Romantic Vintage Wedding at Calamigos Ranch

Elizabeth Greene
January 21, 2015
Categories: Real Weddings, Rustic

I’ll just admit it: I’m pretty much obsessed with this wedding. Held at Calamigos Ranch, this romantic vintage celebration is what I’ll be dreaming of for days. From The Little Branch rocking it with their floral magic, to Laurie Bailey capturing every thought out detail, I’m transfixed. Linda Howard Events orchestrated a masterpiece and I can’t stop pinning photo after photo as I continue to obsess even more.

Colors

Seasons

Fall Weddings

Settings

Rustic Weddings

Styles

Rustic

From The Bride… From the moment Fraser surprised me with an intimate, candlelit proposal in our tiny apartment, everything wedding related fell into place. I immediately began scouring Style Me Pretty and even joined Pinterest to start my first inspiration board. We knew we wanted an elegant affair but in a relaxed setting – nothing stuffy. It was our big day and we wanted it to be really special. And we wanted to dance. A lot.

I tend to over-think, and sometimes it can take me months to do adequate research just to buy a pair of shoes, so we braced ourselves for a long planning process. Surprisingly, it ended up being enjoyable and easier than expected. Calamigos Ranch was the only venue we visited, and I immediately knew it was “the one” as the 100 year-old oak tree reminded me of my childhood backyard – a very special place. It was the perfect location to share this most special moment with our closest friends and family.

After we finalized the venue, with 10 months of planning ahead, our vision and vendors fell perfectly into place. My sweet groom wanted to be involved but had limited time due to his demanding work schedule. He took on a few things that were really important to him like the music and food. My mom was incredibly involved and we are so lucky she was. Her organization, aesthetic and knowing us so well as a couple made her an indispensable part of the planning process. Fraser’s family was also very involved from Seattle. We are so lucky to have such supportive and helpful families.

Blake Lively’s gorgeous bridal bouquet was my floral/color scheme inspiration. Calamigos was the ideal backdrop to complement my vision of dreamy blush, lavender and creamy florals, creating an elegant French garden affair with a rustic background. The Little Branch completely understood and expanded on our vision beautifully! I knew I wanted antique furniture and possibly vignettes, but I wanted everything to have a purpose – no need for an antique bathtub at my cocktail hour.

I was also set on adding glamour to our wedding tent with string lights, gorgeous crystal chandeliers, and assorted tables. I wanted the tablescapes to be elegant, magical and approachable. We achieved this by having low floral arrangements, tons of candles, an assortment of vintage lace, chargers, and glasses, and even personalized each place setting with hand-tied sprigs of lavender and velum baguette bags with the evening’s menu. Our extremely talented stationery team, East Six, created two beautiful monograms for us (one of our first initials and one including our new, shared last name) to use pre- and post- ceremony. I loved seeing our updated monogram (with my new last initial) all over our reception – the dance floor, the menus and the labels of the delicious PopGram Kettle Corn favors we sent home with our guests.

I had a lot of fun scouring Etsy for unique, personalized wedding weekend touches. My absolute favorite find was a hand drawn map by JLHArtStudio of our wedding event locations and landmarks. We included a copy in all of the guest welcome bags and have the original framed in our home. Some of my other favorites include the ribbon we had personalized with our wedding date and “True love is WIRTH the wait,” an array of cake toppers for our dessert spread, engraved forks with “I Do,” “Me Too” and our date, personalized tissue packets, and individually wrapped pashminas in case it got chilly (and in fact, it ended up being uncharacteristically cold that night so the pashminas went instantly). I also bribed my bridesmaids over a night of wine, takeout Chinese food, and a viewing of “Bridesmaids” to get crafty and stamp/tie/stick/roll. One of my very talented ladies even drew all of our chalkboards for us – she’s the best!

Fraser and I love to laugh and have fun, so we knew we wanted our sense of humor to shine through in our day. I kept this in mind when putting together gift bags for my bridesmaids. I wanted to give them things they could use/wear on the special day and at home, make them think of us, and hopefully laugh. Among the array of gifts, my favorite was the embroidered handkerchiefs with beautiful flowers and “No Ugly Crying.” We had a vintage photo booth from Petite Pix open all night with an array of props so people could let out their sillies and have a keepsake to make them smile. Also, it’s often the little, kitschy things that make people happy, like the multi-colored light up rings that were passed out on the dance floor. Everyone loved them!

One of my favorite memories from the day is getting ready with my mom and bridesmaids. We were upgraded to the Presidential Suite at the Four Seasons (amazing!) so we had ample room to spread out and relax. We lit a fire, brought in food and champagne, and primped in style. My Hayley Paige dress was a complete wildcard that my mom picked and I had no interest in trying. I was looking for a different silhouette, material and vibe, but when I put it on we knew instantly that it embodied the day perfectly. There was a moment just me, my mom and my sister when they helped me into my dress, just the three of us, and it was perfect. That moment was followed by the romantic perfection of my groom seeing me for the first time, and although there were other people around, it was just the two of us in that magical moment. Our photographer, Laurie Bailey, captured the day and special moments beautifully and we could not be happier.

We both expected to be nervous on our big day, but it was the opposite. Spending the rest of our lives together was the natural progression, and our day was bursting with our love, commitment, and joy. We were both blown away by how beautiful the day turned out. We already had complete faith in our vendors and planner, but were stunned at the beauty of the big day from the flowers, to the dining room decor, to the elaborate charcuterie and dessert spreads. All of our hard work paid off and we were able to craft the perfect day to celebrate our union with those most near and dear to our hearts. We are still in awe at the way the day captured our personalities so well. We are a lucky Mr. & Mrs.!