Chic & Minimal Summer Wedding at Folktale Winery

The bride and groom are both local to the beautiful Monterey Peninsula and knew that they wanted to keep their celebration where their love story started. The bride dreamed of a minimally chic wedding that featured her culture, her fiances background in agriculture and their family memories. Long family style tables as a nod to her family's Christmas gatherings, berries and vegetables hand drawn onto the menus and over 1,000 cookies all made the wedding truly feel like a fun yet formal family gathering. For her aesthetic the. bride wanted the reception be inspired by the Big Sur coast line which was minimal but not stark. The flowers were carefully crafted to include grassy textures and simple white blooms. We knew we had to have a statement piece over the green bar which was large, overflowing and jaw-dropping! Our gingham and leather lounge pieces were the perfect finishing touches to make the reception feel comfortable and inviting.

The bride (Francesca) and the groom (Sean) were both local to the area but didn't meet until after high school at a local bar (which happened to be the after-party site). After reconnecting at Mulligan's, they started dating shortly after. Sean proposed on Carmel Beach in December (adding to the special traditions the couple shares in December) and celebrate the whole holiday season amongst loved ones.

The bride chose a strapless minimal Anne Barge dress that fit her chic look. The simple silhouette and the button detailing down the back enhanced our gorgeous brides natural curves.

The bridesmaids were all given freedom to select their bridesmaids dress! They were encouraged to stay within the sage green palette but have fun with their style and pattern. Needless to say, we loved the way they all blended together.

The groom chose a light grey Samuelsohn tailored suit from Khakis of Carmel. To compliment the ladies, a sage green satin tie was chosen. He opted for a unique boutonnière that had petite white blooms and some green texture.

Guests were greeted with local sparkling wine upon arrival and perfect mini margherita pizza bites, artichoke beignets with a lemon aioli and a pork belly taco with scallino kimchi. The full bar was always lively and featured wines made by the venues own winery and a local beer available from Alavarado Street Brewery. For dinner, guests were treated to a two course meal with a seasonal endive salad with shaved pears and had a choice of pan roasted halibut, pepper crusted new york steak or an artichoke spinach risotto. The real star of the show was the dessert which there was almost none left! Folktale Vineyard & Winery - Catering & Wine

Wilder Flowers (Jo Birns) did an outstanding job creating a very organic and textural feeling to all her pieces for Francesca and Sean. We kept the focus on the smaller details and wanted the flowers to really be minimal in nature allowing the setting and guest conversations to be the focus. Many of the pieces were hand crafted the morning of the wedding. The showstopper piece was the stunning hanging piece above the bar and was perfectly offset by a terracotta pot arrangement with hanging amaranthus. The centerpieces were delicate and primarily built in frog vessels with white petite blooms. Clear low ribbed votives and taper candles were scattered on tables to bring another layer of texture. We crafted the brides organic vision by focusing on the use of terracotta pots and various forms of green texture. This was the opportunity to bring the Big Sur coastline into Carmel Valley and the Church. The bridal and bridal party bouquets were built to be very cohesive and on the petite side. They allowed the various bridesmaids looks to shine through and not overwhelm the flowers. Florist - Wilder Flowers https://www.instagram.com/wilderflowerssc

Freedom Bakery supplied a sweetheart cake for just Sean and Francesca to cut which was made in a vintage style with thick piping and delicate writing. Guests had a choice of chocolate cake with bavarian cream or a white cake with salted caramel mousse.

For the couples traditional church ceremony, they chose a pianist who played 'What a Wonderful World' and 'Can't Help Falling in Love' for her procession. The piano echoed in the intimate church creating a very calm, emotional and beautiful setting for the couple to say their lifelong vows.

Cookies con Amore supplied over 1,000 homemade Italian cookies as an homage to the Bride's Italian heritage. These were extremely popular! The display featured raspberry linzers, italian lemon zest wedding cookies, nonna cookies, amaretti cookies and chocolate drop cookies.

The brides family has a tradition of singing dancing queen every year on the Christmas Eve while cleaning the kitchen while using wooden spoons as their microphones. The bride surprised the mother of the bride by playing 'Dancing Queen' and we brought out wooden spoons for everyone to sing. IT WAS SUCH A BLAST and a memory of a lifetime.

The menus were created specifically with the groom in mind. We worked with Aerlum to design a menu that featured berries as a nod to the groom who works in agriculture and with a keen eye for the meal indicators to naturally blend in with the menu. She hand painted berries on the menus and the meal indicators we chose were strawberry, blackberry and blueberry, each of which corresponded to the guests meal selection.