Old-World Garden Inspired Summer Wedding In California

Melissa Hammam
April 21, 2022
Categories: Cultural Beauty, Real Weddings, Romantic, Seasonal Wedding Trend, Summer, The Blog

Pops of pink and blue are sure to put a smile on your face at this old-world garden-inspired California wedding. For their special day Christine and Hung turned to Weddings by Susan Dunne to bring their wedding vision to life- and does she deliver and then some! The day was adorned with vibrant florals by Mulberry & Moss, and artfully captured in images that are sure to stand the test of time by Anya Kernes Photography. Visit the full gallery to fall in love with every detail.

From the bride… Hung and I met on a flight in October 2009 from Richmond, Virginia to Los Angeles, California. I had just started my first year of medical school at VCU and Hung had just finished his post-baccalaureate program. We had adjacent seats to each other and again had adjacent seats on the connecting flight. A year later Hung was accepted into medical school at VCU and that flight that started out as hours of conversation, transformed into years of friendship. I later moved to DC in 2011, but fate brought us together again in 2015 when we were both completing our residencies in Southern California. It was during this time our friendship developed into a romantic relationship. Since the venue did not allow pets, but we still wanted to include our two French Bulldogs Gary and Peanut on our special day. We included the poem “How Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog” by Taylor Mali as part of our ceremony, as well as naming our signature drinks after them.

From Weddings by Susan Dunne… Christine and Hung wanted an outdoor summer wedding with an old-world garden feel. We thought Rancho Las Lomas was a perfect fit for their wedding day goals. The ceremony and receptions were nestled under ancient oak and sycamore trees. The teatro stage has a marble stage, blue and white hand-painted tiles, and murals from Portugal. The botanical gardens that surround the reception gave it a romantic and charming atmosphere under the stars. Our design goals were to tie in some of the lush botanical gardens Rancho Las Lomas has to offer and blend beautiful hues of pinks with a touch of blue to organically match the blue and white hand-painted tiles from Portugal. The ceremony was adorned with florals cascading the archway with florals in vibrate pink and magenta. At the ceremony steps we had an assortment of baskets with bouquets of flowers, and candles sprinkled around to create a more romantic ambiance. Reception tables had one large, low centerpiece and two smaller satellite arrangements in brass vessels. Votives and brass taper white/taupe candles to accent.

Paper goods included a custom hand-drawn map, drawn by an artist from Thailand, of the venue’s zoological garden. The menus were Translucent vellum with slim place name cards with gold teardrop clips. This was chosen to give it a slightly modern touch. Christine and Hung are both first-generation Vietnamese and wanted to incorporate a subtle nod to their culture. They served a traditional 10-course Vietnamese menu for dinner and wore traditional Vietnamese ao dai for the reception.

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