Category: Blog

WedVibes Featured ~ A Californian Garden Wedding in a Historic Courtyard

The Details

Location: San Juan Capistrano, California, USA
Setting: Historic building and courtyard
Wedding Season: Summer
The number of guests: 100
How long did the couple plan the event: 4 years
Wedding theme/style: Glamour with bohemian chic, contemporary, wildflower aesthetics.

Full Wed Vibes Feature: WedVibes.com

The Beginning

Step into the enchanting world of Madeline and Jack’s Californian wedding in a historic courtyard. Their journey, marked by serendipity and resilience, led them to the picturesque Franciscan Gardens in San Juan Capistrano, California. Against the backdrop of rustic charm and lush greenery, their vision of blending glamour with bohemian chic came to life in a celebration that was truly unforgettable.

This wedding story unfolded like a novel starting with Jack working in San Francisco, while Madeline was finishing her courses to become a licensed midwife hundreds of miles away in the Midwest. Their adventure was marked with a snare when their original wedding planner closed their doors after the pandemic. With a serendipitous blend of fate and fortuity they connected with our team. Having already discovered and contracted their ideal venue the foundation was set for us to begin masterfully crafting the couple’s perfect day.

The Inspiration

Inspired by the beauty of nature and the free spirit of wildflower aesthetics, Madeline and Jack envisioned a wedding that would narrate their love story through a contemporary lens. The historic Franciscan Gardens provided the ideal setting for their summer celebration. Where the courtyard’s rustic charm and old-world garden created a magical atmosphere for their 100 guests.

Madeline’s anticipation on the wedding day was palpable as she prepared to marry Jack in her sleek and chic wedding dress. Despite a setback with her original bouquet choice due to a heat wave, vibrant poppies from a boutique farm in Connecticut became the stunning highlight.

Set in the historic walls and tranquil fountain, Madeline and Jack shared a first look filled with pure emotion.This set the stage for a ceremony that seamlessly blended tradition with personal touches.

Under a canopy of twinkling lights and amidst lush greenery, the couple exchanged vows, surrounded by the timeless elegance of rustic charm. The meticulous care of our team transformed the venue into a living masterpiece, perfumed with wildflowers and illuminated by dreamlike candlelight.

The Reception

Each reception table was a vignette of romance, adorned with whimsical florals and soft, glowing candles. The enchanting floral arrangements and green garlands brought the spirit of a serene Spanish countryside. Flawlessly capturing the essence of wildflower aesthetics.

The reception was truly a remarkable experience and evening. Filled with whimsical champagne spraying and the always fun champagne tower. Every detail, from the carefully curated music to the thoughtfully designed wedding favors, transported guests to the pages of a fairy tale.

Madeline and Jack’s Californian garden wedding in a historic courtyard was a celebration of love, resilience, and the timeless beauty of nature. Against the backdrop of the Franciscan Gardens, their vision of blending glamour with bohemian chic came to life in a truly magical way. As the sun set on their perfect day, it was clear that their love story would continue to unfold with grace and beauty. Just like the wildflowers that adorned their celebration.

View Full Wedding Gallery : HERE

To begin with your wedding adventure, there are endless things to ponder to incorporate towards making your big day remarkable. At the same time, the craze and excitement of a wedding soon turn into concern when you face an adrenaline rush. That’s why the complete wedding planning services are designed to make your most awaited day special. 

 The wedding industry is revolutionized, and undeniably, professional wedding planners smartly, innovatively, and creatively transform your wedding into a lifetime memory. The expert agencies make the best arrangements from start to finish and redefine your big days. For a stress-free wedding, let experienced planners take the job into their hands. 

 This article will guide you on how choosing the right wedding planner can make a big difference, and you can have everything on a platter. Take a look:

• Wedding Planning Tips and Guides:  Planning a wedding is not easy as ABC. Hiring an expert undoubtedly saves time, reduces chaos, and keeps everything on track. Most importantly, offers professional tips and free wedding planning guides on minute details to better the standard and make sure to catch everything. Planning a wedding goes beyond choosing a venue and décor. Experts always provide vital information as great advice to the hirer. To avoid hitches, tips are provided on deciding on the budget, guest list, photography, caterers, etc. 

