Guests Dined Under Twinkle Lights at This Santa Lucia Preserve Microwedding in Carmel, California

Madelyn and Connor knew that, no matter what, they wanted to tie the knot on their original wedding date, even though it meant shrinking the guest list due to pandemic restrictions. While they initially planned to celebrate with 200 guests, the couple ended up exchanging vows with just under 30 of their closest loved ones and the day ended up being "the wedding we never knew we wanted—in the best way possible," says Madelyn. "We went from having 250 guests to 29 guests and all we wanted was to host a memorable wedding weekend for our close friends and immediate family. While it was sad that we couldn’t have our extended family and friends there with us, we pulled out every stop to make it fun, stress-free and stunning regardless! The venue was very important to us and we were delighted when they let us still host our wedding weekend there. We focused on making our wedding an extension of ourselves and our home. We wanted guests to sit down and feel like they were in our home experiencing an intimate dinner with us. It felt so great because we were really able to enjoy the festivities with every single guest. In terms of style and color palette, we kept it pretty simple and natural. The only thing we didn’t simplify was the lights—that needed to be over the top fabulous! Lights always make a big impact. For our religion, we had my family’s priest marry us under the redwoods," shares Madelyn of her intimate microwedding to Connor at Santa Lucia Preserve in Carmel, California. 

Since Santa Lucia Preserve is so beautiful on its own, Madelyn and Connor focused on ensuring their decor complemented the natural surroundings. "The ceremony flowers looked like they were growing from the ground under the canopy of redwoods," says Madelyn. "We knew we wanted beautiful, high-quality flowers, but we wanted the flowers to truly blend in with the surrounding landscape. The venue was perfect in and of itself so the flowers were just “earrings” to the beauty of the landscape!" As for reception decor, the duo "focused on the lights. Being in the wedding industry myself, I knew I wanted beautiful Theoni tabletop items, romantic candlelight and over-the-top twinkly lights. There’s no such thing as too many lights in my book. We also reused the ceremony flowers to decorate the band's stage. No part of the decor was DIY. I have nothing against it, but we definitely wanted to enjoy the wedding weekend and fully trusted our planner and vendors to perform their magic." 

Despite the wedding's classic aesthetic, the couple still made space for personalization to ensure the day truly reflected them and their relationship. Notably, as an ode to Connor's last name, they had custom soup cans made. "My groom’s last name is Campbell so we had custom 'Campbell Soup' cans made for our tomato bisque and grilled cheese hors d’oeuvres. They were a true highlight and our guests still talk about it. That was actually the first thing I planned," recalls Madelyn. Following their fun soup hors d'oeuvres, guests decamped to a dinner table under a canopy of string lights before dancing the night away with a silent disco. Looking back on the day, Madelyn notes that "everything was just one special moment after another."