our wedding day part 1: the venue
- Kelli
- Jun 28, 2016
- 5 min read
Where do I even begin?
Our wedding day was amazing.
Whenever I look at our photos, I feel an overwhelming amount of joy.
Today, I'm going to take a break from the "tips" of wedding planning and share some details about our wedding.
*YAY*
Okay. So I guess the best place to begin would be the Venue.
We got married in Malibu, CA. We wanted a wedding that was slightly a "destination" wedding. This helped us keep the guest count low & we knew those who truly wanted to spend the day with us and celebrate would make the effort to be there (aside from unforeseen circumstances).
We got married at Calamigos Ranch. We would describe it as being in the "mountains" of Malibu. It's about 10-15 minutes from Agoura Hills & Westlake Village, and about 30 minutes from Santa Monica.
At the end I'll add more detail shots along with a list of vendors.
This was our ceremony site.
*SWOON*
When we were planning, we loved the idea of having the guests sit wherever they wanted to. However, no matter how much you say you can sit wherever you want, guests will automatically go to their "designated" side.
It's okay, at least the sign turned out pretty. *wink*
Our reception site was just walking distance from our ceremony. For our reception, dinner was served on a deck under a large tent. However, outdoor activities were set up during cocktail hour to keep the guests entertained. The dance floor was in a room, connected to the tent.
I'll do my best to provide photos, because I know the descriptions might sound odd. :)
In the photo above, you can see the top of the tent on the right side. It's all connected which allowed for the feeling of being outdoors while remaining inside where it was slightly warmer.
The reception area where games and hors d'oeurves were held had a view of a ferris wheel!
We LOVED this. It was so unique and added so much character to the location.
During cocktail hour we provided some outdoor games for our guests (which one never got set out, but c'est la vie).
In addition, we had plenty of food and drinks provided.
From what we were told, everyone loved it.
I wrote all of the signs for our wedding, except for the yard game sign (thanks Yaz!)
We made both the tic-tac-toe and the cornhole games! A lot of work, but totally worth it to see everyone enjoying themselves:)
Lounge set for guests to hang out and enjoy the beautiful Malibu weather.
We weren't sure what to do for a guestbook for the longest time. We went back and forth about even having one, then finally came up with the idea of having a polaroid guestbook.
We had a backdrop and chair set up with plenty of props for the guests to use. Additionally, we were given "advice" cards for the guests to fill out and place with their polaroid.
Initially we were concerned the guests wouldn't completely know what to do or the polaroids would take too long to dry, but it worked seamlessly.
The Jones Sodas were the favors for the guests while also telling them their table number.
When we were picking favors, we hated the idea of spending money on something that would either be forgotten or thrown away, so we picked the sodas.
We knew they would either be enjoyed that night or later.
&& more than likely, they wouldn't be thrown away ;)
I got the polka dot tags in three different colors (light pink, gold, and light purple) from Michaels and wrote everyone's names and table numbers on them. The straws were from an online store (sorry, I can't remember the name!) and they were SUPER cheap.
Definitely look other places than just Etsy because they can be incredibly expensive if you don't search a little.
Like I said earlier, we ate dinner under the tent.
And it was magical.
Above is our sweetheart table. If you take anything away from this post, it should be this. The sweetheart table was PERFECT.
Secluded enough to be caught up in each other, but it allowed for everyone to visit with us easily.
The tables for our guests each had their own unique centerpiece.
The we wanted the centerpieces to be statement pieces but small enough for people across from each other to hold a conversation if they chose to. Our colors were pastels and a lot of greenery.
I wanted succulents to be intermixed in the florals along with soft pink and peach color flowers. I couldn't have been happier with how all of the arrangements turned out.
After dinner, toasts were given with Almond champagne, then we did our cake cutting.
I have to be honest, I was so focused on Zach NOT putting cake on my face (even though we decided against it in the beginning of planning) that I wasn't paying attention to where his piece was going and almost missed his mouth!
*Insert crying laughing emoji*
We wanted a semi-naked cake because neither of us are HUGE fans of fondant so we found inspiration on Pinterest (of course) then let our amazing cake designer do the rest. Our cake was Almond flavored and absolutely delicious. Seriously.
AMAZING.
note: My family farms almonds and Zach is now an almond farmer so we had to give as many almond shoutouts as possible, including the cake, the champagne, and we even had almonds in glass containers as well for guests to snack on throughout the night.
In lieu of sheet cake, we had cupcakes for our guests. Our cake served 80 people so we filled the gap with cupcakes in 6 different flavors.
The flavors we chose, in no particular order, were: Almond, Carrot Cake, Coffee & Donuts, Gimme Smores, Pina Colada, & Belgium Waffle.
P.S. How COOL is our cake stand?! It's a piece of wood that was struck by lighting and then painted throughout the lines that were made.
The presentation of everything was absolutely incredible. The cupcakes were adorable and the flavors were incredible.
Our guests still rave about them even 'til this day.
The bakery had the cake stands and the colors fit our vibe perfectly we couldn't turn them down.
After the cake cutting came the dancing!
*woop woop!*
I am SO happy with our DJ. We went back and forth with having a live band vs. a DJ and I'm very pleased with our decision.
We were concerned that people wouldn't dance because some of our family is quite reserved, but everyone was on the dance floor.
EVERYONE.
We met with our DJ to discuss music likes and dislikes and at one point I mentioned that my dad STILL has the Backstreet Boys CD in his truck and listens to it.
This little note made for an incredible time on the dance floor come our wedding.
Our DJ turned on the Backstreet Boys and made a shoutout to my dad saying "This one's for you Roger!" Then started a chant of "Go Roger! Go Roger!"
It was AWESOME. I get teary-eyed thinking about it because I couldn't have imagined our wedding night going any better and it makes me so happy.
I really couldn't put all of the photos on here but here are a few.
Our DJ was incredible.
That's all I have to say. If you are in the LA area and need a DJ for any occasion, contact them.
Info will be at the end.
We ended the night by having a ribbon wand send off.
We wanted to do something that was simple, didn't cost a lot, and would still make for great photos.
We made the wands (thank you Yaz and MIL!)
It was so fun having everyone line up and run down the middle with the wands waving everywhere.
Venue: Calamigos Ranch, Malibu, CA
Catering: Calamigos Ranch, Malibu, CA
Photographer: Dawn Piebenga, Dawn Photography
Planner: Pretty lil Details, Tali
Signs: DIY by me & friends
Floral Arrangments & Hair Piece: Knot Just Flowers
Cake, Cupcakes, & Cupcake Stands: Frost It Cupcakery
Cake Stand: Gift from VoltNTrench Designs
Cake Topper & Table Numbers: Friend of Planner's
Lounge & Rentals: Pretty Vintage Rentals
DJ: 11H Entertainment
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