Lane Dittoe, you’ve done it again. You’ve photographed a wedding so impossibly chic, it’s hard to believe it’s actually real. You see, when this Bride and Groom traveled through France not only did they come home engaged, but completely inspired for the design of their Big Day. Believe me, your afternoon just got infinitely sweeter. More inside The Vault and don’t miss REB6studios‘ beautiful film below!
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From The Bride…Christophe proposed to me on a trip to France that he had planned as a birthday gift. I was looking forward to three weeks of food, wine and French country life, and had no idea that this would really be our engagement trip! We were staying in a small town in the south of France and he told me the hotel had a special bottle of champagne to give to us before dinner. It was a beautiful setting – a small balcony with room only for two chairs and a table overlooking the Mediterranean as the sun set. He gave me a photo book he had made of all of our travels together. I can’t imagine the anticipation he must have been feeling as I slowly looked through each page; the last page of the book asked me to marry him! When I got there, he got down on a knee with the ring and a violinist appeared and began to play. It was the most magical and happy moment of my life.
As we travelled through France, which included meeting some of Christophe’s family who live there, we began to think about what type of wedding we would have. We loved the villas we visited in Provence and Burgundy and we hoped to incorporate those memories into our wedding. We wanted a destination wedding, but a destination closer to home (San Diego) so that all of our family and friends would be able to come. We took several trips to northern California, looking for a venue that would feel like a private European villa where we could hold all of our events and host our family. When we found Stonepine estate, I knew it was perfect.
We spent many months planning ever detail of the wedding with our wedding coordinator Thomas and Bonnie. We wanted the wedding events to last several days and for it be a vacation for all of our guests to celebrate love and romance. We included an al fresco family-style dinner at a local restaurant, a day of wine-tasting at nearby vineyards in Carmel Valley, horseback riding and hiking. Instead of the traditional rehearsal dinner, we held a western-style welcome dinner at the estate’s equestrian center for all of our guests. It was so fun putting on our cowboy boots and hats! The morning of the wedding, I went on a hike with my girlfriends and Christophe and I each wrote letters to each other to read before I walked down the aisle.
Photography: lane Dittoe fine art wedding photographs | Cinematography: REB6studios | Event Planning + Design: Thomas Bui Lifestyle | Floral Design: Flower Divas | Wedding Dress: Reem Acra | Cake: Parker Lusseau | Stationery: Whimsique | Jewelry: Justine M Couture Accessory | Makeup Artist: James Overstreet | Hair Stylist: Brooke Hasslemann Of Studio Savvy | Entertainment: Scott Cummings Music | Entertainment: Kelly Productions | Groom's Attire: Armani | Venue: Stone Pine Estate | Bridal Salon: M Bride | Linen Rentals: Concepts Event Design | Linen Rentals: Luxe Linen | Live Artist: Nataliya Tyaglo Live Artist | Macaron Tower: Parker Lusseau | Rentals: Classic Party Rentals | Rentals: Luxe Linen
