A Midsummer Night’s Fever Dream: This Fantastical SoCal Wedding Was a Bold Take on Shakespeare

“I have had a most rare / vision. I have had a dream past the wit of man to say / what dream it was,” says Bottom in Act IV scene i of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

And “a most rare vision” is exactly what Cait + Matthew set out to create when they drew on that famously dreamy + mischief-filled Shakespearean comedy for their whimsical one-of-a-kind wedding.

“Our wedding theme was A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Shakespeare play,” says bride Cait of her choice to use the play full of fairies, tricksters, and lovers as wedding inspo, “but my whole approach to it was more like creating a fever dream than a classical, Victorian-style wedding.”

The couple collaborated with event designers from The Art Dealer and planners from Elle Events to take The Santaluz Club in San Diego, CA and make it into a cheekily Victorian wonderland inspired by the Elizabethan fantasy with a psychedelic, editorial twist. “I wanted it to be bold and colorful, like A Midsummer Night’s Dream party on hallucinogenics.” Cait says. “Obviously, it was a lot of fun and extremely lively.”

The colors were vivid-yet-earthy. Cait’s sheer bridal silhouette was oh-so-romantic. There were human statues and glittering chandeliers and one of the coolest photo booths we have ever seen.

“The evening felt more like a festival celebration than a wedding,” says photographer Liz Rainey. “Everything was very original and unique to them.”

Papermade Studio did such a brilliant job of bringing together the day’s many design inspirations. Celestial elements, ethereal water colors, classical statue-shaped cutouts, and so much lively color!

Cait’s bridal crew looked absolutely immaculate in their mismatched bridesmaid dresses. We are SO obsessed with the golds, greens, deep purples and warm reds of this color palette!

Cait’s besties scored their flawless looks from For Love & Lemons, Meshki and beyond.

The chiffons, the silks, the velvets! Loving all of the different textures in this bridal party palette!

Megan Michelle Artistry created Cait’s totally gorgeous natural glam wedding makeup look. We are so into that mauve-y lip!

A Shakespeare-Inspired Ceremony

How AMAZING is this lime green statement aisle?! Bold + impactful aisle decor ideas like this one make a ceremony truly unforgettable.

Cabbages + orchids = an unlikely but amazing match! We love how creative Layered Vintage got with what they included in the day’s floral design. All the fruits + vegetables filled the celebration with a low-key feeling of abundance.

“I worked with Catherine (my queen) at Mira Couture in Downtown Chicago,” says Cait of how she found her sheer, long sleeve stunner of a wedding dress. “My dream was a Kim Kassas wedding dress, and I was unbelievably lucky to have three pieces from that designer.”

LOVE the historic-yet-whimsical drama that this stunning lace-edged wedding cape and its hood add to Cait’s look.

Our Musical Choices
Processional
"God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys ||  "Godspeed" by Frank Ocean (cover by Paravi)
Recessional
"Days Like This" by Van Morrison
First Dance
Due to unforeseen circumstances we didn't get to have our first dance! But it was going to be to "Real Love Baby" by Father John Misty

The Reception

Lemon yellow is one of our fave trending wedding colors of the moment, so you know we’re loving this color-drenched yellow cocktail hour setup.

You definitely need to see this sunshine yellow destination wedding in Spain if this citrus-forward color world is speaking to you. 🍋

“The most important thing we wanted was to encourage people to really have an experience along with us, not just watch the bride and groom have one,” the couple says. “This is how we came up with all of our fun ideas – everything from the live statues during the cocktail hour as a museum theme to a live tattoo artist from Indigo Tiger Tattoo Club.”

Absolutely in love with this pink guest seating by Theoni. Matching your chair choice to your floral centerpieces is such a unique way to tie a whole reception table together!

Found Rental Co. outfitted the reception tables with a mix of decor that felt ornate yet organic.

“All of the tables had Fantasy World names in our table seating chart,” the couple recalls.

Live tablescapes, monochromatic moments, texture: this wedding features SO many of the wedding floral design trends we’re into.

The reception’s floor-to-ceiling design approach is what makes it so enveloping + immersive. The drapery, the chandeliers, the hanging installations — anywhere you look there’s something breathtaking happening.

“Everybody got a rolled up scroll that was a fantasy map of the grounds,” the couple remembers, “and that made it really amazing.”

So sorry, but you are not ready for the ornate mermaid beading + embroidery on Cait’s reception dress…

…*drum roll 🥁*…

Just add a mermaid manicure to take this look full mermaid-mode.

Our Favorite Memory
My personal favorite thing ended up being the Portrait Studio by Lounge Booth. From the very beginning, I knew I wanted to do something really unique for the photo booth, stepping away from the classic feather boas and fake mustaches, and do something that was truly a portrait that people would want to use and frame and have a lot of fun with. So I based the entire thing off of the 2020 Rodarte editorial campaign so that people could in their outfits feel like they were part of an editorial photoshoot. The lounge booth team did above and beyond anything that I could have imagined. The photos turned out absolutely amazing. 

The Lounge Booth maid every single guest shot into its own quirky oil painting.

Our Advice
My advice for anyone planning their wedding would be to make it fun and dream big. I think I got a lot of pushback early on about a lot of the unique "ideas" that I had that people thought maybe were a little nuts. Every single one of those things paid off - for example, the live statues at the cocktail hour were the number one hit of the wedding. People want to have fun and experience things, and I had way more fun because I got to see this creative and strange and kind of fantastical world come to life. 

Can we please get a round of applause for Brilliant Event Lighting?? The chandeliers? The flower-draped pendant lamps? This tent was absolutely aglow.

“This wacky, crazy wedding was the wedding of my dreams,” Cait says, “and I absolutely could not have done it without my designer Dustin, my event planner Olivia, and most of all, in the world, my lovely mother Kelly.”

Congratulations, Cait + Matthew. Your Midsummer Night-inspired wedding was a literal DREAM. We wish you two nothing but the best!