Ariel & Nick’s enchanting wedding at The Lodge at Malibou Lake was a lavender-hued dream. Purple was the star of the palette with varying shades incorporated into everything, from the bridal party attire and décor to the Lace Byrd ring boxes and wedding favor adornments. The bride, owner of Ariel Sarah Events, personalized their day with DIY elements, including a gorgeous mirror welcome sign and a candlelit memorial table to honor the couple’s loved ones who have passed. The venue’s fireplaces and wooden features emanated an intimacy and earthy simplicity – all captured by Danielle Bacon Photography, check it out at the full gallery!
From To Be Loved Events… Ariel and Nick’s fairytale wedding, originally planned for April of 2020, took place at the beautiful Lodge at Malibou Lake in Agoura Hills, California in April of 2021. The Bride, a wedding planner and event designer, launched her own company, Ariel Sarah Events, and loved seeing the day finally come together with her hard-working vendor team that stuck with her through her 2+ years of planning and re-planning due to COVID-19. See the full gallery here, captured by Danielle Bacon Photography.
Originally meeting in high school, but getting together officially in college, Ariel and Nick had a long history before their ‘I do’s. Ariel describes their proposal story, “As I was brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed, Nick walked in with the ring, slid it down the counter to me and said, “So, are we finally doing this?” With the toothbrush hanging out of my mouth, I said, “Absolutely!” What’s funny is that when I was three years old one evening, my mom was giving me a bath and my dad came sliding into the bathroom on one knee proposing to my mom. So it seems we now have a tradition in the family of being proposed to in bathrooms.” How funny and special!
Even with the longer, sometimes more stressful, planning process, the wedding day turned out exactly as envisioned: romantic, whimsical, elegant, and fun. The wedding style sprouted from the Bride’s love for the venue. The romantic venue features such as the fireplace, wood floors, lounge spaces, the beautiful lake setting for the backdrop, along with the delicious food was exactly what they wanted. Bride Ariel says, “Our wedding was truly an expression of who we are. The day itself was filled with fun, good food, friends, love and laughter. While there was an element of earthy simplicity, it was also romantic with an heir of enchantment. Our favorite color is purple, so we made sure to incorporate that color throughout the entire wedding, from the decor to the bridal party attire, with different shades to give it depth but not have it be overwhelming.” The color palette of rich purples, eggplant and plum, mixed with lighter shades of lilac and amethyst, an abundance of greenery and hints of rose gold created the perfect ambiance, especially with the plentiful amount of ivory hurricane and tea light candles that radiated a beautiful glow throughout the celebration.
With the Bride’s specific wedding design, she included several DIY elements which came together to create so many personal and touching moments for the day. One of the most special details was a memorial table that brought the couple’s loved ones who had passed to their special day. Ariel states, “I wanted to do something simple and beautiful. I chose to highlight their photos with one floating candle. The week my grandmama passed away she gave me a Barbie wearing an antique wedding dress so I added that to the table by her picture. Seeing the memorial table with the candle shining bright onto the photos made us very emotional, and I couldn’t think of a better way to honor our loved ones.” Ariel crafted her own signage, including a gorgeous mirror welcome sign, seating chart, specialty drink bar menu, and table numbers. She also pieced together their wedding favors which were boxed vanilla scented candles adorned with a rich purple silk ribbon for each of their guests by each place setting. All of the details came together from the lush sweetheart table, all of the floating candles, and wooden laser cut place cards. Velvet Blooms adorned the celebration with her magical florals, using a combination of spring varieties to stay within season with the “show stoppers”, peonies, sweet peas, ranunculus and anemones within the color palette. To complete the night, Vanilla Bake Shop wowed us all with the unique cake display made up of five different cakes in varying sizes and designs, all imagined by the bride.
At the end of the day, their favorite part of the wedding process was seeing every detail come together and being surrounded by everyone they love. For future couples planning their wedding, Nick and Ariel offer their advice: “While planning, try to take a step back and breathe. Know that everything will come together. Try to truly enjoy every moment while you’re living in it because it goes by so fast.” Also, Ariel goes on to offer some more important advice, “I have always said that even a wedding planner needs a wedding planner for their big day. Never skip out on hiring someone; it’s an investment that is just as important as all of the details. You are protecting what you have already spent so much time, energy and money on. You want someone who will be there for you, coordinating the set up, making sure all of the vendors are on the same page and ensuring that the day goes smoothly. The last thing that you want to deal with on your day is stress. Trust me, hire someone so you can sit back and enjoy every moment. I am so grateful that I hired Samantha with To Be Loved Events to do the coordination. She was able to help navigate all of the changes due to the COVID restrictions and she went above and beyond ensuring everyone was on the same page and making sure that every detail I envisioned came together. As a planner, we know all of the hard work that goes into putting on a wedding and I was so lucky to have worked with Samantha.
Photography: Danielle Bacon Photography | Coordination: To Be Loved Events | Event Planning: Ariel Sarah Events | Floral Design: Velvet Blooms | Wedding Dress: Miss Hayley Paige | Cake: Vanilla Bake Shop | Invitations: copper willow paper studio | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Jenny Yoo | Catering: Chef Cordelia | DJ: Vox DJs | Groom's Attire: Men's Wearhouse | Wedding Venue: The Lodge at Malibou Lake | Beauty: Aly Hairstylist | Ring Box: Lace Byrd | Robes: To Happily Ever After