WEDDING BLOG

Wanting a venue that showcased every bit of California’s natural beauty, Danielle and John married at Rancho Chiquita. Photographer Jenna Bechtholt captured the candid moments throughout the day, including the moment Danielle and John said “I do” atop a cliff overlooking the Pacific Canyon. The couple’s dusty blue, gold, and muted gray color palette looked great in addition to the naturally bright blue California sky, not a cloud in sight.  At the end of the day, Danielle and John got to celebrate their wedding with everybody they thought played a part in their love journey, and that sounds like a perfect day to us!

The Couple:

Danielle and John

The Wedding:

Rancho Chiquita, Malibu, California

Almost 100% of the people attending our wedding were coming from out of state. We wanted to give our guests a quintessential “California” experience. Everything from our cliffside venue overlooking the Pacific Ocean to the Santa Maria Tri-Tip entree had an essence of the state. We also selected vintage stamps for our invitations that showcased California, seashells, flowers and ocean creatures.

My wedding dress is so special to me for so many reasons. It truly seemed like it was made to match my venue! It is a perfect cross between lots of sparkle, while having bohemian and vintage flair. My dress was hand beaded with lots of opals, which reflected the blue hues of my bridesmaids’ dresses.

The most memorable part of the day was seeing each other for the first time. We opted to keep it traditional and forego a “first look.” That meant that the first time John would see me in my dress walking was down the aisle towards him. The first moment we made eye contact down the aisle was emotional and unforgettable.

Although John and I are both from the Midwest, we knew when we wanted to get married in a beautiful outdoor setting. Since we were already living in Los Angeles, getting married in Malibu (overlooking Solstice Canyon) was an obvious choice.

I truly loved every second of wedding planning. I tried to focus on our journey up to the “Big Day” as one big experience. We decided to have a longer engagement (18 months) to give us plenty of time to plan, which allowed us to have very hands-on roles throughout the process.

I found both of our vintage gold frames in a yard sale! I had new mirrors added into the frames and hand painted them gold with my mom. I then gave them to a calligrapher to personalize for the reception. They were stunning!

We had a lot of time to really think out some great little details, like our mussel shell place cards. We sourced real shells and had a calligrapher hand-write each guests name on their shell, which made it very personable and unique! Many people took the shells home, which was a perfect small & lightweight memento of the occasion.

Our favorite surprise of the entire day was during our first dance, where all of the bridesmaids and groomsmen showered us with confetti. It was a great way to make our first dance extra special and surprise the guests!

Deciding who would be invited to our wedding was actually very important to us. We wanted it to feel special and personal. It was very important to have an intimate ceremony with the people we carried closest to our hearts.

The Wedding Team:

Photography – Jenna Bechtholt
Event Planning – Jenn Laskey
Venue – Rancho Chiquita
Floral Design – Greenwich Floral
Cake – Susie Cakes
DJ – DJ Brett Elliot
Live Music – Jason Sulkin Music
Invitations – Wedding Paper Divas
Hair & Makeup Artist – Beauty in Motion Studio
Wedding Dress & Bridesmaids’ Apparel – BHLDN
Groom’s Apparel – Ralph Lauren
Groomsmen’s Apparel – Calvin Klein

Thanks to photographer Jenna Bechtholt for sending in Danielle and John’s Malibu wedding! For similar wedding inspiration, head over to this black, white, and gold wedding at Guglielmo Winery!