You won’t believe it—really, you won’t—but Jennefer and Rick planned their colorful wedding in six weeks. “I laugh when I tell people I planned my wedding in five hours, but it’s true,” Jennefer said. “Cedarwood provided us with invitation designs and cake tasting, found caters and gave us the menu we wanted, referred us to musicians and even a minister! It was easy and so very stress free.”
But even though they planned in a blitz, Jennefer and Rick still found ways to make their wedding meaningful. “I am my grandmother’s only granddaughter, and I cannot begin to explain to you the bond I had with her,” Jennefer said. “I wanted to make sure she was a big part of my wedding day, to have her there in spirit with me. The quilt pieces on the back of my dress were cut and hand stitched by her. And the quilt that we hung between the trees she made for my parents for their wedding.”
Kristine and Matt’s wedding, the bride said, was not decidedly retro, despite what you might see below. “People have a tendency to look back at our wedding and try to figure out a theme,” Kristine said. “But that comes from a need to simplify and categorize things. If anything, our theme was wedding. We obviously pulled elements of great style and iconic images from different eras, but I think the outcome was relevant and current.”
The bride and groom worked hard to keep their ceremony serious and spiritual, Kristine said, saving frivolous fun for the reception. “No matter what someone’s faith base is, I feel that the wedding is a sacred venture,” Kristine said. “And Matt and I just wanted to acknowledge that fact and not make it light or silly. We didn’t want jovial anecdotes about our relationship thrown in, or the best man forgetting the ring, or a ring bearer that picks his nose.”
She said, “We just felt like, this is a really profound moment. Why try and dilute that?”
Stephany and Ryan met at a pool party, “where we instantly connected over diving board shenanigans, and a shared love of dogs,” Stephany said. “Dating was the natural next step.”
If dating was step one, then the couple’s engagement session with photographer Paul Von Reiter was something like step three—a wonderful way to celebrate Ryan’s casual proposal on Stephany’s 30th birthday.
“Ryan and I love the outdoors, and we wanted a natural backdrop for our engagement shoot,” Stephany said. “Paul has an amazing eye and knows all of the local secret spots, so he took us on a wild adventure through some amazing canyons. We even brought our dog, Cajun, along for the shoot and he loved splashing in the creeks and hiking with us.”
Stephany said, “I happen to love native California plants and especially succulents. As we were driving back out of the winding canyon, I spotted a gorgeous succulent perched way, way up on a hillside. Paul jumped out, climbed up a precariously steep cliff and snapped the most gorgeous shot of my ring delicately placed on the succulent. I think in that moment, he earned every penny we paid him.”
Inspired by Anthropologie’s bridal line and searching for a springtime shoot, photographer Tonya Joy began to dream of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“The bride was to represent the fairy queen,” she told Pretty Little Weddings. “I sewed the full tulle skirt and corset with a twist—fairy meets vintage bride.” The photographer also made a three-tiered, moss-covered cake by gluing sheets of moss to old hat boxes.
At each place setting, Tonya and fellow designer Kristina Kendig placed an old book. “For a small garden wedding, I think it would be amazing to have the front page of the book printed with the menu for dinner,” Tonya said. “ For this shoot, I adorned the books with glitter and butterflies.”
She said, “I imagine brides can translate this inspiration to theme bridal showers and even large scale weddings.”
