A “Southern California Comfort” Garden Wedding at Chez Balliet, a Private Estate

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January 23, 2025

The Planning

Design / Vibe / Vision

Classic Modern Architectural Romance with a touch of playful! While our groom described himself as a "Jeans and a T-Shirt" type of guy, our bride loved all things rich textures, velvet, and dressing up which led us to a day where casual & comfortable met formal & fancy. We blended layers of texture all while keeping things minimal and clean with architectural elements that spoke to finding both the simple things in life that count along with that unexpected something special in one another. A ceremony aisle foraged from wild grasses and flora with woven chairs and natural elements played created an environment that felt elevated yet at home. Bridesmaids were dressed in the color palette of camel, leather, dijon, soft rose, and deep green carrying bouquets with single stems that matched their dresses and wrapped in denim as a nod to both the groom's style and our bride's middle name "Jean." A reception out under the stars welcomed guests to thoughtfully curated tables with camel velvet linens, nude glassware and braided dishware with ribbed taper candles and wild flowers running down the tables. A denim pocket place card sat upon each plate with guests names hand calligraphed to pair along with the Jean escort wall.

Proposal Story

Ryan proposed to Mackenzie after a romantic picnic on the beach! He had photographers waiting to capture every moment of the proposal + "just engaged" photos after, and gave Mackenzie a custom oval diamond ring, just what she had been dreaming of.

Getting Ready

Bridal Portraits

Flat Lays

The Fashion

Wedding Gown

Mackenzie wanted to keep things timeless and elegant for her wedding fashion. She chose a simple but stunning Sarah Seven wedding dress with draped sleeves off of the shoulder and a long and dramatic train that looked gorgeous in her photos!

Bridesmaid Dresses

The bridesmaids all wore Autumn-hued tones that fit perfectly within the design motif of the wedding. Shades of olive and sage green, mustard yellow, dusty rose, and coppery brown married together to create a colorful, fun bridal party look.

Groomsman Attire

Ryan wanted to keep it classic and wore a black suit on his wedding day, which was dressed up for this "jeans and t-shirt guy!"

Wedding Party

Ceremony

Cocktail Hour

The Details

Food & Drink

The bride and groom love pizza (and Mackenzie's dad is a firefighter) so they thought it would be perfect to hire Dang Brother Pizza, a catering company serving wood-fired pizzas from inside their own fire trucks on property. It was the perfect nod to Mackenzie's childhood and favorite food. The couple both had signature drinks served from either of their custom bars on the property- a spicy "Mackenzie Jean" margarita, and RTG "Really Tipsy Garrett" old-fashioned, complete with hand-illustrated koozies and napkins. Also, Ryan has worked in the corporate side of Chick-Fil-A for years, helping open up new franchises all over the world, so of course the late night snack had to be Chick-Fil-A original chicken sandwiches, which guests were so happy to devour after hours of dancing.

Florals & Decor

The bride wanted a mix of Autumn colors and textures to elevate the wedding throughout. Posey Pop created everything from lush, overflowing centerpieces to whimsical wild grasses and flora dotted throughout the ceremony aisles and head table. The best of season florals included cosmos, lizzy, orlaya, dogwood blossoms, scabiosa, sweet peas, ranunculus, smoke bush and mock orange with tall grasses. For the decor of the wedding, Adore Folklore and Hostess Haven teamed up under the brilliant design of Amorology team to create a marriage of rich textures and visuals as well. Velvet linens, woodgrain tables, natural chairs, and black lacquer cane was the canvas for three stunning and unique place setting designs, featuring everything from olive wood chargers, chocolate seeded + tortoiseshell glass, hand-embroidered napkins and sculptural wood table numbers. Backup Backdrops kept touches of deep black throughout as a contrast, creating both a custom "mac bar" and dance floor with the same b&w textile patterns.

Wedding Cake

While Mackenzie opted to have a beautiful wedding cake by Hey There, Cupcake!, the real "piece de resistance" was the custom "Mac" macaron bar, adorned with stacks of macarons and flowers. Mackenzie is known by her friends and family as "Mac," so this was the perfect personal detail for dessert.

Special Detail #1

Mackenzie's middle name is Jean, and Ryan is a "jeans and t-shirt kind of guy!" so for their escort display, Amorology and Backup Backdrops created a "jean" pocket escort display made from vintage recycled jeans. There were also jean pockets created and hand-painted with each guests name at their place setting that was a keepsake to take with them from the wedding.

Special Detail #2

Upon each place setting at the head table, every napkin was custom embroidered with sweet love notes from the couple's time dating, a nod to their love and commitment to one another even as Ryan would be away on business many weeks out of the year when they first became a couple.

Special Detail #3

Mackenzie has been the #2 at CA wedding design firm, Amorology, for years. When it came time to pick her wedding venue, there was no other choice than using the owner Heather's home, Chez Balliet. Mackenzie has spent many days working there at the home office, as well as planned many weddings on the property, so it was very nostalgic and close to her heart to plan her very own garden wedding at Heather's estate.

Couple Portraits