Today’s wedding has a special place in my heart. Not all weddings are family affairs… this one is deeply rooted in family dynamic. Some weddings tend to take themselves far too seriously, not truly allowing for the couple’s personality to ever shine through. This one is all personality, all style, all kinds of incredibly cool every step along the way. Lastly, not all weddings are photographed as stories, this one is, and you know I love a good story! When a preview peek of this wedding popped up from my dear friend’s feed California wedding photographer Chris Wojdak Photography, I think I sent her an IM in under 10 seconds to begin the begging process! Lucky for me, the twinkle in my eyes must have been just right and this little beauty came my way. I hinted earlier on about the style behind this backyard wedding, but you really have no idea. From just wedding decor alone there is so so very much to love. From macrame backdrops, dream catchers swaying in the wind, airplants and oversized succulents dotting well just about everything, its a truly playful styling dream wonderfully articulated by southern California florist The Bloomin Gypsy. Whats even more incredible is how unbelievable cool the ceremony backdrop is. Nestled into the backyard wedding’s quarter pipe, the couple set up a unique ceremony space, lined with Moroccan rugs, framed by gorgeous floral blooms punctuated by a steers head, because what else would it be! I often hear about wedding exhaustion from a design standpoint, rest assured this wedding is a place to recharge those weary eyes. The best part to it all however, is how masterfully Chris captured so many gorgeous real life moments that paint the most perfect of backyard wedding picture, ever.
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Novella of the Bride… Well, Jason and I met in junior high, in Carlsbad, CA. We are beach kids. It’s in our DNA. We grew up together, as best friends. We went everywhere together, got into a lot of trouble, (although, we really were good kids). We had a different kind of love back then. We were Best Buds, nothing more. We went our separate ways for a while, and had a few years pass. But as fate would have it, we “re-met” at the gym, of all places. We tried to connect for a couple of months, but the timing just wasn’t right. Finally, we had a “date”. I didn’t think it was a date until the end of the night… I thought it was just 2 friends re-kindling a friendship. But, that date lasted an entire week, and we’ve been inseparable since. Jason is my absolute best friend. He is to all his friends. You just want to be around the guy. Yeah, he’s that guy. We have 2 beautiful 3 year old twins, Cash and Saylor. I think we have a pretty perfect family.
The overall theme was BOHO inspired. It was a backyard wedding, and my friend and florist, Veronica (as well as location stylist), pretty much pulled everything down from our own walls, and grabbed all of our décor, rugs, plants, lace runners, everything we could think of to use. Veronica even brought her antique Bison skull “Harriett” and used it on our arch. We had a “dreamcatcher and macreme” party, where all the girls got together and made a bunch of dreamcatchers, macreme’d our ceremony arch backdrop (and drank a lot of wine). Our ceremony happened to be on a halfpipe of the house we rented. Not that we wanted it that way, but it ended up being just perfect. We used our mismatched rugs as the aisle runner, and used the zipline that was in the yard to hang mason jars filled with candles. We transformed the swing set into the most amazing desert table I’ve ever seen. The special touches I’d have to say were all the things from our own home, and transforming all of the elements of the backyard.
A Little Help From Their Friends ~ One of my besties, Veronica, just happens to be the most AMAZING florist around. She has also styled a ton of weddings, and done several wedding planning events too… so I pretty much lucked out. Our families helped out a lot with the decorating, and planning, and of course our girls craft/wine night.
Favorite Moments ~ Ahhhh, the repeated question. And I have such a cliché answer. EVERYTHING. Honestly, there was so much that I absolutely just loved. I got to hang out and mingle with everyone, dance my booty off, and spend the day with all my favorite people on the planet. One thing I really liked that we decided to do last minute (like decided the night before the big day), was we ended up greeting people and having cocktail hour with everyone, in a very casual way. We got to see our friends and family before we had the ceremony, which made it less stressful and serious. I didn’t want a big “Here comes the bride” thing, and didn’t want to “hide out” while everyone was arriving. I wanted to be a part of it all. I guess that’s where my FOMO kicks in. (Fear Of Missing Out – I have it SO bad!).
Vendor Love
Photographer: Chris Wojdak Photography | Venue: Private Residence | Wedding Dress: Free People | Bridesmaid Dress: Jenn’s Pirate Booty | Shoes: Naughty Monkey | Hair: Corrie Ordille | Makeup: Paige Henry | Groom’s Attire: Nordstrom | Invitations: Champagne Press | Music: Jayce Hensley | Rentals: Rustic Urban Events | Florist: Veronica Lowe | Caterer: San Diego Taco Company | Baker: VG’s Donuts | Wedding Planner: Meg Hall | Photo Booth: Pixel Perfect Photo Booth