A Charming Backyard Wedding Inspired by ‘Father of the Bride’

Lauren Megerdichian
July 8, 2022
Categories: Real Weddings, The Blog, Traditional Elegance

An epic dress, a floral-adorned pup, and a setting inspired by one of our favorite movies of all time? We’re SOLD! Intertwined Events and Blush Botanicals completely transformed the backyard of the bride’s family home in Pasadena to the wedding venue of their dreams. Oh, and did we mention it’s just blocks away from the actual Father of the Bride home they used in the movie!? Yup, as if we needed another reason to love it. To top it all off, they brought in an In-N-Out truck to end out their most unforgettable night. Trust us folks, you do not want to miss the full gallery by Jana Williams Photography!

From Katie of Intertwined Events… The overall design was heavily influenced by her mom’s attention to detail. She hand picked everything with collaboration from our team and Alex from Blush Botanicals. She had exquisite taste and the bride trusted her with everything. We were inspired to create a true Father of the Bride movie wedding, as their home is in San Marino, blocks from the Father of the Bride house. The family renovated their entire yard to ensure it could fit the wedding and created a beautiful aesthetic for the event. Their monogram was a work of art incorporating so many amazing things, such as Lake Tahoe where they got engaged, their pup, the bell tower from where the groom was from and many more personal touches to truly make it a work of art! The large oak tree in the backyard served as a huge inspiration point for some of the paper goods (envelope liner) and the focal point to the party where we put a custom U Shape bar and beer cart. Abbey had her two brothers as her best men. They did an amazing job giving Abbey all of the love and admiration she deserved! The couple and family literally couldn’t have been nicer humans. They enjoyed the planning process and it showed. They were just genuinely happy to have all their friends and family at their home celebrating their love. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever witnessed. Multiple times I sat back and just thought “wow, this is exactly why we do what we do!”

How did the two of you meet?

From the couple… Chris and I met back in 2016 through mutual friends at a bar called The Tipsy Pig in San Francisco. Chris and his friends had originally planned on stopping by the bar for only one drink, but after we met he decided to stick around. From there, we started dating long distance – from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and back again. After about 6 months, Chris got a job opportunity back home in Philadelphia and asked me to join him on the East Coast – promising that the winters there aren’t really that bad. In just a few months, I got a new job that brought me out to New York City. We maintained our long distance routine – commuting by train from NYC to Philly for a few years.

Tell us about the proposal…

Chris proposed to me at my family’s home in Lake Tahoe in 2019. On the tailend of a week spent with my family, Chris took me by complete surprise when he got down on one knee. As soon as I said yes, he rocked my world even further as BOTH of our families ran out of the house to celebrate. Little did I know, Chris arranged for his family to travel in from the East Coast for the weekend. Tahoe is a very meaningful place for me and my family, and it meant the world to get to celebrate the engagement there with both of our families – and lots of toasts and tequila.

What inspired the color palette/decor choices for your wedding?

My parents were nice enough to host the wedding reception in the backyard of the house where I grew up. It was very Father of the Bride. Their garden was our inspiration – we deferred to neutral tones and decor, really allowing the garden to shine through.

How was the planning process?

As most COVID brides would probably say, it was long and hardly seamless! But overall I really look back on it fondly – mostly because I got to work on it daily with my mom, which is just something I’ll forever be grateful for. While my mom really led the design aesthetic, we also had an amazing team of vendors, especially Katie from Intertwined and Alex from Blush Botanicals, who were so fun to collaborate with and overall made the whole planning process – even over the course of 2 years and 3 different wedding dates – as painless as possible.

Please share your favorite moments/memories from the wedding day!

Walking down the aisle with my Dad. Being hand in hand with Chris during the ceremony, looking around the church seeing all of our favorite people from all over the country in the same place. Walking back down the aisle as husband and wife!! Chris surprised me by having our dog Utley waiting for us outside the church! Getting to do a first look of the backyard before the reception started – it was so stunning and amazing seeing the design and planning come to life! The toasts – by my dad and both sets of our brothers – were so thoughtful and funny – we’ll always treasure those. Last but maybe the most memorable, the dance floor! Our band was incredible and had everyone tearing up the dance floor until the very last song. I’m also really grateful we had a welcome party. It kicked off the weekend in a very festive, casual way and allowed us to get to spend quality time with all of our guests! The whole weekend – from rehearsal dinner to welcome party to wedding reception – was absolutely worth the wait.