• Extraordinary Wedding Designs: A perfect design is the most significant element that defines your vision. The planners personalize the event per your vision and put together everything, such as colors, theme, style, etc., to turn it into reality. The team channelizes the designs to best suit your taste, religion, culture, and ceremony. Everything is perfectly planned and combined to make an event cohesive. 

• Unique Wedding Invitation Ideas:   Your invitation card speaks for you; therefore, getting it created by professionals is essential to make a lasting impression. With expert assistance, you can choose from ample invitation design choices. The popular invitation designs include Artsy, Mini Book, Sprig, Sprig + Eco-Friendly, Venue Inspired, Puzzle Pieces, and more. The design gives the guests a glimpse of your event.  

• Perfect Wedding Timeline: Getting things done rightly and especially on time is of utmost importance in weddings. With the best timeline for your wedding day, you can stay on schedule. Keeping in mind your occasion, location, makeup, photography, and everything, the professionals create the best timeline and ensure you stick to it to make everything happen as planned. 

• Wedding Budget Checklist: Setting a budget for a wedding is the first and foremost thing. Splurging and saving at the marriage must be balanced to maintain the finances and stop going out of pocket. The budget for everything, be it for the venue, decoration, makeup, cake, DJ, gifts, or else must be decided in advance. The experts use Budget Setting Tools to help you get quick estimations. 

Let Weddings by Leigh Customize Your Wedding

 This mom-and-daughter duo makes wedding planning in Las Vegas easier. Weddings by Leigh offers one-on-one support to couples of all budgets. From helping clients choose vendors to customizing wedding designs, invites, and timelines, the entire wedding is seamlessly planned to add style and elegance. 

For more information, visit https://weddingsbyleigh.com/las-vegas-dream-weddings/.

How to choose the best bridesmaid style no matter your bridal party size

While the bride and her gown are the real stars of any wedding the bridesmaids can really help to enhance that beauty or sometimes even distract from it. With this in mind we have come up with the perfect bridesmaid dress styles for any bridal party size. This way your bride tribe will look and feel gorgeous only adding to the beauty of the day. One of the biggest things to keep in mind when selecting bridesmaid dresses is how the photos from the ceremony will look. If you pick dresses that are too loud the attention may be drawn away form the bride and be focused just on the bridal party. On the other hand you always want to make sure your girls look and feel beautiful that way everyone has big smiles the day of. 

1 Bridesmaid or 1 Maid of Honor

The average size for a bridal party floats between 3-5 bridesmaids. Most images you see online and while shopping for dresses will feature a bridal party of this size. This can make it difficult to know what styles will look best for your smaller party though. One big benefit to having just one bestie is you do not have to navigate different body types or skin tones. Together you can find a flattering dress perfect for her and know she will look and feel her best. We suggest keeping things simple here. An understated dress that seamlessly fits in with your wedding theme is the perfect option here. You may opt for a tea length dress to avoid your gown looking too similar to the bridesmaid dress. 

Keep It Simple For 2 Bridesmaids 

For two bridesmaid we highly suggest keeping the dresses and colors the same. With two girls having different styles or colors can make your bridal party seem uncoordinated and confusing. This is where you will want to go for an elegant put together look. We suggest long gowns, form fitting or flowing depending on what Is most flattering for your party. Along with the same color for both. Keep this in mind when finalizing your wedding colors and bridal party, you don’t want to go with a pastel pink if one of your girls has very fair skin. That will lead to washed out photos of her, or darkened photos of you. Remember, if your girls don’t look good your photos aren’t going to either. Picking colors that flatter everyone is very important when making this decision. 

Perfect Trends For 3-5 Bridesmaids

The bridal party sweet spot. This bridal party size is where you can find the most inspiration online. No matter your wedding colors, or theme there is tons and tons to pull from here. So we have included our favorite trending styles below. We do suggest still staying in the same color house but you can start to play with some different dress styles. 

Elegance With 5+ Bridesmaids

Having more than 5 girls in your wedding party can really make a statement and lead to gorgeous photos. However if you are keeping a more traditional wedding theme you may want to keep your girls in the same colors. You will most likely need to include some different dress styles as finding one gown that will fit everyone in a flattering way will be difficult. We absolutely love to see black bridesmaids dresses fall in this category! Your wedding can instantly look like it is off the pages of vogue when making a statement like this. 

