From the bride, Meiwen:
Lenny and I wanted our wedding to be like a intimate gathering of friends & family. When we visited Cielo Farms in Malibu, California, we knew it had to be the venue. It has a stone barn. beautiful lawn surround, overlooks the Malibu mountains, and the most amazing view of the rolling hills. It seriously felt like a bit of Tuscany tucked into the Malibu hills.
Planning the wedding felt a little bit overwhelming at first, but choosing great vendors helped that feeling go away! Since I am a photographer, literally everyone asked me who I was going to choose as our photographer. I went with Reid because I really appreciate his eye for taking beautifully composed, timeless images. For our florals, my vision was a lush, overgrown, garden wedding. We had a semi-circle flower arch for the ceremony that looked like it was growing up from the ground, and more florals marking the two sides of seating.
Our invitations & programs were really special to me. Lenny and I designed and printed them at home on handmade paper and vellum. I have a background in fine arts and graphic design, so it was a dream project to work on. We printed out the lyrics to our ceremony song, Be Thou My Vision, and it made me so happy to hear that a lot of our guests kept or taped to their walls!
For our ceremony entrance, we had the huge barn doors pulled open for a grand feel when my mom and I walked out. I had my mom walk me down the aisle. I grew up with her, and I love our relationship. She’s one of my best friends and it was really special for us. For our reception, we had long, farm style tables with string lights hanging above from the barn. It felt like a warm, family dinner with all of our closest loved ones. We closed off the night with a sparkler exit, and left for Europe the next day!
I loved planning the wedding, and throughout the process I thought I cared about a lot of little details, but I realized that on the wedding day the only thing I really cared about was getting married to Lenny. The advice that we got leading up to the wedding day was always, “it passes so fast, take it all in, and remember to eat dinner.” We’re so glad we listened!
