WEDDING BLOG

With just 36 guests, an all-white color palette, and a black-tie dress code, Kaitline and Aaron kept their La Jolla wedding intentionally intimate. A few statement pieces shaped the celebration, including couches for the ceremony, modern reception chairs, and a custom 10-foot-tall stage that transformed from a string quartet setup into a photo wall as the day unfolded.

They also reconsidered how weddings were typically laid out at Martin Johnson House, putting dinner on the upper deck, the ceremony and dancing below, and cocktails on the lawn. It was a decision Kaitline had to defend early in planning, but one that ultimately gave each part of the celebration its own place. Add handwritten notes waiting for every guest, a second bridal look with pearl-beaded gloves, and a few embroidered details hidden inside Aaron’s tux, and their minimalist approach left plenty of room for personality.

What We Love About This Martin Johnson House Wedding

• An intimate guest list of just 36 people
• Ceremony couches instead of traditional rows of chairs
• A custom 10-foot stage used three different ways throughout the day
• Handwritten notes sealed with white hydrangeas for every guest
• Black bridesmaid dresses designed as a deliberate contrast to Kaitline’s gown
• Aaron’s custom tux embroidered with their wedding date and “K+A”

Featured Vendor:
Staci Brucks Photo

Finding The Venue Helped Everything Else Fall Into Place

Before landing on Martin Johnson House, Kaitline and Aaron had looked much farther from home. Their venue search started in Italy, moved to Spain and Mexico, and eventually brought them right back to La Jolla.

Exploring so many possibilities also showed Kaitline just how much the venue shapes everything that comes after it. “I feel like not enough people talk about the decision paralysis that comes on day one,” she says. “It’s not until you have your venue that the vision starts coming into focus.”

The mature trees, lawn, and wide ocean views gave her something concrete to build the rest of the wedding around. The location also happened to suit their 36-person guest list, including one detail Kaitline had already become particularly committed to: her ceremony couches.

Kaitline and her mom handled the early planning together. About six months in, the couple brought on a full planner through MIHO, who was already handling their catering. “Life doesn’t stop when you start planning your wedding,” she says, adding that having a professional there to take over the logistics became “a game changer.”

Making A 36-Person Guest List Even More Personal

A 36-person guest list gave Kaitline and Aaron the chance to create something especially meaningful for every person there: a handwritten note of their own.

Each guest found a letter tucked into an organic, papyrus-style envelope and finished with a white hydrangea seal. The notes came individually from either Kaitline or Aaron and included shared memories alongside a thank-you for being part of their lives.

The couple kept the gesture a surprise. Guests discovered the letters once they sat down, giving Kaitline and Aaron the chance to watch people read them around the room.

That element of surprise carried through much of the wedding. Only a handful of people knew the full plan beforehand, allowing guests to experience the details as they unfolded and giving the couple space to develop their ideas on their own terms.

Making A Few Statement Pieces Count

Kaitline describes her personal style as minimal, and the wedding followed suit. White was essentially the entire color palette, with black reserved for the wedding party’s attire. The existing greenery completed the setting.

She planned one anchoring element for each main part of the celebration. The ceremony had low, understated couches that she had searched extensively to find, while clean-lined chairs carried the same idea into dinner.

On the cocktail lawn, a custom stage measuring six feet wide and 10 feet tall framed the ocean view. It first held the string quartet before the ceremony, then became a photo wall during cocktail hour and remained part of the setup into the evening. Each piece had a clear purpose and enough presence to make an impact while still letting the setting shine.

Keeping The Ceremony Traditional While Making The Reception Their Own

The ceremony itself stayed close to tradition. A close friend and pastor officiated, balancing the religious service with enough humor to make it feel personal to the couple.

The setting at Martin Johnson House then shifted gears for the reception. The same lower deck where Kaitline and Aaron had exchanged vows became the place everyone returned to dance, while the different zones they’d created earlier in the day continued to give the intimate guest list room to move.

The black-tie dress code helped set the pace for the evening too. As Kaitline puts it, “Everyone felt like a 10 and partied the night away.”

Letting Black-Tie Fashion Become Part Of The Design

The dress code was part of the visual plan from the beginning. With an all-white palette and plenty of natural greenery, what everyone wore became another layer of the design.

Kaitline chose a strapless white gown with an a-line silhouette and wore her hair down in curls. Her bridesmaids provided the exact contrast: sleek black halterdresses paired with French-style buns. “My thought for their look was to be the exact contrast of mine,” she says. Against the white setting, the black dresses also helped visually frame the ceremony.

Aaron had his own ideas from the beginning. His custom tux featured a wide shawl lapel and handmade suede loafers, but some of its best details were saved for a closer look. He surprised Kaitline by embroidering their wedding date inside the jacket and adding “K+A” to the back of the collar.

Once it was time to dance, Kaitline changed into a second dress made in the same fabric as her ceremony gown. The shorter look featured a folded strapless neckline, off-the-shoulder straps, and sparkly pearl-beaded gloves. “Those gloves were everything,” she says. “Everyone lost their mind over them. Including me!”

Starting The Weekend With A Rehearsal Brunch

The celebration actually began the morning before. With their rehearsal scheduled for 10 a.m., Kaitline and Aaron turned the traditional rehearsal gathering into brunch at Wildland in Carlsbad.

Junebug vendor Staci Brucks flew in early to photograph it, giving them another part of the weekend together in a relaxed setting. The group took over a private room, where food kept arriving and everyone had time to settle in and enjoy being together after rehearsal.

It was a fitting start to a wedding centered on a deliberately small group of people, with more time to spend together woven into the weekend from the beginning.

Giving Martin Johnson House A Fresh Layout

Kaitline saw an opportunity to use Martin Johnson House a little differently. Weddings there had traditionally placed the ceremony on the lawn and dinner on the decks, but she envisioned another way for guests to experience the property.

Dinner went on the upper deck. The lower deck held the ceremony before becoming the dance floor later that night, while the lawn was reserved for the welcome and cocktail hour.

The arrangement gave each part of the celebration its own setting and naturally moved guests through the property as the wedding progressed. It also made full use of the venue, from the ocean-facing lawn to both deck levels.

Her verdict after seeing it work? “10/10 would recommend not going with the status quo.”

Their Advice: Protect Your Own Point Of View

Kaitline credits her mom with being one of the people who consistently encouraged her ideas and helped her stay connected to what she and Aaron wanted for the day.

“My best advice would be to have people in your corner who support your vision for your day, not their version of it,” she says. “Not everyone might agree, or like every decision you make, but that’s okay.”

That confidence gave Kaitline room to approach Martin Johnson House with fresh eyes, ultimately creating one of her favorite elements of the wedding by arranging the property in a way that worked specifically for their celebration.

She also recommends saving some details for the wedding itself. “Only a handful of people actually knew the details of my wedding,” Kaitline says. “Though people may have pushed out of excitement and love, it protected my peace during a stressful planning season.”

For a wedding with such a tightly edited visual plan, some of its most memorable details were the ones guests discovered in the moment: letters tucked at their seats, embroidery hidden inside a tux, a ceremony space transforming into a dance floor, and pearl-covered gloves appearing when the party started. Keeping a few surprises made experiencing them together even more fun.