5+ Bridesmaid For A Trendy Bride

If you have chosen to have a group of girls with you but also a more contemporary wedding theme, this is where you can really have some fun with colors! When you have enough girls to pull it off doing a color wheel can be so chic. We have included some inspiration below along with a link to BrideSide who specialize in this look!

Still feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of the options? We would love to help! Virtual Bridal Consultations available at just $25 an hour to tackle any wedding planning questions you may have.

Have you ever stopped to consider where wedding traditions come from or better yet, how YOU feel about them? There are countless traditions from wedding veils to grooms’ cake and something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and depending on which ones you honor they can (in some cultures) make or break an entire marriage. Whether it’s having your ceremony in a church or the bride only wearing white, these traditions have become a staple of many wedding ceremonies and wedding budgets.

Not that I am against tradition, quite the opposite is true! My take on traditions comes down to a financial one. When you are stretching your dollars to make your day magical you need to consider the impact a tradition has on your budget. When you really think about the value or purpose; are you participating because you want to or because “they” say you have too? I think it’s about time we decide; should they stay, or should they go!

The Wedding Veil

In the past century, the veil has been used to signify a bride’s virtue and for many it has become a beautiful accessory completing a bride’s glamourous look. Although the exact origin of the veil tradition is unknown, research has uncovered the veil is rooted in pretty dark and dirty soil. In the tradition of arranged marriages; daughters who were used as a commodity in the union of families were often unseen by the groom before the wedding day. The veil was used to cover the bride’s face until after the ceremony was complete ensuring the groom wouldn’t back out of the deal!

Many historians agree that the veil first surfaced in ancient Roman wedding ceremonies as a way to protect the bride from evil spirits who were jealous of her happiness and were seeking to ruin the union. For centuries European women wore veils covering their hair for reasons like mourning and to signify “belonging” to a male.

The veil tradition has clearly evolved from it’s dark past and in some families has become a bridal heirloom. Unlike a passed down wedding dress, which would be nearly impossible, the veil has found a place in family traditions as an item that is shared among the women connecting them to their heritage. In this case, a veil worn by a mother is passed down to her daughters and from them to their daughters and so on. The veil remains unchanged and is an accessory exclusively for the daughters sharing the bloodline of the matriarch.

The Bouquet

As with every part of your wedding the decision is up to you! If you love how a veil looks and want a dramatic accessory for your day, absolutely go for it. If you want to embrace and honor the tradition of your family’s brides I say, go all in. For those of you that are considering purchasing a veil, you can expect the cost to start around $25 reaching upwards of $600. Maybe consider ditching the veil if you are giving up something that has greater meaning to you. Do you really need to ward off evil spirits or hide your beautiful face just in case the groom wants to change his mind?

Evil spirits were definitely “a thing” back in the day, bridal traditions are steeped in superstition. The origin of the bouquet is no exception and was another way to protect the bride from evil energies. Unlike today’s elaborate bouquets they used to be filled with bunches of garlic, herbs, and spices to ward off bad spirits. It was also believed the bouquet was a preventive tool to warding off the plague.

As with so many traditions that evolve over time, the bouquet has become a staple in nearly all weddings around the world. Brides typically select flowers based on their overall theme and color scheme or their personal favorites. The bridal bouquet is a perfect way to infuse your style into your wedding look. By honoring the idea of old (warding off evil spirits and energy) and the new (celebrating your personal style) you may create a remarkable piece for your day without breaking the bank. The bouquet can be as simple as a bunch of wild picked lavender or as elaborate as your imagination and wallet will take you.

Something Old, Something New, Something Blue, Something Borrowed

Something Old:
This to help tie the bride’s family, and “past” to her new future.

Something New:
Represents the brides upcoming life with her new husband.

Something Borrowed:
This should be from someone in a successful marriage to pass on good luck.

Something Blue:
Stands for faithfulness, loyalty and purity.

For some brides this can be a wonderful way to incorporate family heirlooms or gifts on your wedding day. For others, that may not have family heirlooms or deep-rooted relationships, this can be an unnecessarily stressful checklist. Finding items that check every box can add up and your guests will never notice the difference.

Before embracing a tradition, I propose you ask yourself:

• Will (a veil, bouquet, or something blue) enhance the celebration for you or your partner? If yes, then go for it and be sure you budget accordingly. If no, it’s time for the age-old tradition to GO.
• Will it your guest’s experience be better? If no, this is a strong reason for not using time or energy.

