Tropical Flowers Took Center Stage at This Colorful Backyard Minimony in Southern California

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Bettina and Andrew were, "supposed to get married at the Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa in San Diego on September 4th in front of 150 of our closest friends and family. When COVID happened, we held off from postponing until we absolutely had to; in July. We were extremely disappointed, but we also didn’t want to put anyone’s health at risk. Instead, we decided we would still get married, minimony-style, with just our immediate families surrounding us." 

Once the couple decided to pivot their plants, they, "immediately knew we wanted the minimony to feel very different from the big wedding. Given how strange and uncertain and dark life had started to feel at that point, we really wanted the day to feel like a celebration. Hence our design vision was anything bold, bright, playful, and very, very colorful! Because we had decided to hold the minimony in the backyard where I’d played as a child, that felt very right to us. And definitely the exact opposite of the big wedding we had planned!" 

For inspiration for their minimony, the couple look no further than, "the wedding ring we got from Marrow; it was very colorful and fun and bohemian! Eventually I found a dress that I thought complemented the ring and encapsulated the vibe we were going for: an Ulla Johnson white dress with polka dots (and I never thought I’d wear polka dots on my wedding day!). From there, everything fell into place design-wise: the dress paired perfectly with my Kate Spade pineapple shoes, which then inspired us to go with bright, tropical-inspired florals - including a flower crown! - with a slight bohemian touch (to complement the Marrow ring). With the backyard being empty, we had to get furniture. We decided, since there were so few guests, to get lounge furniture for the ceremony space that could be converted post-ceremony into lounge areas for guests. That ended up working out really well! While we’re still looking forward to having our big (sequel) wedding next year, we absolutely loved our little backyard wedding/minimony. It definitely felt like the celebration we wanted it to be!"