Tell us a little about yourselves!
I tagged along to a girls night with a friend and immediately upon sitting down another guest asked if I was single and started telling me all about a 'handsome, tall, blue eyed guy' she knew and wanted to set me up with. I was hesitant at first but after some coaxing went along with the idea of meeting him in the future. A couple weeks later our mutual friends arranged a group dinner for both myself and Jake to attend to see if we would hit it off. The dinner itself was so funny; we maybe got in a few sentences each to each other the whole night and really just listened to our friends tell us about the other. I was so surprised when Jake asked for my number at the end of the night. A couple days later, we decided we should meet up again just the two of us, so we could actually get to know each other. He turned out to be just as charming and funny as our friends said he was, once we were actually able to talk by ourselves. We spent the whole night laughing and joking. We became pretty inseparable after that.
We got engaged in May 2022 on a birthday trip in Key West. I was certain it wasn’t going to happen as Jake was leaving ten days later for deployment and we had so many other things going on in preparation. Before departing for dinner, Jake asked if we could go down to the beach to take some birthday photos. After some photos and the cutest nervous pacing from Jake, he proposed and of course I said yes.
Why did you decide to get married where you did?
We made a pact early in their relationship to visit all the National Parks. When it came to picking the perfect place to elope among an intimate group of family and friends, we reflected on what meant the most to us and held the most intentional space to exchange vows. Jakes dad had passed years prior and always had hopes of visiting the Redwood National Park, it became an easy decision that this would be the most meaningful, authentic place where we could also feel his fathers presence with us as we said I do.
How many guests did you have?
We had 8 guests.
Tell us about your outfits.
We wanted a very natural, classic, elevated minimalistic theme for our entire wedding and that idea played into our outfits as well. I went with the Danielle Frankel Noa dress because the second I tried it on it felt like me. I love silk, off the shoulders and the subtle sexiness of low back and this dress had it all. For shoes I went with a pair of cream Stuart Weitzman boots, since I knew we would be exploring the park and heels just wouldn’t survive. They were the perfect choice and so comfortable.
For Jake we went with a classic, custom black suit, white shirt, and black tie to keep with the timeless outfit trend and elevated it with his dad’s gold watch. It was really important to us to not detract from the beauty of the Redwoods and I think our outfits ended up complementing the backdrop perfectly.
What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?
The most important aspect for us while planning was just to be authentically ourselves. We knew from the beginning that we just wanted a very intimate affair so all of our decisions revolved around that idea. We worked with vendors who we genuinely connected with and understood the intimacy aspect of our day. For our guest list, we chose family and friends who made us feel like we could be completely ourselves and add so much love and joy to our day. Even choosing the exact location in the Redwoods was important - because we didn’t want to feel like we were in the middle of a busy tourist area.
Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?
We really wanted to make our guests feel special during our day and kept this in mind during our whole planning process. While we knew it was our day, we would not be where we are as a couple and in our lives without them, so we truly wanted to honor them in unique ways. When I visited Jake overseas on his deployment we were able to pick up some cashmere shawls specific to each guest to keep them warm during the weekend. We also worked with our The Kimi Collective to create special notes for each guest to convey how meaningful they are to us. For our nieces, we were also able to design coloring pages with their names on them and Redwood themed animals and plants. The entire weekend we prioritized just spending time with our guests; from a sweet welcome BBQ that Jake’s sister and brother in law planned for our guests, to a fun local pizza night, to exploring the park together, and playing a made up version of pickleball. It brought us such joy to be able to spend so much meaningful time with our guests in the lead up to our day.
Any tips for couples getting married?
Just be yourself. Weddings can get so crazy and hectic and include opinions from every guest; and that can really detract from the purpose of your day. Just take a minute together as a couple early on in the process and write down the most important aspects that you imagine for your day and then stick to that throughout planning.
Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?
We truly loved all of our vendors! Firstly, our photographer Kristin Piteo. She was an absolute dream to work with. She immediately made us feel so comfortable and even more excited about our day. She truly understood our vision for the day and was able to artistically elevate it more than we could have imaged. She is so fun, down to earth, and is such a treat to work with. We are so incredibly happy that she was able to be apart of our day and capture our memories so beautifully.
Secondly, The Kimi Collective. Kimi creates such beautiful stationery and you can see all the love that she puts into each piece. She was so receptive of the simple, organic feel that we wanted for our stationary suite and helped our vision come to life. She even helped us create sweet coloring pages for our nieces that were Redwood themed and construct intimate notes for each of our guests that we used as escort cards at the dinner table. Kimi is a beautiful artist and truly set the tone for our day with our stationary suite.
Lastly, we want to mention our rentals vendor; Barri Jean Designs. Laura, the owner, was so sweet to work with. She actually ended up designing tables that we used for our dinner. They were so natural and gorgeous and were perfect for ourselves and our guests to gather around for dinner. She also allowed us to be creative with her and pick out chairs for her to add to her own inventory. She was so sweet during the entire process and truly makes such beautiful designs.
Photographer : Kristin Piteo @kristinpiteophoto | Ceremony Location : Redwood
National Forest | Celebrant : Jake’s Sister | Hire : Barri Jean Designs @barrijeandesigns | Cake : Ramone’s Bakery @ramonesbakery | Stationery : The Kimi Collective @thekimicollective | Brie's Dress : Danielle Frankel @daniellefrankelstudio | Jake's Suit : Tom James @tomjamesclothing | Brie's Engagement + Wedding Rings : James Allen @jamesallenrings | Jake's Wedding Ring : David Yurman @davidyurman | Brie's Shoes : Stuart Weitzman @stuartweitzman | Jake's Shoes : Tom James @tomjamesclothing