The light was absolutely stunning throughout Julie and Tom’s laid back California wedding, and the exceptional photographers of Chaffin Cade Photography were there to capture every natural sun flare and tender moment. Bride Julie is a designer, so the aesthetics of the day were impeccable, from the sweet menus to the rustic chic place cards. The color palette for the celebration couldn’t have been better chosen, as the coral, orange, and yellow décor perfectly mimicked the sunset portraits.

The Couple: Julie and Tom

The Wedding: Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, West Hills, California

The Inspiration: “I would call the overall theme: California Vintage/Rustic Chic. I grew up in LA but Tom is a recent transplant from the East Coast. He is still blown away by the rugged beauty of California and has made me appreciate it on a whole new level. The outdoors, and California landscape in particular, is very important to us so we knew we wanted to have an outdoor wedding. We also had many guests from the east coast and across the country so we wanted the event to feel uniquely California – fun, laid back, colorful, yet still elegant. I am a designer so the aesthetics of the day were obviously very important to me (and I designed all of our printed materials – invites, name cards, table number, programs, etc.) but above all else we wanted everyone to have fun, dance, and party!”

The Moments: “My favorite moment was walking down the aisle and seeing Tom at the end, teary-eyed. Tom is a musician; he plays the guitar and writes songs. We had a jazz duo play at the ceremony and I secretly asked them to learn one of Tom‘s songs that he often plays for me, which he calls my song, to play as I walked down the aisle. I had never seen Tom cry before so I knew it was a good surprise! Almost no one else knew it was one of his songs so having that as something shared between just the two of us made it even more special.”

The Couple Recommends: “Our photographers were phenomenal. They not only produced amazing photographs of the day, but they were also extremely nice and put our entire wedding party at ease. Claudia, our coordinator, really made sure our day went off without a hitch and served as a great sounding board and friend throughout the entire planning process.”

The Wedding Team:

Photography – Chaffin Cade Photography
Event Coordination – One Darling Day
Venue – Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve
Floral Design – Phyllis Ames
Catering – Seasons Catering
Cake – ZPatisserie
DJ – Dave Whitcraft
Invitations – Julie Garnett Designs
Wedding Dress – Blush by Hayley Paige

Thank you to Chaffin Cade Photography for sharing these outstanding images, and to Julie and Tom for sharing your beautiful day with Junebug. For more laid back California wedding inspiration, check out Gina and Luke’s casual coastal wedding in Sea Ranch, California.