It’s hard to put into words how magical, memorable, everything I could have wanted + more our wedding weekend was. I simply cannot mention enough how lucky I feel to have the people in my life that I do—they’re truly the best of the best. Being able to bring all of our favorite people together for a weekend in one of the most beautiful + charming corners of California is beyond words. And getting to do that as a way to celebrate the love Elliot + I have shared for 10 years? Nothing will top that.

If you’re planning a Carmel Wedding Weekend, be sure to check out our Day 1 (Wine Tasting) and Day 2 (Rehearsal Dinner) posts.

My best piece of advice for those planning a wedding is to trust in your plans. Allow yourself to be present on your wedding day. It goes by so quickly + you’ll be wishing you had more time. So don’t let the little things distract + trust in your plans.

As mentioned in Day 2, Olivia of Lamp Lighter Inn is an angel sent from above. A suite at Lamp Lighter Inn was left unbooked by our guests. Olivia gifted us the suite for the day to use to get ready in. We’d contemplated renting it, but decided we couldn’t swing it in our budget. It ended up being a lifesaver as our suite was a bit of a disaster after our karaoke night. Olivia’s kindness and generosity is unmatched.

This shot is framed in our living room. I love the simplicity of it + how it captured me behind the scenes.

We had selected Carmel Valley Ranch as our wedding venue for a few reasons.

Availability: We were very specific in our weekend choice, which meant that we were limited with venue options. We opted for a Sunday wedding which got us a slightly better price than a Saturday wedding. This comes with pros and cons. A Sunday wedding in town often means that people won’t stay as late because they plan to go to work the next day. For an out of town wedding this means that some guests won’t attend as they don’t want to or can’t take the next day off of work. The pro for us meant that we could get the weekend we wanted + that it was going to cost us less money. This, in turn, we were able to use to help fund the other wedding weekend events for our guests.
Event Spaces: We wanted to have our ceremony + dinner outside. I have personally never been a fan of the ballroom style wedding. I also find that it typically requires more decoration (aka more money) than an outdoor wedding that may have more natural beauty to it. Carmel Valley Ranch has a number of event space options. We opted to get married in their Vineyard Lawn beneath two trees that created a natural centerpiece. We also hosted our cocktail hour in the Vineyard Lawn. This provided space in the sun + shade for our guests. Then our guests were able to walk up through the blooming lavender fields + vineyards to the Harvest Landing where we would have dinner + dancing overlooking the valley.

Mum is our biggest cheerleader + the OG momager. *Michelle Alexandra Photo*

Cost + Menu:

For our micro-wedding of 25 guests, the event space at Carmel Valley Ranch came out to be $5,500. Once we booked them for our venue, it knocked out a few other vendors as we would use them then for food + drink as well.

Moments before the car stalled on us + we couldn’t move it off the road. Chances are, something will go wrong on your wedding day! Don’t stress it—it will become a beloved story + detail that you can laugh at later on.

In January 2022 we visited CVR to do a menu tasting. All of the food we tasted was incredible + even if you’re just visiting Carmel Valley, I think it is worth a visit to their restaurant. They have a wide variety of options + many of the ingredients used are grown locally on Carmel Valley Ranch property. The food is fresh, flavorful, + very Californian. CVR gave us a menu of options to choose from, but when we requested steak frites, they were more than happy to comply. They also allowed us to swap out the chardonnay for a rose in our wine package, as well as substitute a higher quality sparkling wine, + brought in Aperol so we could have Aperol Spritzes for our guests. I really appreciated that they were flexible + attentive to our requests. I was hesitant about needing to use them for food + drinks as they had set menus, but was pleasantly surprised with how much we were allowed to tweak within it.

Literally giddy. Love my little fam more than words can express! *Michelle Alexandra Photo*

When guests first arrived they were greeted with a glass of sparkling wine for the ceremony. During cocktail hour we did appetizers that included: poke, crab cakes, BLT bites, and prosciutto wrapped mushrooms, with a full bar set-up down on the Vineyard Lawn.

As we walked up to Harvest Landing, we had a second bar set-up, and had a menu that started with a caprese salad, steak frites or halibut, + ended with a berry shortcake. We decided to go without a cake. None of the cakes we tasted from outside vendors were incredible + at $7/piece for a CVR cutting fee we decided it wasn’t worth it to us. We did end with a champagne tower + toast!

Our food + beverage total (including 7 vendor meals) was just shy of $10,000. We opted for the premium bar package + the 3 course plated menu option, along with our 4 appetizers (3 of which we got 40 pieces, and 1 we did 25). We certainly could have spent a lot more (more appetizers, carving stations, 4+ course menus, a cake, etc.), but we also could have saved money (done a lower bar package, cut out appetizers or selected cheaper options—crab cakes are expensive). It was particularly helpful to only be paying for 25 people. The meal + premium bar package worked out to be $215/person not including appetizers or the welcome drink.

One of my favorite shots of our wedding. Michelle captured the movement + memory of this special moment so beautifully.

The Ceremony:

As I’ve said, our key was for our wedding to feel intimate. Having spent a whole weekend together, our guests all felt like they’d known each other forever by the time our wedding day arrived. We opted not to have bridal parties + had our sisters stand by our sides as MOH and best(wo)man. Our families + Elliot walked down the aisle to an instrumental “Wildest Dreams” while my processional was an instrumental “Invisible String”—a nod to Taylor without being too overt. Our recessional was “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” by Natalie Cole which just always sparks a light in me (+ reminds me of The Parent Trap—a win win). We also opted to have Zach, my brother-in-law, as our officiant. While I grew up Catholic, I am not a practicing Catholic + knew I did not want a religious ceremony. Elliot is much the same way—he grew up in a Catholic/Jewish home, but does not identify as either. It felt much more special to us to have someone who has known us + our love marry us. Zach did a wonderful job + it meant so much to me to have him standing with us up there.

