Kellie + John

LOCATION Big Sur, CA | PHOTOGRAPHER Silver Seas Weddings | PLANNER Karissa Paxton Events

Big Sur - who would say no to this? Planning a wedding on the rugged coastline of California’s Center isn’t easy. It’s about three hours south of San Francisco. Consider this location REMOTE. Cell phones don’t work - you’re off the grid, so plan for that. The other plan is to hire professionals that know the area. I would not recommend moving forward without a planner. These two made their wedding perfect by teaming with vendors that know Big Sur.

I am a big fan of fall weddings and so was our bride + groom, Kellie + John. The colors in the flowers reflect the contrast of the natural vegetation that exists along the coastline. We were glad to embrace this warm rustic color palette.

How do you install a mirrored floor on a multi-terraced steep install? It can be done, we opted to use the casper chairs to reflect the sparkling water of the Pacific Ocean. Kellie and John wanted their wedding ceremony to mirror the water that surrounded them. On their wedding day - I have never seen the ocean look like millions of mirrors reflecting back on them. It was a day for the records.

We used the grassy blueprint to guide the circular chair set-up. I am a sucker for circular ceremonies and this one-albeit, not a perfect circle did not disappoint! It was so pretty with the very center a floral mandala installation. We made a rug-like flower carpet for the couple to stand on to exchange their forever vows. Love the idea of flowers instead of a rug.

This venue is one we have designed a lot - but never like this. With the couples inspiration we had a platform built on the property so that all the guests could sit together and see each other. I love that. This venue has a wrap around deck over looking the ocean, but your guests get separated by the “L” shape table configuration. Part of the guests are seated around the corner and cannot be seen. This pretty table design where all the guests could see each other, turned out gorgeous + there was even enough room to dance!!!

I am always motivated to see a venue set up different from all the other weddings we see at that venue. Change is hard - we know. In this case it was worth every inch of breaking open new boxes and living on the edge - “literally”.

They really lucked out with a warm sunny day and night! We added our warmth with burgundy peonies, astilbe, lisianthus, scabiosa, and candles in various size. The table was draped in ocean blue velvet linen with matching dining chairs. We added plants and foliage to soften the setting.

One detail that I liked was that both the bride and groom wore white tennies. Let me tell you - this was brilliant because the venue has beautiful terraced gardens. To move around easily those shoes came in handy. As you can see the photogrpher used ever last drop of sunlight + landscape for these outrageous photos.

Tell me - are you the adventurous type? Would you plan a wedding on the Big Sur coast?