So far off the beaten path that Google Maps has a hard time finding it, the venue for this navy and pink modern garden wedding is just as intimate as it is beautiful! The day was filled with unique fuchsia and blue details dreamed up and brought to life by the bride!
Whimsical and charming we know you will want to see more of this gorgeous day! Guess what? You can thanks to the full gallery filled to bursting with fabulous images from Katie Shuler. Hip-hip-hooray!
Feeling The Wedding Pressure
From the Bride: My goal was to plan a great party with little details that were very obviously unique to Ryan and I. Because I plan events for a living (and used to plan weddings) the idea of planning my own wedding was just daunting and overwhelming. Ryan was instrumental in getting things started and keeping us organized with budgets and cost comparisons. He was also good at reigning me in when my ideas got too crazy or expensive. He is definitely the yin to my yang and I am so glad he kept me sane during the planning process.
I was nervous the days leading up to the wedding of how all of my design and décor choices were going to look together but the moment I arrived at the venue and saw everything for the first time I was IN LOVE. I just kept walking around looking at everything and talking about how much I loved it.
A Quaint and Hidden Venue
Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve is in Calabasas and run by a company called Diablo Dormido Weddings. Originally I contacted them about a different property and they informed me that they were no longer doing events at that one but had a ranch house in the Santa Monica Mountains that I could come check out.
They instructed me not to use Google Maps when coming to the venue, because it would take me to the wrong place. It seemed crazy but I absolutely loved the idea of people driving up a private road for almost 2 miles through trees and fields. At the top of the hill is the house with two beautiful grass lawns on either side for the ceremony and cocktails/reception. The huge oak trees onsite basically sealed the deal for us.
Running With It
I had been on the hunt for fun, whimsical table runners to rent for the wedding and was having ZERO luck. 3 months before the wedding I went to the fabric district in Downtown LA and decided to buy fabric and just make my own. I ended up picking a fun marbled blue and gold stretchy fabric that is usually used for dance leotards and leggings – ha! My mother-in-law actually cut and sewed them all for me which was so special – she was even able to make an overlay for the sweetheart table and a pillow for the lounge furniture we had!
Burning Love
Ryan and I both love, and I mean LOVE, the “Volcano” candle from Capri Blue that Anthropologie sells. I found a women on Etsy who was able to make 150 votive size candles with that scent which we knew we wanted to give out as favors. I bought gold mercury votive holders and wrapped them up in fuchsia tulle with a fun tag to thank everyone for coming. Probably a little more on the expensive side for wedding favors but we wanted to give something out that we would be excited to get.
