Time and Tide Wait for No Man

COLOR PALETTE: White, Green

LOCATION: Newport Beach

THEME: Coastal Romance

VENDORS:

Photography- @lexandthelotus

Videography- @cevvycev

Elopement Planning/Design- @that_bliss

Catering/Baking- @chrisbruglercatering

Officiant- @yourweddingbelles

Saxophonist- @stevengsax

Ceremony Venue- Newport Beach

Reception Venue- Rooftop Condo in San Clemente

Florist- @events_by_bd

Couple- @mmariicel & @frankiiejordan.c

I literally don’t even know where to begin with this elopement… It was seriously such a dream and I loved every step of the planning process. Maricel reached out after I had commented on a post in the Something Borrowed, Something Blue facebook group. Like many couples, Maricel and Frankie were forced to pivot their wedding plans due to COVID-19 and decided to just go straight to planning an elopement. Maricel reached out and we literally hoped on a call at like 10PM that night. We instantly clicked and came up with a super romantic elopement plan on the spot.

The plan was to have them get married with a beach view somewhere on the coast. After the ceremony, they would retreat back to an AirBnB to have an intimate dinner provided by a personal chef. Pictures were extremely important to them, so we made sure to plan for tons of shooting time in-between.

We started by scoping out different location options. A few spots that we considered were Ventura, Santa Monica, Malibu, and Newport Beach. Ultimately, we settled on Newport beach after finding the cutest little studio with a rooftop patio. Immediately, I envisioned a romantic dinner under the stars. OH!!! I forgot to mention that they hired a saxophonist to fly in from the east coast to follow them around and play for them. Seriously the coolest idea EVER and he was amazing! There’s nothing like live music in a private setting.

The initial plan was to have the ceremony on the rooftop and then break down during photos offsite to switch it around to their intimate dinner setting… more on this later. After securing the rental, we sourced our florist, officiant, and chef. When Maricel reached out, she already had her photographer, videographer, and saxophonist booked. We ended up with an amazing group of vendors and I couldn’t be happier with how everyone worked together to pull off a seamless elopement.

Our plan for the location was to have two large ground arrangements on the beach marking the “altar”. It turned out so stunning and the ceremony was super romantic. Only downside was that since it is a public beach it is open to the public. Luckily almost everyone was cognizant and respectful to what was going on and did not interrupt or obstruct their ceremony. BUT… one very special photographer decided to walk BEHIND THE FIRST KISS to shoot her family portrait knowingly interrupting a moment that was on video. Her excuse was that she can do whatever she wants since it’s a public beach. While that is definitely technically true, I mean common… she could have waited a matter of 2 minutes and been respectful as a fellow vendor.

Either way the ceremony was a dream and they continued on with their media team and saxophonist to capture some fun portraits before coming back to the rental condo for a romantic candlelight dinner on the rooftop. This setup included the furniture from the home, florals from our favorite florist, and our decor rentals. The evening was possibly the most romantic thing ever with the moonlight, candles, design, and the to die for multicourse meal prepared by Chef Chris Brugler’s staff.

All in all this was one of my favorite smaller events to date!