La Jolla Wedding from Studio Castillero

Studio Castillero takes images that are so romantic and dreamy. The image could literally be of a dirt patch and through their lens, it's transformed into a beautiful, beautiful thing. Of course, this Darlington House wedding is a far cry from a dirt patch. It's an all white summer-scape with just the right amount of navy blue to make a glamorous pop. And it's even better as a whole. See that whole right here.
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From the Bride...My overall inspiration/ theme was vintage elegance with a hint of rustic flare. I had SO much fun planning all of the details of my wedding day.. almost everything was DIY and I spent most of the year shopping in thrift stores, antique swap meets, and home goods searching for all of my centerpieces, and personal touches including a vintage chandelier that is currently hanging in my daughters nursery. In lieu of traditional circle tables, we decided to go with long, rectangular tables with tables capes of all white flowers.  I collected the containers over the course of the year leading up to the wedding and they varied from crystal embellished mercury glass votive to elaborate candelabras that our friend and floral designer, Meg, filled with my favorites - peonies, garden roses and hydrangeas.  

Troy and I chose to get married at the Darlington House because we fell in love with its vintage charm (it was built in 1920), we could have our ceremony and reception there, everything was outdoors, it was located two blocks from the beach in one of our favorite spots (La Jolla Village), and we had the option to choose all of our own vendors!  Troy and I both grew up near the sunny beaches of Southern California so we knew we wanted to get married close to home.  Since we had recently moved to San Diego for Troy's job, we knew it would be the perfect place for us.

One thing that was non-negotiable for me was to have ONEHOPE Wine a part of our special day.  We were able to serve an award-winning wine to our guests and give back at the same time!  We also used ONEHOPE wine as our wedding favors and had the bottles displayed at our cocktail hour with personalized tags to let them know which table they were seated at... Our guests got to drink the wine during our reception and take a bottle home with them after the party! Each varietal benefits a different cause with half of profits donated to partner non-profits so we decided to give away primarily our Zinfandel (benefiting children of fallen troops) since my husband is a Veteran. We paired other varietals with causes close to our guests' hearts - from the Chardonnay benefiting Breast Cancer, to the Cabernet toward Autism.  Our friends and family loved the gesture and it was such a meaningful way to say Thank You for celebrating the biggest day of our lives knowing each bottle was going toward something bigger.  

Troy and I wanted to make our ceremony as personal as possible so we asked my father to marry us and we had my brother sing live during our ceremony. Some of my favorite Moments of the day (There are so many... our wedding day will forever be one of the happiest days of my life, BUT if I had to pick a few): seeing Troy's reaction when I turned to walk down the aisle (we decided not have have a first look), Troy's groom speech - true to his nature he made me laugh hysterically and was very touching making me cry, and our dance party! I had so much fun dancing with everyone at our reception.. our friends and family are all AMAZING dancers. Nothing can beat the way I felt finally putting on my dress for the last time, having my hair done by my best friend Donna since 9th grade and then seeing Troy's reaction during our ceremony.   It was truly the happiest moment of my life finally getting to marry the love of my life surrounded by all of our friends and family.  This April we'll have a new addition to our family!  Our first baby girl is on her way and I could not be more excited!

Photography: Studio Castillero | Catering + Event Planning: The Abbey Catering | Floral Design: Megan Robinson | Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Darlington House  | Wine + Favors: ONEHOPE Weddings | Hotel: Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa | Wedding Gown: Private Label Exclusive for Mon Amie Bridal | Hair: Donna Walker from Elle Salon, Huntington Beach | Makeup: Label Me Lindsay
Vendors
Event Planning: Label Me Lindsay | Vendor: Mon Amie Bridal Salon | Vendor: The Abbey Catering | Venues: The Darlington House