Holly and Matthew’s Big Sur wedding is equal parts woodsy and whimsical. Their intimate celebration in the woods was accented by a sweet red, orange, and yellow color palette. We love this couple’s quirky style: the groom in his floral bow tie and the bride in her bright cardigan. Shane & Lauren Photography did an impeccable job capturing the fun couple’s personality, as well as the balance of the vastness of McWay Falls Trail and the intimacy of the day.

The Couple: Holly and Matthew

The Wedding: McWay Falls Trail at Julia Pfiefer Burns State Park, Big Sur, California

The Inspiration: “Outdoorsy and down to earth. We really shrugged a lot of traditional aspects of the wedding, and kept what was most important to us. We had our ceremony on the bank of a river, the aisle we walked down was a trail. Instead of a first dance, we had a “first hike” and completed the ceremony trail to a waterfall. All of the table decorations were potted and sewn by our mothers. The pie stands were cut by Matthew‘s father from trees in their backyard in Kentucky. My dress was traditional but finished with tulle leaves, and Matthew wore a simple set of slacks and vest and super awesome boots he found. Instead of fancy cake we brought up our favorite pies from Julian, a town near San Diego, one of the first places we had gone after Matthew moved out.”

The Moments: “My favorite moment was definitely the first hike. We ended up taking the hike before the wedding, rather than following the ceremony as planned, because the bus we hired to drive our family the two hours up Highway 1 from the house we rented in Paso Robles to the park in Big Sur for the ceremony ended up getting stuck in the drive way. They had two tow trucks who were unable to remove the bus and get our guests on their way. I was already at the site with my father and Big Sur has nearly no phone signal so the photographers decided to drive up with Matthew to get some photos. Luckily we didn’t have any time constraints, such as venue rentals or permits, the officiant was our friend, and the house where our family was was well stocked so we didn’t have to worry about the ceremony being late. We took our time and hiked with the photographers, getting some of the most spectacular photos. It was incredibly special to be able to spend that time together on the trail, basking in the giddiness of getting married and doing something so very reflective of who we are.”

The Couple Recommends: “Our photographers were absolutely fantastic. Shane and Lauren are an amazing team and they captured the natural photos we wanted and let us be silly while beautifully capturing candid moments and giving direction for equally beautiful posed shots. They drove hours, hiked, and were spontaneous for us. They also captured the natural scenery and candid moments with our guests, all things that were extremely important to us.

Also, the Wine Wrangler, a wine tour company who came to our guests’ rescue when the original bus company we hired got their but stuck for hours in the house driveway and couldn’t even get it out with two tow trucks. This company sent two busses and picked everyone up with no notice and drove everyone up Highway 1. The drivers were incredibly friendly and even told stories and narrated the scenery — truly life savers!”

The Wedding Team:

Photography – Shane & Lauren Photography
Ceremony Venue – McWay Falls Trail at Julia Pfiefer Burns State Park
Reception Venue – Big Sur Bakery
Floral Design – Flowers by Denise
Catering – Big Sur Bakery
Cake – Julien Pie Company
Invitations – Paper Street Press
Wedding Dress – San Patrick via The White Flower
Groom’s Apparel – J.Crew
Transportation – The Wine Wrangler
Rings – The Diamond Collection

Thanks to Shane & Lauren Photography for sharing Holly and Matthew’s Big Sur wedding with Junebug! For more weddings with epic landscape, be sure to check out Jamie and Kyle’s sunset wedding at Smith Rock State Park.