Ariana and Jonah - UC Botanical Garden and Berkeley City Club

August 2016. Photos - Nicole Blumberg Photography / Flowers - Dinner Bell Farms/ Dress: BHLDN

Ariana and Jonah came from two different cultures: she is Indonesian, he is Jewish. It was important to them that they find ways to incorporate elements of each into the ceremony and the wedding day in general. The ways that they found to celebrate this union ranged from expected (breaking of the glass, getting married under a chuppah, doing readings in Indonesian) to extremely special and unique to them (covering the chuppah in an Indonesian batik cloth and having gorgeous Indonesian puppets on each of the tables as part of the centerpieces). Celebrating nature and being eco-friendly was also very important to them, so the decoration in the Redwood Grove was extremely minimal - who needs flowers when you're surrounded by all those redwoods?! Molly from Dinner Bell Farms, a sustainable flower farm located near Tahoe, created stunning bouquets with lots of interesting textures, while the bridal headpiece and chuppah were lush with with jasmine. The table centerpieces were succulent gardens that Molly had grown in a wide range of planters that could be taken home by guests after the wedding. It was by far the most eco-friendly and beautiful use of centerpieces I've seen to date! 

Mariah and Michael - Stern Grove, San Francisco

April 2016. Photos: Kate Hoss Photo / Flowers: Rust and Thistle / Cupcakes: Susiecakes

Michael and Mariah's Stern Grove wedding was all about simple elegance. Mariah's bridesmaids were in mismatched lavender (the color) dresses, while the groomsmen wore lavender (the flower/herb) boutonnieres. There were other little touches of lavender sprinkled throughout the venue including bunches of lavender tied to the outside of the ceremony aisles. This couple loved the outdoors and wanted to celebrate the natural beauty of the surrounding redwoods and only add small pops of color here and there, but as you can see from the bouquet, the 'pops' of color were so incredibly rich and lush that not much was needed anyway. Michael is a graphic designer on the side and not only designed their wedding website, save-the-dates, and invitations, but also designed a custom wedding logo (see the 'choose a seat' sign below). After this wedding, I recommend Stern Grove to any couple who wants a natural setting in the heart of San Francisco; it's a pretty bare-bones venue, but with a little bit of craftiness and the right touches, you can turn it into the wedding of your dreams.

Darlene and Alan - Burlingame, CA

November, 2015. Photos: Mark Kuroda

Darlene and Alan's ceremony was held at Wedgewood Crystal Springs. It's hard to believe that this gorgeous gazebo backed by verdant hills overlooking a river is only a mile from Highway 280 in the Bay Area peninsula. In fact, if you face the other way, you can see cars zooming by. However, there is no traffic noise and on a good day, the scenery is truly stunning. You can only reserve the ceremony space for a couple of hours, so the reception was held at the nearby Marriott, where guests were treated to a three-course dinner and a show (a Chinese lion dance complete with dragons and drums)!