English Garden Meets Coastal Grandmother At The Historical Darlington House
I grew up just a few minutes away from Darlington House in La Jolla. My mom and I used to walk my dog past Darlington, so I think getting married there was always in the back of my mind! My love for Spanish architecture, antiques, and the fact that it is in my hometown made it my dream venue. I love that it doesn't feel like a "venue" per se but more so like a historic home with character and charm. Initially, all I knew was that I wanted our wedding to feel as far as possible from a banquet. After extensive Pinterest research, I decided I was going for more of an "English garden meets coastal grandmother" vibe. Since La Jolla has incredible weather, it felt like it would be a missed opportunity not to have the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception all outdoors.
Matias and I were visiting my parents in La Jolla. We were supposed to go out to dinner with a few friends (or so I thought) when he suggested we take our dog on a quick walk before heading out. We were on a walk by my favorite beach, when he suggested we pop out onto a rocky lookout point and the rest is history! We then walked back to my parents house where my family and friends were gathered for a surprise backyard dinner celebration.
I tried on SO many dresses! I actually liked quite a few of them, but I landed on "Logan" by Sarah Seven at the The Dress Theory San Deigo after shopping with my mom and two of my closest friends. I loved the way I felt wearing it despite it being far from what I thought I wanted. My mom started to tear up when I tried it on, which snowballed in to all of us in happy waterworks which is how I knew it was the one!
Matias is wearing a black Indochino tux.
We had two signature cocktails: spicy margarita and Pisco sour. We thought this would be fun since we recently returned from visiting Matias' family in Chile where Pisco is quite popular. For our white wine, we chose an Austrian Grüner Veltliner as an ode to Matias' late father, who was Austrian. Lastly, our red wine was the Cantina Zaccagnini Montepulciano D' Abruzzo, our personal favorite, which we drink so much of that we now jokingly refer to it as the "Rodlauer house wine."
All the florals and decor were chosen to compliment the outdoor patio space. I wanted a very natural and whimsical feeling, like an afternoon garden party. I chose ARCHIVE RENTALS in San Clemente because they had such an incredible inventory and were flexible with sourcing more items and quantities to make my vision come to life. I chose Kasia at Plenty Of Petals because I had seen some photos of her work that I loved and felt she would really nail the whimsical look.
The wedding cake was not as important to me since the weddings I have been to most everyone is out on the dancefloor by the time cake is served. The only thing I cared about was having a little topper of our dog, Chowder, since we couldn't have him there on the day of. We also had some bite-size desserts provided by our caterer.
Our officiant is a close family friend who knows both of us well, which is important to us. Darlington House does not allow live amplified music since it is tucked within a residential neighborhood, but they do allow single live musicians. We chose Lee Coulter, a local musician who has a beachy and soulful sound. We love Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles and James Taylor, so we also asked our DJ Matt Phipps to play some of the likes during the reception.
