A Timeless Tented Wedding at The Ojai Valley Inn

Lauren Megerdichian
April 9, 2019
Categories: Real Weddings, The Blog, Traditional Elegance

Beside from the most beautifully organic climbing floral arbor by TOAST Santa Barbara and a knock-out Hayley Paige gown, what stuck out to us the most about today’s wedding were the contagious smiles and sheer happiness we saw in this gorgeous bride. Michelle Beller Photography perfectly captured every emotion of the day, you just can’t help but feel butterflies as you scroll though these stunning pictures. Bello & Blue Events planned every flawless detail, bringing the bride and groom’s aesthetic goals to life! See all the pretty below…

After attending a memorable destination wedding designed by Lindsey of Bello & Blue Events, Claire & Adam knew they wanted to collaborate with the Bello & Blue team for their September wedding at the iconic Ojai Valley Inn to create a memorable destination experience for their guests. On a perfect, sunny, California day, beneath a 200 year old oak trees adorned in blooms, Claire & Adam said I do surrounded by their nearest and dearest, even their sweet puppies (wearing floral collars) were a part of the nuptials! Inspired by Claire’s favorite flower, a Peach Juliet Rose, together with Bello & Blue, they designed a weekend of events for 120 of their closest family and friends.

The details were abundant, and all classic, timeless, beautiful, and chosen very intentionally. With such a stunning property and backdrop, Claire & Adam wanted to highlight the destination so they had a watercolor painting made of the setting and included that as an envelope liner for their letterpress invitation suite. They also opted for acrylic signage to allow guests to take in the floral, and natural elements of the majestic setting, they didn’t want anything to take away from what was already in place, only enhance it. Additionally, with the Spanish style decor and gorgeous tile detail featured all over the Ojai Valley Inn property, the place cards were the perfect pairing, marble tiles with guests’ names calligraphed as a keepsake. Finally, the florals, designed by Toast Santa Barbara, were the perfect combination of creamy whites, with lots of lush greenery accented with pops of peach to add the romance of the day. All of this was tied up with a perfectly coordinated silk bow in the ideal shade of peach – this ribbon bound the invitations, wrapped the welcome boxes, and also the napkins so there was consistency throughout. The end result was the most magical Ojai wedding weekend that was as much fun as it was beautiful!

Favorite part of the wedding day for each of you?

From Claire & Adam… It’s hard to pick just one favorite part looking back on the wedding day- everything was so perfect! Besides saying I do (of course), one of the best moments would have to have been the first look. We came down fully expecting it to be an emotional moment, but it was so much more dramatic and meaningful than we could have ever imagined. The setting chosen by our photographers was an arbor surrounded by massively tall eucalyptus trees and there was a slight breeze blowing – it was perfect. Another moment that felt so special was right after the ceremony when we snuck away into the Artisan Cottage to have a couple moments together before going to our cocktail hour. We loved being able to reset as HUSBAND & WIFE(!) before going to entertain and celebrate with guests. Finally, something that still makes us smile today would have to be the climax of our reception, having everyone on the dance floor screaming and dancing to the song “Shout”, with band members on the dance floor included! We’ve never been so happy!

Favorite part of the planning process?

One of our favorite parts of the planning process was when we saw the first design moodboard of what everything was going to look like – we couldn’t believe how spot on Lindsey was with the aesthetic we were going for! We just felt like she understood us, our vision, and the story we wanted to share with our guests. On top of that, our weekend planning meetings in Ojai were such a blast! We made so many mini vacations out of it and had the best time tasting the food, the wine, the cake(!) and curating the vision and guest experience for our dream weekend.

Favorite wedding detail/moment?

One of our most favorite details was the watercolor image we had painted of the Ojai Valley Inn. We utilized this as an envelope liner for our invitation suite, and it was such a beautiful detail. Seeing it all come together was overwhelming and so exciting. Oddly enough, it didn’t really set in until the first time we saw our wedding cake! I am still not completely sure why, but I burst into tears as soon as I saw it. It just reminded me that this was all happening, we were married and this party we so carefully planned was unfolding in the best, most beautiful way!

What advice would you offer to couples planning their wedding?

Our favorite part of our entire wedding was that we planned it together. We wanted Adam to do it as a team and determine all of the details, everything, (besides my dress of course!) together. It made the day, when it finally came, that much more special. We highly recommend working together! You will be working together and communicating for the rest of your lives, planning a wedding is a great place to start and work out the kinks.

Also, trust that everything will come together. There are so many pieces to consider and so many moving parts when planning a destination wedding. We assembled a vendor dream team, and felt confident about everything, but panic set in about 2 weeks before the wedding day. We struggled to understand how it was all going to work, how could all these little details come to fruition? It just seemed like such an insurmountable task to make everything come together but it did, seamlessly! Trust that your planner and the vendors you have carefully selected are going to take care of you! It all came together perfectly, and our awesome team made our wedding dreams come true!