WEDDING BLOG

Folksy Fairy Tale Wedding at Heaven’s Grand Gate

December 22, 2017 | Junebug Weddings

Lexee and Brandon’s free-spirited wedding at Heaven’s Grand Gate was a wildly adventurous Adirondack celebration full of cowboy boots, sparkles, and dreamy autumn views. Held in a fabulous field nestled deep in the mountains, wedding guests camped overnight, partied without curfew, and cozied up around a massive bonfire while everyone pitched in to build the venue from the ground up. The amazing color palette of reds, silver, and forest green and was inspired by the colorful fall surroundings and displayed in the incredible floral décor by Party with Mia. Photographers The Ramsdens captured this adventurous couple frolicking through the woods and taking in the unbelievable scenery, all while surrounded by friends and family, enjoying beers from a trailer and snacking on a delicious tower of Cider Belly Donuts instead of traditional wedding cake.

The Couple:

Lexee and Brandon

The Wedding:

Heaven’s Grand Gate, Lake Luzerne, New York

For all future brides I will say, make the day & night last as long as possible. If you can stay present in the moment you will be able to do this. There is SO much going on between planning and day of to-do’s. Force yourself to be free of worries and responsibilities on your big day. Go with the flow and everything will be perfect, even if shit hits the fan, it’s all good. If you lose sight of the moment, look at your husband or wife. They will bring you back down to earth.

Walking down the aisle : ‘Here Comes the Sun’ – The Beatles
Recessional Song: ‘Everyday’ – Dave Matthews Band
First Dance: ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ – Chris Stapleton

Our ceremony was short and sweet because lets face it, we wanted to get the party started. We really wanted someone we knew to marry us to make the ceremony more personal. Who better than one of Brandon‘s college roommates Cole St.Martin. Cole is one of our best friends and he sure knows how to get your attention. He wrote his own script with basic guidelines and included the quote from Dr.Seuss “We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love”.

We are all about the natural look but I believe that everything should have a little glitter sprinkled on top. Our wedding colors were forest green, white, red and silver. We chose these colors wisely knowing that fall in the Adirondacks paints nature with an amazing pallet of reds, yellows and oranges.

Our biggest priority was making sure that we had a venue unique enough to make everyone feel “at home” and also stage the biggest party of the year. So many details went into this task. This fabulous field nestled in the Adirondack Mountains became our blank canvas. You step foot on the property and feel that you are the only people on earth, surrounded by 300+ acres. There was no curfew and our guests had the green light to camp overnight which was a key factor in planning. Our venue was built by hand in one week with the help of our family, friends and vendors. This wild image I had created in my mind came to life and it was better than I had ever dreamed.

The most memorable part of our day was watching our family and friends celebrate. At one point we were sitting at our quaint little table reserved for 2. We looked at each other speechless. At that moment we had a vantage point that captured our grandparents laughing, kids cracking glow sticks, college friends chugging beer, parents with happy tears, lovers snuggled by the bonfire and each other. All of these beautiful people who brought us together as a couple were in one place at the same time. I will also never forget that we stumbled to bed in the back of Brandon‘s pickup truck that was parked just on the other side of the reception tent.

Our photographers just went with the freaking flow. We had huge bridal parties, didn’t do a first look, and also wanted to make it to cocktail hour. They handled it with total style & grace. We were so stoked that they were equally as adventurous as us and inevitably we frolicked through the forest together. We briefly unplugged and as a couple it was surreal. Just married and together in one of our favorite places, the woods.

The Wedding Team:

Photography – The Ramsdens
Venue – Heaven’s Grand Gate
Floral Design – Party with Mia
Catering – Miller’s BBQ Catering
Cake – Cider Belly Donuts
Live Music – Wyld Nightz Band
Videography – Marshall Merrow
Invitations – Minted
Makeup Artist – Baileigh Padasak
Hair Styling – Brooke Dawson
Wedding Dress – Pronovias
Groom’s Apparel – LL Bean
Rentals – Total Events

Congratulations to Lexee and Brandon and special thanks to The Ramsdens for sharing this gorgeous wedding with Junebug! For more folksy forest wedding inspiration, check out this rainy Colorado mountain wedding at Planet Bluegrass!

