The Wedding Story

Olivia and Andrew’s lighthearted California ranch wedding took place at what we lovingly call it “The Ranch” in Calabasas on a warm October night,

Their theme: “classy country with a touch of Shakespeare“ resonated perfectly with the charming rustic venue, which only still exist as their caretakers fought against big development in 2003. Over 1000 mature California oak trees were saved along with habitat for threatened California red-legged frogs, endangered Least Bell’s vireos, Southwestern willow flycatchers, and San Fernando Valley spine flowers (once thought to be extinct). Money spent on the venue goes back to protecting nature, how much greener can you get?

I had several mini adventures with the adventurous couple who moved to live in Argentina for a year a week after the wedding – their favors, Argentinian caramel cookies from a special bakery were their goodbye kiss for their friends and family.

We scored lots of vintage press glass vases from Thrift stores.

I started a cool collection of vintage dinner plates – unfortunately the only linens that looked good for the wild and crazy plates was a wild and crazy flowery table cloth – too much for the bride. We went for organic cotton linens with a black and white flower design, which added the Shakespearean touch to the DIY decor: wild flowers in all shapes and sizes from the LA flower mart. It took us a while to fill all the vases but Olivia’s family helped and made it a fun, creative morning.

The long table formation and Heirloom Catering’s menu added a Mediterranean touch to the organic colorful family style dinner.

It got real French with the Croquembouche wedding cake.The delicious left overs were ravished by ants – watch out when in nature!

The DJ from Good Times Entertainment is a musician and brought his conga drums, to accompany the music – the party rocked into the late night.

California Ranch Wedding