Woodland Wedding in the Big Sur Redwoods
The romantic in me just can’t resist the idea of a wedding surrounded by endlessly tall redwoods. Today’s wedding from Evynn LeValley Photography has some great ideas and beautiful design inspiration, all put together with the help of the groom’s very own sister. If you’re planning a woodland wedding, this is a fantastic place to start:
From the bride, Paige: For us, it was really all about the location – Big Sur. When my husband are I were dating we discovered we both shared the experiences of camping and visiting the area frequently as children. While dating we took quite a few camping trips to Big Sur and our relationship really deepened in the time we spent enjoying the immense beauty and spirituality of the area. When we got engaged we never really considered getting married anywhere else but there. The coastline and the redwood forests are so beautiful I didn’t really feel much decoration was needed. The redwood trees were our cathedral.
How incredible is this bride’s cap veil from Veiled Beauty? Such a great way to add a touch of vintage sophistication without committing fully to a vintage theme.
At some point I asked my very talented sister in law, Geraldine, if she would mind arranging some living succulent planters to accent our tables. Since we would be transporting everything from Orange County I thought living plants would hold up much better than fresh flowers. My sister in law owns a boutique gardening business (Pristine Gardens) and is insanely creative. A few centerpiece planters turned into burlap runners, candles, lanterns, signs, and even a living succulent wall! I really had almost nothing to do with the planning. The morning of our wedding she and my mom and sisters and other guests pitched in and decorated our ceremony site and the patio and dining room at Glen Oaks. I heard later they were even surreptitiously clipping greenery from the Glen Oaks landscaping to fill in some of the arrangements! Everything I saw on the day of our wedding was a beautiful surprise. I couldn’t be more grateful to all of them. It allowed me and my husband to really focus on each other and our marriage rather than the “wedding event” part of it.
This is one of our favorite keepsake photo ideas from a wedding day — take a photo of three generations of your family’s wedding rings! It’s a brilliant way to immortalize each woman’s style and trend preferences through the years.
A few notes about our vendors… My husband’s ring was very special. On one of our planning trips to Glen Oaks we collected (with permission!) a piece of redwood from the grove of trees where our ceremony would take place. A company called Simply Wood Rings created an inlaid wood ring for him made from that redwood. That way he could always have a piece of the place we got married with him. For my veil, I fell in love with the “Juliet cap” style. Kathy Banner at Veiled Beauty created my veil on a rush order. I went to pick it up from her the day before we left for Big Sur and it was the wrong color! (Just too yellow) It is so hard to tell from a three inch swatch what color to choose. She refused to let me walk out of her shop without something I was perfectly happy with so she stopped what she was doing and made me a new veil in the perfect color right there while I waited. She really saved the day! Glen Oaks was also wonderfully accommodating. Our cabin tucked away in the redwoods was a dream. We especially enjoyed the claw foot bathtubs on the private patio under the trees. Evynn was also wonderful to work with. I love the dreamy look of her photography. Neither my husband or myself are really into being the center of attention and she made us feel completely comfortable during our shoot. A total pro. I also love that she shot some photos on film. The film shots are my favorite ones.
Where is this in Big Sur? I’m looking for a small venue myself in that area. It looks beautiful.
It’s at Glen Oaks “motor lodge” and the restaurant is the hotels Onsite restaurant called The Roadhouse. Glen Oaks rooms, cabins, and grounds were all recently redone – everything is fresh and modern with great design. It was a great middle ground choice for us – most venues in Big Sur are either ultra luxurious and expensive, or extremely dated and rustic (but still pricey). Glen Oaks was a perfect compromise!
GASP, oh my, everything about this is absolutely breathtaking! So beautiful!
do you mind me asking if they did this as a package or did you have a planner? Love the local, but don’t have much time to plan…was hoping for an easy package. Curious the budget too if it’s a package? Thanks!
Rebekah, we did not have a planner. The Glen Oaks package included the ceremony site, the chairs, reserving the Roadhouse main dining room and back patio (including all tables, chairs, napkins, cutlery, etc.), and there was a choice of different food and drink services. We did a buffet style with choice of red or white wine at dinner and open bar thereafter. We planned it all in 2 trips up there I’d say it was pretty doable. It could be done remotely I’d say, too. I’m not sure if they do things differently now though. We were the first wedding of this size (40 people) they’d ever had so they were still “learning” too when they did ours. Congratulations on your wedding!
Hi Paige – I am also looking into Glen Oaks for our wedding. Do you mind sharing who did the catering? Also, was the open bar with liquor? Please feel free to email me if you have time: andriana.baker@gmail.com. I would love to know more. Thank you!