When my husband and I got engaged it seemed pretty obvious that we’d get married at my parents’ house, an avocado farm in Carpinteria, CA.  It was April and we wanted a fall wedding, so we decided to just go for it and plan it all in 6 months–I knew more time would only mean more obsessing!  I also really wanted everything to have a hand-made feel and come out of the talents of our community–we are lucky to know so many creative, wonderful people, so we enlisted them all to make the wedding as homegrown as possible.

I’m a wedding photographer myself, so photography was of huge importance; Nancy was my first and only choice.  She led me to Emily, my new friend and dream dress creator.  I’d found an old lace dress at a vintage show, and she reworked it entirely, making a hand-dyed ombre slip to go underneath and putting in panels and sleeves made of tulle from my husband’s grandmother’s veil.  She also dyed an old silk bedcoat I had lying around to match the dress. The invitations were based on a watercolor I did–the guys at Aardvark letterpress worked with me to create a custom two-ink press so that the colors would bleed like watercolors!  I asked my mom, an incredible florist, to do the flowers.

I wanted the tablescapes to feel wild and blowsy, like a fairyland.  For centerpieces, she gathered my husband’s family silver and planted it with succulents, then filled in with smaller flower arrangements, pomegranates, baby apples, and acacia branches from one of her trees.  I cut napkins out of sari fabric and used painters’ dropclothes as tableclothes.  For escort cards, I used cut-up watercolors I’d painted; table numbers were old house address numbers I found on Etsy.

It was an intensely emotional, magical day and Nancy’s photos capture the spirit of the thing so beautifully.  Thank you for letting me share it!

Photography: Nancy Neil // Videography: Tyler Rumph // Florist: Monica Fishman (minxy47(at)aol.com) // Day of Coordinator: Hallie Slade / La Boheme Events // Invitations: Aardvark Letterpress // Dress: Emily Harteau(emilyharteau@gmail.com) // Suit: InterMilan // Catering: Animal Restaurant

Photography by Lacie Hansen

Photography by Robert Sukrachand // Event Design + Florals + Coordination by The Nouveau Romantics // Catering by 14 Acre Farm // Vintage Rentals by Magpie Vintage Rentals // Wedding Dress by Leanne Marshall // Groom’s Suit by Brooklyn Tailors //  Invitations by Katherine Ahn

Photography by Jose Villa // Styling & Wardrobe by Joy Thigpen // Hair and Makeup by TEAM Hair and Makeup

Photography by Jill Thomas