Blue Greek-Inspired Wedding of The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe

Melissa Baran
April 7, 2019
Categories: Real Weddings, The Blog, Traditional Elegance

Meet Rachel and Corey, loveliest duo ever. Not only is their wedding day ridiculously gorgeous, layered with all sorts of something blues… but their meet cute is so darling, mostly because it took them so long to actually officially meet! Anticipation is so alluring, isn’t it? But when they did, they were inseparable. Read their story for yourself below and soak in their soiree planned by HauteFêtes, bloomed by Carla Kayes and captured by Kristina Adams.

As told by HauteFêtes, Fine Weddings & Events… Rachel and Corey are truly every planner’s dream couple. They are kind, considerate, easy going and care deeply about each other, as well as those around them. Their romance began in law school when their eyes met across a crowded lecture hall, like in the movies, except they didn’t share a knowing smile and race into each other’s arms. Instead, Rachel sat down next to Corey’s best friend and proceeded to take notes for the duration of their lecture. Six months later, Rachel was still taking notes and Corey had yet to introduce himself. But, then fate intervened in the way of a small writing class. With two spots left, Rachel raised her hand to register and immediately, Corey saw his opportunity and did so, too. From that moment on they were inseparable and finally, in March 2017 while on a hiking trip to Waimea Canyon on Kauai, Corey popped the question and Rachel agreed to marry him.

As we got to planning their wedding, they knew the venue had to be somewhere that would feel inviting and intimate, but could also inspire an organic and natural theme throughout design details, from their invitations to their favors. Because of their love of the great outdoors, the couple chose to make it official with a garden-inspired ceremony at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. They fell in love with the charm of the historic venue with its sprawling gardens, tree-lined lawns and quiet spaces. Inspired by the beauty of the California landscape, for their color palette, we kept things neutral with shades of green, ivory, the palest blue and a touch of taupe. They wanted their wedding spaces to feel connected and their design to feel timeless and, despite having nearly 200 guests, we achieved that with lush greenery, romantic floral, billowing chiffon, lounge vignettes and lots of twinkling lights from crystal chandeliers, market lights and candles. Since the couple is also big on good food and spending time with friends, we also made sure that their celebration was centered around bringing their closest family and friends together for a weekend of great eats, starting with woodfired pizza and wine at a local winery and ending with brunch on the Inn’s patio.

Despite their passion for the outdoors, Rachel and Corey have a timeless and classic style. For the wedding, Corey a custom Giovanni Bresciani navy blue tux and Jared Lang shoes while Rachel wore a stunning Martina Liana lace dress which we paired with an organic bouquet of tea and garden roses, peonies, ranunculus and delicate lacy hydrangea that looked as if they’d been gathered from the garden. For her ‘maids, Rachel selected Jenny Yoo dresses in a pretty pale blue hue.

Since the couple are both lawyers, their wedding ceremony was conducted like a trial presenting the case to be wed, California rulings on marriage, and ultimately culminating in their guests being asked to rule ‘ye’ or ‘nay’ in favor of the marriage to which everyone unanimously yelled ‘ye!’ After, guests made their way to the upper lawn for an al fresco cocktail hour and delicious tray passed hor d’oeuvres, with a masculine leather sofa that balanced out all the pretty tables for guest lounging. They later found their hand calligraphed seat assignments on a vintage apothecary table that we layered with hops and vines. Finally, guests made their way to a gorgeous reception with cabanas and open air dining, where long tables were topped with soft dusty blue linens, scalloped china, and white hemstitched napkins each with a calligraphed place name tied onto a sprig of olive with white silk ribbon. Vintage silver flatware and marbled candleholders added a vintage touch to the elegant but organic setting.

Throughout their day, we also incorporated elements that reflected Rachel’s pride in her Greek heritage. They gifted guests bags of sugared almonds or ‘koufetta’, the traditional Greek wedding favor, hand-stamped with olive branches that mimicked their invitations, while their cake sat on a bed of olive branches. Additionally, the chiffon-swagged cabanas were reminiscent of the sails of Greek boats, with the cut-lace linens in homage of Greek design. Finally, some favorite details were Rachel’s sketches of the façade of The Inn which we incorporated into the wedding stationery, and Corey’s squirrel cookies they served with the desserts in honor of the baby squirrel they’d rescued on a hike which served to capture their spirit and love of history and the great outdoors.

Rachel and Corey put a lot of trust in us to make their wedding day beautiful, down to earth and every bit a reflection of the two of them. While the overall wedding was a joy to design and plan, we were simply thrilled watching all of the most important people in their lives have such a wonderful time together – some of whom had only just met. That was probably the best part of the entire wedding weekend.