I love candid shots significantly more than the posed ones. They evoke more memory + emotion for me. I love that Michelle captured this time with Lauren + Dad just before we walked down the aisle.

The Reception:

For the reception, we had speeches from both our sisters, Dad, my mother-in-law, and Elliot. We decided to space them throughout the meal rather than have them all at once. Looking back, I may have just had them all go at once. I think it left time in between courses which shortened our time to dance. After dinner, Elliot + I had our first dance to “Texas Sun” by Khruangbin and Leon Bridges—a nod to our years spent together in Texas. Then we went right into the father/daughter dance to “Forever Young” by Rod Stewart. Dad told us when we were little that this was the song he wanted to dance to with us at our wedding. It was so special to finally have that moment with him. Elliot + his mom danced to “Hey Mama” by Kanye West for their mother/son dance immediately after. We asked our DJ to cut the songs short at specific points as it can get a little dull to watch someone dance for a full 3+ minutes.

How many people can say that their officiant partied so hard he got shirtless at their reception?

While we had fire pits set up + intended to roast s’mores as an additional dessert option, I never left the dance floor + the night was over with a champagne tower before I knew it. Then came the most expensive tequila shot I will ever take. Sometimes I wonder why I am the way I am, + then remember it is with Lauren’s influence + I hope we never grow up. On our way up to the shuttle bus we stopped at the restaurant bar to order a round of tequila shots (which they definitely don’t do, but obliged). While waiting for the tequila shots we were late for the bus which meant we were charged overtime (Again, why you should always build a miscellaneous line in your budget. You never know when you’ll end up paying $500 for a round of shots).

Welcome Wine Details:

When our guests checked into Lamp Lighter Inn on Friday they were greeted with not only a bottle of sparkling wine from Lamp Lighter (such a thoughtful touch that we were not expecting), but we also placed a bottle of rose with a custom label, along with an itinerary + suggestions of things to do. My sister-in-law designed the wine label for us + printed them via UPrinting. I then picked up a rose from Costco and swapped out the labels (see how HERE).

I had seen Sophie Elkus give her guests beautiful + fun itineraries for her Austin birthday weekend. I instantly fell in love with them, but couldn’t find anyone to do exactly what I wanted (nor at a price that I could justify). I took to Canva + in about an hour created my own. I also create a little “things to do + eat” card, printed them at Office Depot along with our menus + place cards, + voila!

Wedding Video:

Vendors:

Venue, Food, Bar: Carmel Valley Ranch

Miranda at CVR was so kind, responsive, and helpful both leading up to + on our wedding day. If you have the pleasure of working with her you will not be disappointed!

Event Planning: Golden Coast Planning

Photography: Michelle Alexandra

I cannot sing Michelle’s praises enough. She is beyond talented. Captured my vision so perfectly while also getting all of the “classic” and more traditional poses. She instantly made me feel comfortable + was so kind as to also do an engagement + post-wedding shoot (after we had car trouble + didn’t get the “shot” we wanted). I would hire her again + again.

Video: Soby Films

Liam flew all the way out from England for our wedding. He did such a beautiful job capturing our day + I have watched our wedding video more times than I can count. There are many wedding videos that make me cringe, so much so that we weren’t sure if we were going to hire a videographer. I am beyond happy that I came across Liam on Instagram + that we hired him. Liam was generous enough to not charge us a travel fee as Carmel/Big Sur was on his travel bucket list for shooting.

Florist: Valley Flores Design

Hair and Makeup: Blush Makeup Studio

Invitations: Marsupial Papers

Dress: Grace Loves Lace

Veil: Brides and Hairpins

I love that Lauren + I each have photos from our wedding day of putting the same veil on each other. Such a special memory! *Michelle Alexandra Photo*

This was Lauren’s veil that I used. We decided to make that a tradition. Wedding dress styles change so drastically over the years, but a veil is usually a little more timeless. If we ever have daughters, we’ll be able to pass down the veil that we both wore on our wedding days.

Earrings: Grace Loves Lace

Event Rentals: Chic Event Rentals

DJ: Belmont Entertainment

Shuttle Bus: Pacific Monarch

Car Rental: Monterey Touring Vehicles

We decided to rent a vintage car to drive to our ceremony in. All was fine, until we got there + were driving around to get some shots for Michelle and Liam. The car stalled, we couldn’t move it, + we didn’t get the shot that we wanted. Monterey Touring Vehicles was so kind to let us rent another car weeks later at no cost so that we could get the shots we wanted with Michelle. Customer service was unmatched!

Getting Ready PJs: Nadine Merabi

A bachelorette party gift from the MOH of my dreams! Lauren is truly the best!

We took the shuttle bus back to Lamp Lighter Inn with our guests to change + spend a little more time with our friends. Mum then drove us back to Carmel Valley Ranch to stay in our suite that was part of our wedding package with them. It was such a quick stay, but the rooms are stunning! My mother-in-law was kind enough to gift us a two night stay there for our one year anniversary. Stay tuned on a review on our guest experience!