Our wedding day was the most exciting, beautiful, magical, emotionally draining day of our lives! I know, so cliché, but after dating for over ten years and being engaged for a year and a half of those, the anticipation of the day was overwhelming! And not only for us, but for our guests too! We basically grew up together, and so eventually, my husband’s friends and family became my friends and family, and vice versa. They couldn’t wait for us to get hitched! Love was certainly in the air that night as people shed happy tears, and tons of hugs and kisses were shared. The dance floor was quite a scene too, as people let loose until the wee hours of the night.

Prior to all of the night’s festivities though, I remember sitting in the chair that morning getting my hair and makeup done, and being in a nervous but happy daze. I kept seeing our vendors running past the windows setting up for our Big Day. I would check in on my dad, who had still not showered and was out of breath, “Dad, have you eaten yet?” At that point, everything was out of my control. And my mom’s too. Our “Day of Wedding Planner” made sure we stayed calm. She ordered my mom to take a 30-minute bath, and was constantly asking me how I was doing. I’ll never forget the feeling once my veil was on and I was hoisting up my dress to walk out the front door of my childhood home: pure joy. I looked around outside at all of the beautiful flowers, our wedding cake on display, and the DJs setting up for the Reception. My mom and I were very involved in the overall design of the wedding, so it was truly surreal seeing all of our special touches unfolded before us. During the wedding planning process, we would exchange emails about what words best described our vision—“Old World Romantic,” “Fantastical,” “Modern Elegance”— and when I saw it all come to fruition that day, it was an unspeakably satisfying feeling.

Walking down the aisle was a completely different emotion. Set in a serene mountain location where my dad used to picnic as a child, my dad and I walked arm in arm to the pace of a piano recording my husband had composed. I remember feeling for the first time, my dress trailing on the grass behind me and looking ahead of me at my smiling husband-to-be. I also, could not stop smiling. The wind was gently blowing leaves around us and the gentle calm of our Officiant’s voice was so mesmerizing. We performed a Scottish ritual of handfasting, in which my husband’s Scottish tartan and part of my dress were wrapped around and over our hands. The ceremony concluded with a moment of silence for those loved ones lost, or unable to attend. During our Reception at my parent’s house, the taste of our chocolate orange and vanilla coconut cake brought me back to the afternoons my sweet-toothed husband was grinning from ear to ear while taste-testing all of the different buttercreams. The rest of the evening was spent tightly clasping hands, dancing, or running off to steal kisses from each other. And now, looking back at our photographer’s photos, I am flooded with other memories. The brilliant colors of our flowers bring me back to the early morning my mom and I, and dear friend Pam, went down to the flower mart in Los Angeles to choose our table displays. Our goody bags for our guests were filled with produce from my parent’s garden (avocados, grapefruit, oranges, lemons, potatoes) and the photos remind me of when I sat for hours handwriting the heart-shaped gift tags. Our seating chart matched our Save the Dates and formal invitations that my husband designed and his friend/groomsman delicately screen printed. The food prepared and served "family style" was delicious, our DJs kept the dance floor packed all night, and the lighting by Gypset Event was so unique and dazzling. We had a fire roaring in our outdoor fire pit, which only added to the dramatic ambiance; it was like we were celebrating on a deserted island with all of our favorite people in the world to accompany us. Our guests wrote messages in a bottle for our husband and I to open on our 1 Year Anniversary. It will be a special day reading those, as it will elevate the love we have for each other as husband and wife/best friends, and it will surround us once again with the love and support of our dear family and family of friends.

kate & jeff's elegant malibu home wedding