Thursday, February 9, 2012

Badass California Mountain Wedding


Jamie asked me if I would do the honor of featuring one of Rad + In Love's very first wedding shoots, and when I saw that there was a HORSE MASK involved, I was like, "Yeah, okay. Twist my arm."

Here's what the adorable Katie had to say about her wedding:

Jeremy and I got married on a grey November day in our hometown of Santa Ynez, California. We rented out the Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse for several days before the wedding and had our wedding party stay with us. In the evenings we drank wine and our friends played music while the wind whipped through the mountain range and the rain pelted the window panes. During the days, it was a circus of planning, cooking, crafting, and, in general, TCB-ing.

We already felt pretty damn lucky having such talented friends helping us out but then when we won the awesome Rad + In Love ladies, well, we felt like our wedding was totally charmed.



As our guests arrived, a friend strolled around the farmhouse, playing songs on his banjo, which set the mood perfectly. Moments before the ceremony, when there was an issue with the sound equipment and we couldn’t play our processional song, he stepped in and provided some sweet music as we all headed down the aisle. It turned out way better than we ever could have planned.



Jeremy’s friend (and his best man’s father) was our officiator and I think you’d be pretty hard pressed to find a more bad-ass looking Reverend.  After presenting us as husband and wife, he picked up a guitar and sang Darlin’ Companion by The Lovin’ Spoonful while we walked back down the aisle.



My dress was made by my incredibly talented friend Nichole Lumpkin who – I should add- created my dream dress in just two weeks leading up the wedding date after I, in true procrastinator fashion, freaked out about not finding anything I liked. 


My bridesmaid Molly, from Ballard Canyon Farms, began growing the flowers pretty much as soon as I told her Jeremy had proposed. She used plants native to Figueroa Mountain and created the bouquets, gorgeous floral arrangements, and my flower crown (and a teeny tiny crown for our cake topper girl). I called upon my stylist friends for makeup and hair, asking for a 60’s country vibe, and they knocked it out of the park.



We didn’t want a super matchy-matchy look for our wedding party so Jeremy’s boys all wore different Rockmount shirts and my girls ran with the suggestion of something, “floral and folky.” 





When Jeremy and I booked the farmhouse 8-months prior we knew there might be a chance of rain but we basically lived in denial of it until a week before when every weather website said, “It is going to rain on your wedding day,” and our friends texted us, “It is going to rain on your wedding day,” and our day-of-planner emailed us, “It is going to rain on your wedding day. Get. A. Tent.” We tried to fight it and I’d be lying if I said we weren’t bummed but you know what? It was totally fine. Nobody cares if you’re in a tent or in a field surrounded by horses grazing on grass while a movie is projected on a wall behind you. It’s not a wedding without some hiccups and you just roll with it.

Danny Douglas catered, serving grilled Tri-Tip, Chicken, and a veggie risotto that made me wish he was my personal chef. Our friend, Graham Palmer, from Sforzando, made the incredible wines and Jeremy selected all of the craft beers from his store, The Oaks Gourmet. We had a couple cakes – one from Flore and one from the Madonna Inn (as a nod to the place where we got engaged). Jeremy’s friend, Genevieve, from Delilah Bakery made us an incredible bourbon banana bread pudding.

We wanted a stagecoach-stop/roadside-dive-bar feel for the reception and our pals that dj’d and played live music really pulled it off. We weren’t going to do a first dance or a bouquet toss BUT as 2AM rolled around, we were dancing to I’m Your Man by Richard Hell and I found myself tossing the bouquet out to the 10+ ladies that were in it for the long haul.





It’s no surprise that when you get married to your best friend, you’re feeling pretty much head over heels in love but, after all was said and done, I think Jeremy and I both had major crushes on all of our friends and family that helped create this incredible day for us.

Editor's Note: Is it inappropriate that I sort of have a crush on the guy with the mohawk? Okay, inappropriate.

