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.

what should pasty Minnesotans do in LA?

May 11

Dear ESB,

I have a close-knit group of high school friends from Minnesota. Over time we've all moved away from home and live in various parts of the country, but we still keep in contact and are involved in each other's lives. We get to see each other during holidays, but that's usually a hectic time filled with family obligations. Weddings are our best chance to party together, and now one of my dear friends is getting married in L.A.! All of us are super excited about our friend's wedding. Not only is he marrying a kick ass girl, but we will be meeting up in California instead of Minnesota, which will be a fun vacation for us pasty Northerns. We are planning to stay several days for the wedding and explore the city as much as possible.

I thought maybe you and your L.A. readers, as insiders and very cool people, could suggest fun and interesting things for us to do in L.A. Or restaurants. We love food, especially strange food. The wedding is in July.

On a related note, I'm also getting married this summer, and my FH and I are going to Coronado for our honeymoon. If people in the San Diego area have any suggestions, those would also be welcome as well.

Sincerely,
Wannabe in LA

*****

June 13

Make a reservation at Animal (ANY RESERVATION YOU CAN GET, trust me) and await further instructions.

*****

July approaches!

Hokay. Rather than giving you an exhaustive list of my favorite spots in LA, I thought I'd narrow it down to five or so and let everyone else chime in.

Animal
I hope you made that reservation. Be sure to order the foie gras loco moco. It's the most expensive item on the menu, but I swear to you it's one of the most amazing things I've ever eaten. The bacon chocolate crunch bar is also killer. All of it is killer.

Yuca's
A James Beard Award-winning taco stand. You have to get the cochinita pibil torta (slow-roasted pork sandwich), which is the specialty of the house. I can't do tortas because of the whole gluten thing -- I get the tacos -- but H always orders at least two tortas for himself.

In-N-Out Burger
You know you have to visit In-N-Out while you're here, right? There are all kinds of secret ways to order that are not listed on the menu. I order my burgers "animal style" (with pickles and grilled onions), "protein style" (on a bun made of lettuce), "with mustard instead" (mustard instead of the special sauce).

Jumbo's Clown Room
This is a super fun place to have drinks in the early evening, when it's easy to get a table and the hipster pole dancers are the most skilful. Legend has it Courtney Love once danced at Jumbo's, and David Lynch used to come here to write. Bonus: It's just a few blocks away from Thai Patio, one of our perennial faves. The food is delish and there's usually an ambiguously gendered Thai person singing very sincere covers of 80's/90's hits.

Flore Vegan
LA it up for realz and go to Silver Lake for a vegan smoothie. (I mean, you did just eat all that meat.) The raw avocado & citrus smoothie from Flore is sooooo good. Bonus: You can stop into Reform School and the Mohawk General Store while you're in the neighborhood.

Polaroid by Raymond Molinar