Join us for several tradition discussions and see which ones should stay and which ones should go!

How many of you started looking for an engagement ring before you even had a serious boyfriend? If you are like me, the idea of a lifelong romance started at an early age and so did the planning. Funny thing is when I began dreaming up my perfect wedding I never once thought about cost and especially not the cost of my ring!  Fast forward a decade and yours truly is in a serious relationship and getting ready to take the engagement ring plunge. My real research began, and can I tell you, the world of engagement rings is daunting. 

Cut, color, brand, jeweler, style…suddenly my dream ring has turned into a nightmare fueled by Pinterest perfection and Instagram envy.

A Tiffany costs how much?

Before the internet and search sites like Pinterest, the whole engagement ring process started at a local jeweler or shopping mall with retailers like Kay, Jared, and for the bougie types, it was Cartier or Tiffany. I decided I would start the old-fashioned way. I went straight to the Caesars Forum shops to the Cartier counter because why not, you only get married once…if you do it right!

Ummmmm… $5000 for a gold band? What? Are you kidding? I changed tactic and went to a local jeweler. Again, sticker shock and you want to know why? Its not because diamonds and gold crafted in a fancy little ornament fashioned for your finger is truly worth thousands upon thousands of dllars.. NO, it’s the MARK UP! Anywhere from 1000%-3000%! My vision of a glamorous ring was getting very blurry. So I thought, okay, let’s try a second hand jeweler aka Pawn Shop and heck, I even threw in Walmart because lets be honest, once the ring is on your finger no one is looking at the purchase receipt.

Funny thing is, I found the same styles and types of rings, similar quality diamonds and all not that different of prices. One sales associate even told me the only place to buy a diamond is Costco because they have a flat markup of 30% on the highest quality diamonds which are bought in bulk. Exhausted and pretty disappointed I decided to put on my PJs, grab a glass of Pinot and my laptop to take my journey online. 

First, I will 100% admit that I love online shopping. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my fair share of Target, Hobby Lobby and Ross excursions but online is easier to explore, compare, and even design my own perfect ring. Which led to the discovery of an entirely new option, lab created diamonds.  Having no clue what lab created meant while absolutely loving the look and price drove me to do some digging and here is what I learned:

• Not to be confused with Cubic Zirconia, lab created diamonds have the same chemical properties as a diamond mined from the earth.
• Because they are created in a lab and not from the earth this makes them nearly perfect in cut and clarity.
• They are also 100% ethically sourced, meaning they protect against human rights abuses. This is an amazing option for anyone concerned about the cruelties associated with mining.
• Using a jewelry loupe, manmade diamonds are nearly impossible to differentiate from natural diamonds.
• Most importantly the diamonds are on average 25% less expensive than traditional ones!

Bottom line my friends, even if your budget is low you still have the opportunity to get that Pinterest ring at a wallet friendly price. That seems like a total win/win to me, but to be safe I decided to bring in the big guns… I called my mom. She agreed that it is a great option to get the most for your money, but only if you first consider:

• While it is 25% less expensive upon initial purchase your resale value could be greatly diminished. It will depreciate unlike a natural diamond. If you are looking at this as an investment, it’s not the best option.
• Are you a traditionalist? If so, you most likely want to stick with a natural diamond as it is hard to beat the tried and true.
• Do you like the idea of a family heirloom that is passed from generation to generation? Once again you will want to stick with the natural diamond as it will hold not only its value but strength. 

Here is my take, everything depends first on your budget and second on the shopping or engagement experience you are after. Before venturing on your ring journey ask yourself:

1. Do you need people to know you have a luxury branded ring?
2. Do you plan on keeping the ring forever or do you see yourself upgrading after 10 years? 20 years?
3. Do you want something vintage? Custom made?
4. Are you going to wear a band day to day and only wear the fancy ring on special occasions?
5. Do you want to be surprised and not involved at all?

After looking at everything and considering all options, I am a big fan of the lab created diamonds. They are gorgeous diamonds that for many couples affords them many more options in ring sizes and styles. Going with the lab created diamond affords you the option of getting your dream ring at an affordable cost and I say go for it! No one needs to know you took an alternate route, they just need to know that you have a beautiful ring you are excited to show off.