Charming Farm + Vineyard Wedding
Behind every great love is an even greater story, and this duo? Well, their first encounter involved being rescued from the Grand Canyon. So, when it came time for this nature-centered couple to tie the knot they of course chose to do in a grand-to-them manor. Making it official underneath a giant oak tree in a hometown ceremony, Cheryl Tivar Of Mirelle Carmichael Photography has it all to share in The Vault!
From The Bride...Matt and I met in January 2010 when he helped rescue myself and my classmates from the Grand Canyon after a record breaking storm swept through and completely covered our trail. Once back at college in Northern Arizona we secretly tried to make our paths cross as much as possible, including developing film in the school’s dark room at the same time (not as romantic as that sounds), until he finally asked me out and I knew within a month of dating that I wanted to marry him.
Matt and I are very nature-centered people – he is an outdoor guide and educator and my world revolves around plants. We didn't necessarily have a theme for our wedding other than to incorporate as many natural elements as possible - wood, moss, flowers, and we even named our tables after our favorite trees. During the planning stages of our wedding we were living in San Francisco and then made a big move to Denver. We decided to have our wedding in my hometown of San Diego where most of my family still lives, however when our original venue, a persimmon orchard, fell through just three months before our big day we didn’t know what to do or how we would get invitations out in time. Luckily it was a blessing in disguise because the venue we found turned out to absolutely be the perfect spot for us. Surrounded by gorgeous old oaks and families of wild turkey, this spot was particularly special to me because I grew up so close to Ramona and was happy to be able to find such a naturally beautiful gem tucked away. It even had a giant old oak for us to get married under which is something I wanted so badly but knew wouldn’t happen in an orchard.
One of Matt’s favorite aspects of our wedding was seeing all of the little kids running around having fun, and especially seeing our little ring-bearer practicing walking down the aisle with our 22 month old niece. He also loved the moments before the reception when it was just the two of us walking around being photographed.
My favorite element from our day was having my aunt officiate. We asked her just a couple of weeks before our wedding date and she was very nervous but did an incredible job of making the most important moment of our wedding personal and memorable.
Some of the details that still stand out the most to us from that day are the cake and the band. It was important to me to have a unique cake that incorporated flowers in some way and we entrusted that almost entirely to our very talented caterer who we had known for many years. One layer was St. Germaine lacquered chocolate genoise covered in lavender-infused ganache from Keys Creek, a local lavender farm; the other layer was vanilla genoise with a passionfruit-pixie tangerine marmalade, and both layers were covered in orange blossom buttercream. Matt and I ate the cake leftovers for a week after the wedding, it was so delicious! And then there was our band, The Yes Team. We couldn’t find many videos of them on the internet but after speaking with them on the phone we just had such a great feeling about them that we booked them immediately. Their fun music and amazing energy are what brought every element together. So many details from our wedding, both big and small, still stand out to us today but nothing stands out more than the feeling of seeing everyone and everything come together more beautifully than we could have ever imagined.
Matt and I are very nature-centered people – he is an outdoor guide and educator and my world revolves around plants. We didn't necessarily have a theme for our wedding other than to incorporate as many natural elements as possible - wood, moss, flowers, and we even named our tables after our favorite trees. During the planning stages of our wedding we were living in San Francisco and then made a big move to Denver. We decided to have our wedding in my hometown of San Diego where most of my family still lives, however when our original venue, a persimmon orchard, fell through just three months before our big day we didn’t know what to do or how we would get invitations out in time. Luckily it was a blessing in disguise because the venue we found turned out to absolutely be the perfect spot for us. Surrounded by gorgeous old oaks and families of wild turkey, this spot was particularly special to me because I grew up so close to Ramona and was happy to be able to find such a naturally beautiful gem tucked away. It even had a giant old oak for us to get married under which is something I wanted so badly but knew wouldn’t happen in an orchard.
One of Matt’s favorite aspects of our wedding was seeing all of the little kids running around having fun, and especially seeing our little ring-bearer practicing walking down the aisle with our 22 month old niece. He also loved the moments before the reception when it was just the two of us walking around being photographed.
My favorite element from our day was having my aunt officiate. We asked her just a couple of weeks before our wedding date and she was very nervous but did an incredible job of making the most important moment of our wedding personal and memorable.
Some of the details that still stand out the most to us from that day are the cake and the band. It was important to me to have a unique cake that incorporated flowers in some way and we entrusted that almost entirely to our very talented caterer who we had known for many years. One layer was St. Germaine lacquered chocolate genoise covered in lavender-infused ganache from Keys Creek, a local lavender farm; the other layer was vanilla genoise with a passionfruit-pixie tangerine marmalade, and both layers were covered in orange blossom buttercream. Matt and I ate the cake leftovers for a week after the wedding, it was so delicious! And then there was our band, The Yes Team. We couldn’t find many videos of them on the internet but after speaking with them on the phone we just had such a great feeling about them that we booked them immediately. Their fun music and amazing energy are what brought every element together. So many details from our wedding, both big and small, still stand out to us today but nothing stands out more than the feeling of seeing everyone and everything come together more beautifully than we could have ever imagined.
