For some, it’s all about location. For others, the fashion is paramount. But for Christen + Brett, the most important part of their wedding day quickly revealed itself in the form of one very significant meal:
The main things we wanted were music, yummy cocktails, and good food. What is good food to us? BRUNCH. Brett and I have crazy schedules so when we can get a day off together, we love to brunch. A good egg sandwich and bottomless mimosas are “our jam.” We’ve attended enough weddings where the standard dinner could be a hit or miss. Personally, I didn’t want my guests to leave our wedding and stop at In-N-Out on their way home! The brunch for dinner vibe set the tone. This wasn’t a super fancy black-tie affair. Wear a comfortable dress because you are about to dig into some chicken + waffles and a large mimosa!
Shindig Chic + So Smitten Special Events were TOTALLY on board, bringing their respective design + floral and coordinating talents to the so-called brunch table! Mary Costa Photography rounded out the team with her vibrant photos + eye for fun details.
Ready to raise a glass? Pass the syrup and let’s dig in!
Christen wore a pretty Elizabeth Dye dress from Love and Lace Bridal Salon!
The Ceremony on the Lawn
C + B wed on the Oak Tree Lawn of the gorgeous the Adamson House in Malibu—one of our favorite outdoor venues in the LA area!
Processional: Bridal Party: Better Place by Rachel Platten | Bride and Father of the Bride: Here on Out by Dave Matthews Band
Recessional: You’re My Best Friend by Queen
First Dance: From The Ground Up by Dan + Shay
The Bridal Party
Shindig Chic brought in bright, in-season blooms making for fun pops from the bouquets to the reception pieces!
Carousel
Carousel
Announcing the Newlyweds!
With all the details and thoughts we’ve shared, we narrowed down our advice to 2 things.
The hype from family and friends surrounding your big day can begin to warp your thoughts on what is important. Be honest about what you want. When you lay in bed or a thought crosses your mind at work, write it down and give it to your planner, maid of honor, DJ, etc. This “brunch for dinner” got a lot of “oh that’s interesting” responses from loved ones. We knew this would be awesome and guests would love it so we stayed true to us and made it ours! When you create a day around what makes you happy, you and your fiancé can’t help but be comfortable and present. Once you begin to add things to your day solely because you think your family or friends will like it, you begin to drift from yourselves. By all means, when our parents said “this means a lot to us if you...”, we listened and did our part to incorporate the most important things for them. Overall, DO YOU!
As the anxious and stressed person that I am, add being a bride to your title and all of the above increases x10. I received the best advice in passing from my friend’s sister. She said, once you get closer to your day, pick a day/time where you decide to let go. From that point forward, whatever happens, let it be. We got married on a Saturday and I decided my “moment” would be Wednesday evening while getting my nails done with my bridal party. I relinquished control and became present for the remainder of the week/weekend. To everyone’s surprise including myself, I was the calmest and most present I have ever been in my life. All those double chins in my photos were of me laughing so hard and being as giddy as a kid in a candy store. I loved every minute. At the end of the night, the bottom of my dress was covered in dirt and stains including spilled champagne and a bit of syrup from my waffle. It was all evidence of a great wedding!
The Brunch Reception
How fun is all the signage from the day?!
Tableside Mimosas
We decided to have a magnum of champagne and carafes of OJ at each table—a build your own mimosas bar if you will. This was also a fun moment for each table to bond, pour each other’s glasses, and interact. The catch was, you couldn’t pop the champagne until Brett sabered (with his Marine Corp sword) our bottle at the sweetheart table. All at once, corks flew in the air! What a cool moment!
As an event planner, I had a few requirements when it came to hiring vendors but the most important was that they needed to think like us and understand our vision. I hired Marni at So Smitten Special Events because she thought about all the details I did. I was truly able to let go and hand everything over to her and not ONE thing was missed. She loves a good checklist and would randomly appear during the reception to fill my glass of champagne! The same goes for the amazing decor and mimosa center pieces Angelena at Shindig Chic created for us. This was definitely an interesting ask and she was so excited to make it come to life!
Brett - Besides getting to saber a bottle of champagne, one of the most memorable moments for Christen and I was having a moment to eat dinner. Let me explain. Another piece of advice we received over and over again was how couples cared so much about the food they served yet they never had the time to eat it. It was driven into our brains to remember to eat. Christen’s heart was set on eating the chicken and waffles at the wedding. She even bought her wedding dress knowing she wanted to indulge on our big day. This is where Marni and her team at So Smitten knocked it out of the park. Once dinner started (even though we had a great sweetheart table) Marni escorted us away from the reception to where our ceremony was located on the other side of the property. She set up a candlelit dinner for two complete with a tablecloth, both of our food orders, and our drink of choice. Once we sat down she said, “enjoy dinner and whenever you are ready, just leave everything here and go back to enjoy your night.” For the first time in the night, it was silent. We could hear the waves crashing. I looked at Christen and said “HI! So how’s your day been?” This was our perfect quiet moment. It was probably only 15 minutes but we were able to finally take a deep breath. No cameras and all 126 guests were across the property. Marni and So Smitten truly made that moment one of our favorites of the night. How many couples can say that not only were they able to eat but it was one of their favorite memories?
Love how the champagne bucket doubled as a table number!
C + B had the task of hiring the perfect caterers to bring their breakfast-for-dinner vision to life…could be worse, right?!
We thought food trucks would add to the vibe and had a blast going around Los Angeles trying fun food. Wings N’ Waffles has some of the best-said food in LA. That was an easy decision. We also had some great options from The Rooster Truck. Their tagline is “make breakfast dope,” how can you not go with them?! They were both very accommodating to appease the masses at our wedding, both trucks offering 3 different options.
Susie Cakes created a sweet little cake to finish off the night!
For more from this fun day, check out the sweet video by Amari Productions below!
Cheers and many congrats to Christen + Brett!
photography: Mary Costa Photography // venue name: Adamson House, Malibu, California, USA // event design: Shindig Chic // planning: So Smitten Special Events // florals: Shindig Chic // wedding dress: Elizabeth Dye // wedding dress boutique: Love and Lace Bridal Salon // hair stylist: Becca Wagner // videography: Amari Productions // catering: The Rooster Truck // cake: Susie Cakes // specialty rentals: Premiere Party Rentals // catering: Wings & Waffles
Beautiful colors, tradition, and a stunning brunch! This wedding definitely has personal and signature touches.
So much colour !
Love this wedding
Thank you so much for featuring us! We loved being a part of such a gorgeous wedding!
We are so excited to see Rayce PR Client, Premiere Party Rents featured! Such a unique and lovely wedding!
You had me at waffles.