California Orange Grove Wedding
Last week we shared an inspiring wedding shoot in an orange grove, and today we’re bringing you a real wedding in one! Fondly Forever Photography and Hello Gem Events worked together on Becca and Michael’s big day, which took place completely outdoors and embraces the epitome of “California cool.”
From the bride, Becca: Most importantly we wanted our guests to experience the beauty and warmth that we feel each time we visit our family ranch. Using this as our vision led us to make a number of design decisions alongside our wonderful planners Hello Gem such as: having all three parts of the wedding completely outdoors from the cocktail hour in the middle of the orange grove to the reception in a field under the stars. We felt this vision really came to life in many ways – our bartenders, for example, embraced the cocktail hour in the grove, spontaneously picking oranges from the tree and making fresh screwdrivers for guests!
Bouquet recipe: Dahlias, lisianthus, ranunculus, garden roses, kumquats, artichokes, textural greenery.
We enhanced our color palette with bright orange fruit and flowers throughout the decor – from the kumquats in the bouquets/boutonnieres to the centerpieces filled with homegrown oranges. My father designed and built our chuppah using young eucalyptus trees and a lot of love. Assembling the chuppah the day before the wedding with my Dad and future husband was such a wonderful moment before the wedding weekend officially kicked off.
Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Invest time in finding vendors who get your vision and then trust them to internalize your vision and enhance it with their creativity. This helped alleviate so much stress for us, especially since we were planning from a distance, and led to fun surprises like the artichokes in my bouquet!
