Elevated Garden Elegance With Intimate Refinement and Natural Beauty
The design direction was an elevated garden party. The bride and groom wanted an intimate feel but refined. We opted for warm spring tones of peach and blush and then accented it with some darker rust/cinnamon type tones. We added in floral prints (reminiscent of the maid of honor's dress and Emily's wedding down) and brought in warm metallics of gold in the flatware and glassware. The property already had so much natural beauty with all of the foliage everywhere that we just wanted to enhance the space so everything worked in harmony.
The wedding gown was designed by Amsale.
The bridesmaid dresses were designed by Jenny Yoo.
The groomsman attire was FitWel Custom Clothes.
Before the ceremony, we had fresh lemonade from their working lemon grove. We served mini grilled cheese during cocktail hour (the bride's favorite food) and had specialty cocktails of a Gold Rush and Aperol Spritz. Guests dined outdoors for dinner and enjoyed Sundried Tomato Pesto Chicken and Filet Mignon.
The escort wall was a fun, interactive display and a nod to the couple's Chinese heritage. Guests found out their table assignment by opening up a fortune cookie with their name on it. Heavenly Blooms created gorgeous centerpieces of garden roses, ranunculus, sweet peas, queen anne's lace, and larkspur, to name a few. The illusion arch for the ceremony had so much depth and really complimented the brick path. The head table had its own special moment with wicker pendants hanging overhead, covered in greenery and specialty blush-colored glassware with a place card dangling from the glass on vellum paper. The long tables had a table runner with a geometric embroidered pattern to add some texture to the table.
A string quartet played during the ceremony, and Emily especially loved the moment right before she walked down the aisle when she was able to have some quiet, alone time with her dad. They were married by the pastor from their home church who made the ceremony really meaningful and sweet (weaving in what the couple had written to him about what they love about each other). Emily and Alex's family and community is really important to them, so they had mentioned them all in a Prayers of the Faithful during the ceremony.
The layout of the venue is really special. Emily and Alex chose Quail Ranch not only for the beautiful garden setting but also how the venue felt progressive, in the sense that you kept on moving from the ceremony, to cocktail hour in front of the house, to reception in the back of the property. Everything had it's own designated area and new potential to "wow" the guests.
