. Being a food writer and chef, I knew one thing was an absolute necessity… really, really, really good food. Thomas and I searched high and low through the Los Angeles area and absolutely fell in love with Whoa Nelly! Catering. The girls there are an absolute pleasure to work with. They took a menu we could have only dreamed of and turned it into a reality! I couldn’t have asked for more amazing caterers.
For our venue, we knew that we wanted to get married in a garden-type setting. We were looking for somewhere where we could kick back and get married and throw a really amazing party that would last late into the night. Our friends in Malibu have a gorgeous home with three sprawling lawns (you may have seen the property in Pottery Barn catalogs or movies) so we planned our wedding so our guests got to experience the entire space. We started with the pre-ceremony spiked lemonade stand, along with the ceremony, on one of the front lawns and we were able to get married under a beautiful old tree, the perfect backdrop for our vows. The backyard served as a great spot for cocktails and guests were able to mingle around the pool and see the beauty of the avocado tree. When it was time for dinner and dancing, we headed back out front to the other lawn, which was illuminated by gorgeous market lighting. It all felt really warm and intimate, which was exactly what we wanted. It was perfect!
When I started planning I knew I would need additional help, especially since the wedding was going to be at a private home. I saw the work of The Green Ribbon Party Planning Co. on Style Me Pretty in a styled shoot and I arranged to meet Nicole at one of my favorites places to eat. We met and instantly started talking like friends. I knew she would be able to help me translate my vision into a reality and I wasn’t disappointed. Thomas and I both have super crafty parents. My mom is an artist and made us several ceramic pieces for our big day. She made salt cellars for every table, a ring dish for the ceremony and the cutest ceramic hearts to use for our seating chart. We just tied them onto tags and hung them on a reclaimed piece of wood and it was darling. Everyone loved them so much that they even took home their ceramic hearts to use as holiday ornaments! Thomas’ dad does amazing wood-work in his spare time so we asked him to create a few handmade pieces that we could use throughout the wedding. He cut us some wooden blocks that we used for table numbers and made us a giant frame that we could use for the photo booth. It truly was a labor of love on both sides!
For my flowers, my friend Paige graciously volunteered to create something perfect for my style. We went to the flower market months before so I could get an idea of what I wanted and I settled on mums and hydrangea for the tables and fringed tulips for my bouquet. I think she did a fantastic job of keeping it light and airy on the tables. Since I knew we were having delicious food platters on every table, I wanted something simple so the table wouldn’t be too cluttered and I loved how it all turned out.
Of course, one of the most important part of the wedding was capturing all of the beauty and details perfectly. So when I learned about Karen Wise’s fine art wedding photography and food photography through Twitter, I knew right away that I wanted her to shoot our wedding. Her work is so beautiful, colorful and natural looking, and we loved that she shoots in both film and digitally. She is based in NY, but works bi-coastally too. We were happy to be able to fly her out to Malibu that week and she did an amazing job capturing every single detail of the day. She also set up a cool photo booth area, which we had nestled under a pretty tree, where we hung a frame made by Thomas’ dad. Guests loved taking photos all night long – we love these shots!
We wanted our wedding to be comfortable, chic and delicious. A few of my favorite parts were of course the flip flop basket, the photo booth complete with a full array of props (tennis props especially, since we were both on the tennis team in college) and the dessert bar where the Whoa Nelly! girls recreated one of my favorite desserts from my blog – the slutty brownies. All in all it was the perfect day! And of course our amazing wedding planner, Nicole from The Green Ribbon Party Planning Co. made it all possible!
Wedding Photography: Karen Wise Photography / Wedding Venue: Private Residence in Malibu, California / Wedding Planning: The Green Ribbon Party Planning Co. / Floral Design: Friend of the Bride / Catering: Whoa Nelly! Catering / DJ: Aaron Massey of Vox DJs / Wedding Invitations: Minted / Paper Goods: Friend of the Bride / Linens: La Tavola Fine Linen Rental / Lighting: Bella Vista Designs / Rentals: Classic Party Rentals / Ceramics: Mother of the Bride / Wooden Signs: Father of the Groom / Wedding Dress: Jenny Yoo / Bride’s Jimmy Choo / Bride’s Headband: Ban.do / Hair + Makeup: Lynn’s Make-up Art
