This whimsical Redwood wedding will make you want to skip to the forests

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Something about the golden summer light flickering through the pines is magic, isn’t it?Today’s real fairytale wedding from the California Redwoods is full of that whimsical, pine forest enchantment.

Taking cue from her own vintage style, the bride selected a venue and vendors that put together quite the dreamy occasion. The towering trees at Nestldown are the incredible backdrop to all the whimsy, including a vintage train cart to whisk the couple away through the woods, a scrumptious outdoor dinner of filet mignon, and a campy s’mores bar at the end of the evening.

And of course, every fairytale bride needs a cool, vintage chariot to arrive in. Get ready to catch all the magic captured by Retrospect Images.

Our Love Story

Reid and I met on a Caribbean cruise with our families when we were 17 years old – which is how this California girl met a Florida boy. After the cruise, we went our separate ways, but thankfully, we could stay connected through the amazing social networking of the time – MySpace!

As the years went by, Reid and I would keep in touch online and call each other on our birthdays. We knew we could not be together, but the universe had a plan for us. Finally, the stars aligned. Reid got a job opportunity in Glendale, CA, while I was going to school at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, and the rest is history.

I moved with Reid to Florida in 2014, and on Easter weekend in 2015, Reid surprised me with a trip. He had me wake up early and little did I know that we were heading to our favorite beach on the East Coast of Florida, New Smyrna, to watch the sunrise. After watching the sunrise, Reid told me that you are not a true Floridian until you’ve seen the sunrise and the sunset in the same day. It was then that I knew we were heading for the West Coast of Florida.

To my surprise, we landed in Sanibel Island, one of the most beautiful places in Florida. Before our dinner reservations, we went down to the beach to watch the sunset. During the sunset Reid proposed and with tears in both of our eyes, I said yes. For the rest of the weekend we were in our own little bubble of Sanibel, trying key lime pie for my first time at The Bubble Room, and spending our days on the sandy white beaches.

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The Venue

Our wedding was absolutely magical and a day we wish we could relive over and over. The first time we visited the venue, Nestldown, we knew we ha to have our wedding there. Reid’s favorite part of California was the redwoods and I am a huge Disney fan. Somehow, Nestldown delivered the beauty of the redwoods with the fantasy, magic, and charm of Disney.

The minute you step on the grounds, you are transported into a redwood world of fantasy. The tiny cottage with Snow White’s dress, the Dragon’s Den, the miniature train, the rustic yet grand barn and the jaw-dropping redwood cathedral, immediately melted our hearts. Needless to say, choosing our venue was easy. And to top it off, it came with a day-of coordinator and a list of required vendors to choose from for the catering, music, flowers, and transportation, making it easy for set-up, takedown, and the entire flow of the wedding day. The Nestldown staff and vendors that work closely with Nestldown were amazing.

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The Details

We wanted our day to be a dreamy forest wedding. The inspiration came from Ashley Tisdale’s wedding. I loved the bridesmaid dresses and I loved her reception tables. I have always had a slight vintage feel in everything I do, which I tried to include in the wedding.

As guests were being seated for the ceremony, we had Ella Fitzgerald and Natalie Cole playing, and the tableware at the reception had vintage crystal cut glasses. Los Gatos DJ Company were completely open to all of my music changes, we had the dreamy vintage feel music while guests were being seated, acoustic Beatles and Bill Withers during the ceremony, 60’s cool music during the cocktail hour, Motown feel during dinner, and music that was all-over-the-place for dancing in the barn. The best was our last dance song to “I’m Gonna Be” by The Proclaimers.

Toast Catering was was amazing, our guests still talk about the filet mignon to this day, and the price was super reasonable. The mini empanadas during cocktail hour were my absolute favorite! When we asked if we could have prosecco and champagne for the toasts, they were completely accommodating and quick to as us our prosecco of choice!

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Photo by Retrospect Images via Bridal Musings

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The Flowers

I wanted my flowers to look natural and dreamy in all white with lots of greenery. Kellye Clifford from Precious and Blooming is all about delivering dreamy and greenery! She was amazing to work with, to say the least. She studied my Pinterest board from my flowers, listened to exactly what I wanted and even surprised me with including eucalyptus and mint in the bridesmaids’ bouquets. The bouquets smelled delicious!

The pieces she made for the altar were breathtaking and warmed the whole space up. She provided lots of advice and suggestions when needed. I find it amazing that she provides flowers for weddings in Northern California all the way down to Santa Barbara and is still able to produce consistently beautiful and creative work.

The Photography

To capture our dreamy day, we knew we needed a dreamy photographer. Just by browsing through a few of Ginny Silver’s photos on the Retrospect Images website, we knew she had to capture our day. Her use of light in her photos is amazing. Our pictures look candid and natural, yet professional. She captured every moment we wanted and more and she kept to the schedule. I appreciated her assertiveness with family members and friends that were not listening and standing in the way trying to take their own photos on their iPhones. She listened to what we wanted and got some great shots of Reid and I with our grandparents -pictures that we will cherish forever. They brought me to tears when I saw them.

After the wedding day, she still delivered…literally! Ginny mailed us the most adorable rustic box filled with USBs with our wedding photos, a hand written card, photo prints, and a tiny adorable viles filled containing grass from our cocktail hour area, a petal from my bouquet, and a piece of bark from one of the redwood trees we stood under as we said our vows. This exceeded all expectations from a photographer and, again, is something we will cherish forever.

Favorite Moments

One of my favorite moments from the wedding was when Reid and I were wisked away immediately after the ceremony to a bench swing overlooking the pond where we got to spend a few minutes alone, taking in that we just got married, sharing a glass of prosecco, with our own plate of the hors d’œuvres that were being served to the guests at cocktail hour. It was so special and a moment we both will never forget.

Also, we loved riding the miniature train through the redwoods at the end of cocktail hour. It was a great blend of nature for Reid and the fantasy of riding the miniature train through the forest for me. During the dancing in the barn, we stepped outside and made smores by the fire with my oldest friend and her beau. I miss them so much and I was so happy to have that time with them, just roasting some mallows and celebrating our milestone.

The Videography

Petit Four Films aka Lexoria Wedding Films was super easy to work with and reasonably priced. We made the last minute decision to have a videographer and they were able to accommodate us professionally and swiftly. We had our video chat with our videographer, and told him exactly what we wanted and didn’t want. He listened to all of our concerns and wants, and made a great video. We even paid a little extra to get all of the raw footage as well. Our videographer was so dedicated that he fell into a planter just to get the shot. It also made for a good laugh for me and my bridesmaids, which he was a good sport about.