This San Francisco City Hall Elopement Ended with an Epic Sutro Baths Portrait Session

December 22, 2017 | Junebug Weddings

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Kourtney and Jorge were faced with a difficult decision while planning their San Francisco City Hall elopement. They wanted to focus on their love and commitment, a low-key, unique, and intimate day without disappointing their many loved ones, but this incredibly romantic destination elopement was the perfect choice and their family and friends couldn’t have been happier! After their emotional first look and ceremony at gorgeous and historic city hall, this adventurous couple headed down to the ruins of the Sutro Baths and rocky coasts for some incredibly romantic couples photos and to exchange their personal vows. Despite running away to wed, this bride’s look was full of glamour and elegant details from her stunning lace flutter-sleeve BHLDN wedding dress to the dramatically oversized pink and red bridal bouquet created by Le Bouquet. Little Boat Photography captured breathtaking images of the couple on a precarious cliff side, moments that reflected the way this couple supports and care for each other.

The Couple:

Kourtney and Jorge

The Wedding:

San Francisco City Hall, San Francisco, California

Our number one focus while planning our wedding was making sure it felt like “us.” We wanted the day to be low key, romantic, unique and intimate. It was so important to us that we remembered the meaning of the day – it was about us, our love and our lifelong commitment to love, support and cherish each other. The idea of running away and being alone in those moments seemed perfect to us.

In my opinion, San Francisco City Hall is one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is breathtaking and even more gorgeous in person. I knew when we threw out the idea to elope that this would be the place we would go. Coincidentally, the summer of 2017 was also the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love in San Francisco.

Safeena, our photographer was a dream from our first interaction. Safeena said on our first call that she “captures how the moment feels, not just how it looks.” This could not be more true. She was so fun to be with and made us feel so comfortable!

I love the pictures on the cliff at Sutro Baths! It was such a cool moment in the day anddefinitely will be remembered forever. I am eternally grateful to Safeena for creating this memory for us. We got down there and settled and realized how small the space was for both of us and how freezing we were so we didn’t get a ton of shots. The pictures Safeena did get turned out absolutely breath taking but some of my favorite pictures are of Jorge helping me up and down the rocks. He is such a supportive, gentle, caring man and those moments really captured those qualities. He always has my back and I love that we have pictures that symbolize that so well.

Deciding to elope and forgo a traditional wedding was a difficult decision for us to make, because we knew it would disappoint many of our loved ones. It was tough to follow our gut and make the decisions that were most right for us but we look back and do not regret it one bit. Whether you are veering away from a small societal norm or a long standing family tradition, we would advise anyone planning a wedding to do whatever makes you and your partner happiest. It is your day to celebrate your love andyou only have one shot! After we eloped, our family and friends were all so thrilled for us and just happy to know our trip was everything we hoped it would be.

We chose to write our own vows andread them to each other alone while we were at Sutro Baths. We both cried, hugged and laughed through them. Jorge talked a lot about our relationship and our future together before making his promises to me. I loved hearing this in his own words. I’m so happy we decided to not only write our own but to read them when we were alone without any distractions. It was such a beautiful moment andwill always be one of my favorite memories with Jorge.

The Wedding Team:

Photography – Little Boat Photography
Ceremony Venue – San Francisco City Hall
Floral Design – Le Bouquet
Makeup and Hair Styling – Salt Spell Beauty
Wedding Dress – BHLDN
Groom’s Apparel – Suit Supply

Congratulations to Kourtney and Jorge and special thanks to Little Boat Photography for capturing this gorgeously romantic elopement! For more city hall wedding inspiration, check out this precious Iceland elopement!

Patterned Ties for Every Groom Style

December 21, 2017 | Junebug Weddings

They say a suit makes a man, but we’re pretty sure it’s a tie that makes a stylish man! No matter the style of your upcoming wedding, there’s a perfect tie to complete your groom’s look. If you’ve been searching for a bohemian tie to match your free-spirited bridal style or a modern take on traditional groomswear, today’s post is for you. From floral to dots to geometric designs, these patterned ties will give you a little something extra to take your style to the next level.