Check out the Rad + In Love blog for tons more photos of the magical mayhem. And.... Special bonus.... Jamie + Michelle have another wedding up on 100 Layer Cake today. It's ALL RAD, ALL DAY LONG.

32 comments:

  1. BEST. LOVE. BESTLOVE. The groom's guys are hot and the bride is gorgeous and kick ass. BEST! LOVEBEST!

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  2. sexiest western ever. i would rob ALL of those stagecoaches.

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  3. as one of two of katie's MOHs, I can only say that this just barely begins to describe the awesomeness that went down that weekend. best wedding ever. and first wedding I didn't want to end. including my own(!).
    oh, and p.s. jamie & michelle really are too rad for words. xo!

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  4. !!! seriously awesome emphasis on the RAD and IN LOVE part. what an adorable couple.

    & i second the mohawk hawtness.

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  5. in other news, you people have seen the amazon customer image gallery for that horse mask, yes?

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    1. i thought about linking over there, but THAT would have been inappropriate, no?

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    3. Holy Moley! I'm pleasantly disturbed...

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  6. love this...
    love jamie...
    love RAD....
    x

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  7. ps. those shirts from rockmount are RAD and they do CUSTOM for the women who wear men's clothes....
    just sayin'

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  8. So awesome! If I was going to try and copy a wedding, this would be the wedding.

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  9. Wow, this looks amazing. I think I should stop looking at pictures of other people's weddings on the internet, though. I have to keep reminding myself that it's ok to throw a not-so-picturesque city party wedding (or whatever), and not an epic wedding on a mountaintop the likes of which the internet has never seen.

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    1. I totally hear you! while the wedding featured is beautiful, it's always good to remember a wedding doesn't need to be in a field to be fantastic.

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  10. I've had the WORST day, until now... thanks so much for sharing. Congrats, Katie! And wow- those photos are STUNNING! xo.

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  11. SO beautiful, creative, inspiring, joyful - and of course - BADASS! ;-) Congrats to you both, wishing you a lifetime of wedded bliss and cowboy boots...xo

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  12. Holy smokes- Thanks for all the sweet words, guys! And thanks to ESB for writing the only wedding blog that I just can't quit (or want to). <3

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    1. ALSO- I never even saw the Amazon horse head pics. Kinda wanna turn them into a series of inappropriate thank you cards...

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    2. WOW, katie ! your wedding looked like a time and a half ! and that horse head pic is going to give me NIGHTMARES ! definitely turn it into thank-you cards !

      best wishes. :-)

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    3. I love this wedding!!! everything about it! I'm totally with you on the whole bouquet toss thing too... at my wedding I wasn't planning on it but I got caught up in the moment and went for it. the ladies had so much fun they convinced me to throw my maid of honor's bouquet afterwards! I only wish I remembered to put some Richard Hell on my wedding playlist. nice choice & gorgeous wedding. congrats!

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  13. I think I have a problem. I think I might love Katie and her wedding and her friends and the banjo and the dresses and the shirts and her husband's fake head a bit too much.

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  14. An Amazing wedding! Take it form someone who was there, the sun came out and they had the most beautiful ceremony. The whole day was awesome! I think the friends have the bigger crush here.

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  15. when jamie first told me one of the weddings they picked was at the figueroa mountain farmhouse, i just about died. i've looked through this wedding about a hundred times because it brings back so many memories.

    katie, we had issues with our sound equipment, too. from where i was standing, i couldn't hear my processional song AT ALL, so i didn't start walking out until it was half way done, and then had to practically run down the aisle. we were also sacred of rain and having to rent a tent, but you can't see anything on that mountain once it gets dark anyway, so it really wouldn't have mattered. your wedding was so beautiful. congratulations to you both. :)

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  16. YES. what a perfect write up katie! it was such an awesome day. for realz. and, i am sad we were not there for the two AM bouquet toss.

    thanks ESB! <3

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  17. Don't get the mask fad. That'll fizzle soon enough.

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