I am thrilled to be sharing this beautiful Maravilla Gardens wedding with you!

Jessica + Brian wanted a romantic and soft Summer wedding with lots of personal details and classic flare. The results were….absolutely stunning!

The Couple:

Jessica + Brian are young and fun professionals who are both big wigs in the music industry.  They also happen to be my neighbors! They live and breath all things music! In their down time, these busy workaholics are homebodies who love their families, mix tapes and staying in, ordering take out and snuggling up on the couch with their black and white pomeranian, Daisy.

They are also just beautiful people, inside and out!

The Venue – Maravilla Gardens:

Maravilla Gardens is a family-owned private property tucked away in Camarillo, California. It is just about an hour drive north of Los Angeles. As you step onto the property, among the first things you notice are the floral scents and colors coming from a wide variety of plants, the song of birds in the garden, and the lovely afternoon breeze. Maravilla Gardens is a secluded, peaceful, and quiet oasis, where butterflies are frequent visitors and you can’t help but feel more relaxed being there!

It is a sought after and very popular wedding venue for couples looking to escape the city and savor an outdoor ceremony and reception in the spring-fall months. The site covers over 5 acres and overlooks a vast working farm, creating a picturesque view across the well-tended fields. There is greenery as far as the eye can see! Crops, such as, cilantro, corn, pumpkins and tomatoes are rotated throughout the year.  A mountain range, on either side of the valley, cradles the wedding site in strength and beauty.

Most recently Marvilla Gardens has added an onsite rental property for overnight guests as well as a bridal suite. There are separate areas for both the bride and groom (groom/groom & bride/bride) to get ready and dress before the ceremony. There is plenty of room to groove with your bridal party here and every inch of this massive property is thoughtfully designed, decorated and well curated by the second generation owners, Jen and her husband Rob! It’s just beautiful all over! From the moment you step on to property, you don’t want to leave! Lucky for them they live right next door.

Even a large wedding party fits comfortably on the sprawling lawn and paved ceremony area at Maravilla Gardens. It’s perfect for high heels because you don’t half to walk directly on the grass to get down the aisle!

Guests feel like they are tucked away and shaded in a secret garden under mature trees and large, built in sun shades. Maravilla Gardens has thought of it all with an adjacent parking lot, in-house catering from Command Performance and many of the rentals already include in the rental price. It’s a one stop shop for all your wedding needs!

Just don’t forget to hire an experienced planner like Anything But Gray Events to bring it all together for you!

Maravilla Gardens is also home to a barn full of rentals that are available to add on to your wedding package. These antique barn doors that Jessica + Brian chose to use for their ceremony backdrop are part of the Maravilla Gardens rental collection. Draped in gauzy fabric and adorned with florals from Flower Duet, the weathered doors suited their romantic and soft Summer wedding vibe perfectly!

I love this photo of Jessica. Her smile lights up the room. It is a testament to how happy Brian makes her and what a well suited couple they are together!

While she is smiling here, the wedding planning process was not always smooth sailing. Sadly, during the year we were planning their wedding together her mother became very ill and unfortunately passed away just a few months before the wedding day.

It was a devastating blow to the couple and their families. As their planner, all I could do was let them know I was there for them in any way possible and support them through this heartbreaking time. Having lost a parent myself, I knew their heartache all too well. After much reflection and conversation together, Jessica knew in her heart that her mother would want them to continue on with the wedding, even in her absence. We found ways to honor her mother and her memory throughout the wedding ceremony and reception which helped to ease the tragic loss for this beautiful bride.

Paying homage to her mother, Jessica wanted to showcase her mom’s favorite flower, lavender. Flower Duet made this beautiful memorial bouquet of lavender and roses that was placed in the seat where Jess’s mother would have sat. The bouquet later represented her mother’s presence in family photos. It was a simple and beautiful way for Jessica to feel her mother’s love, close to her heart, on her wedding day.

Even now, seeing this photo makes me tear up. Weddings are an emotional time for all of us for different ways. Missing loved ones on a day that is filled with so much happiness can be a personal challenge but incorporating little touches to remind us of the ones we lost is a must.

I am not sure how they did it, but Jessica + Brian’s friends are all perfect height!

The groomsmen, who were the life of the party, wore rented suits from The Black Tux.

The bridesmaids worn long, flowy blush beaded gowns from Macys while the bride worn a gown from Lovella Bridal.

Guests struck a pose in the photo booth from The Booth and Bus Co. as well signed custom vinyl records as the guest book for this music loving duo to use as a keepsake of their lyrical day!

For a unique look, we mixed long wood farm tables and round tables with lilac linens. The cross back wood chairs and tables are part of the in-house rental package upgraded options at Maravilla Gardens.

It truly felt like and elegant, outdoor dinner party amongst the flowers!

Fresh lavender springs were featured in their signature cocktail as well as at each place setting.

This wood A-frame sweetheart table arch framed the two sweethearts perfectly. Adding a swag of greenery to the wooded table and lilac velvet chairs gave the vignette texture and softness. Using the bridal  bouquet in the middle of the table added the pop of color the rustic look needed!

Pro Tip:

Think about ways to repurpose items in more than one location to get the biggest bang for your buck! We took the florals from the barn doors at ceremony and repurposed them on the sweetheart table arch to dress it up. It’s the little touches that can save you some money but still get you the desired look you want!

Maravilla Gardens is 360 degrees of natural beauty all around. The farm adjacent to the venue set the stage for some amazing sunset photos with our photographers, The Komans.

As night fell the reception was bumping with sweet tunes from RedShoe LA and a soft glow from the in-house twinkle lights and as a cool Summer breeze blew in off the adjacent farm land.

I love when there is an interactive portion to a wedding. Husband and wife team Hazel and Henry of The Dough Life fried up fresh, hot, mini donuts for all the guests with a assortment of delicious toppings!

I love Brian’s intense facial expression in this photos as the love birds cut the almond flavored multi-tired wedding cake from Chantel and Bella.  You can tell that Brian wanted to make sure he cut the cake just right! Again, notice the lavender bouquet on the cake table. Mom was there watching over them the whole time.

 

Pro Tip:

Hire a professional videographer! I hear from couples occasionally that they want to pass on hiring a videographer because they have a photographer. Not the same thing. Wedding days go fast, especially when you are the ones getting married! It’s really nice to be able to sit down whenever you want and relive the day. Hire a professional videographer! You won’t regret it. Plus, then you feel like you have your very own music video of your big day!

Jessica + Brian’s video created by The Byrd Sisters Films gets me moving every time!

Vendor Team:

Venue: Maravilla Gardens

Photographer: Koman Photography

Design + Planning: Anything But Gray Events 

DJ: RedShoe LA

Videographer: The Byrd Sisters Films

Catering: Command Performance Catering

Cake: Chantel and Bella

Donuts: The Dough Life

Photobooth: The Booth and Bus Co. 

Florals: Flower Duet

Tuxedo Rental: The Black Tux 

Wedding Gown: Lovella Bridal 

Makeup: @jrmmakeup

Makeup: @paulinehacopian

Hair: @moniquehalehair