Neutral Hues Added to the Elegance of This Couple's Private Estate Microwedding in Granite Bay, California

After the COVID-19 pandemic forced Kristin and Jeff to cancel their original plans for a mountain wedding, they decided they would tie the knot with an intimate backyard wedding ceremony. However, what began as a plan for a low-key at-home wedding snowballed into an exquisite backyard minimony with a luxurious blush-and-cream color palette. "Our plans were cancelled given COVID-19 so we opted for a simple, civil ceremony with immediate family… which quickly snowballed into a full-blown event in our hometown neighbor's beautiful backyard. With this year’s uncertainties, we knew this might be our only ceremony, so we were going to make it as big as possible!" recalls Kristin. "We went whole -hog with planning while keeping our few guests as safe as possible. We landed on a crisp garden party look to match the locale and resort-like setting, and incorporated some elements from our initially planned ceremony—keeping with neutrals but incorporating more whites (we had to move from a fall to summer feel), while others needed re-arranging mostly based on availability. The simplest we kept things was having a short message from our pastor—straight and to the point—and saving personal vows for (hopefully) our bigger ceremony next summer, with our happy marriage as the result." 

While the couple's plans had to pivot because of the pandemic, the changes allowed Kristin and Jeff to play around with the design of the day to complement their estate venue. "It was so fun to plan a different backyard aesthetic from our original ‘mountain wedding,’ and the new garden party theme allowed us to put on a much more contemporary design hat," shares Kristin. "Our venue was completely full of lush greens and trees with hanging branches, so we wanted to make sure that the flowers elevated the whole dream-like feel of the space. Bloem Décor helped us in creating a clean, elegant array of white, cream and pink roses and orchids across all centerpieces. Due to the intense heat (it was 110 degrees Fahrenheit that day!) we actually had to change plans for the ceremony backdrop last minute so that the florals would be mobile from a refrigerator to the altar, and one of my family friends graciously pulled this piece off herself!

Since the wedding was a backyard affair, the couple enlisted many of their family members to help bring their big-day vision to life. "What's most special is that we had an army of loved ones to help make our day special," says Kristin. "Our host neighbors gave us use of their antique Ford, family friends took charge of the florals and cake, and our trusted premier jeweler lent me gorgeous earrings as my 'something borrowed.' Because of the location, the vast majority of our vendors were locals that we personally loved—we had a specially curated menu catered from Hawk’s Restaurant in Granite Bay, one of our favorites. Even our outfits were re-designed with help from our incredible local shops since our original cross-country and global vendors weren’t able to meet our revised timeline without us having to travel. Jeff's brother MC'ed, and my sister surprised us with ornate, custom wedding cookies from a renowned bakery. Since our ceremony was small, most guests also gave toasts and shared stories that made for the most magical, intimate evening." 

Looking back on the wedding day, Kristin and Jeff recall that "just getting to be married was the most anticipated (and realized) special moment of the day! We had been through a lot by spending such a long time planning, having our wedding cancelled, and then figuring out and deciding to get married anyways, that just getting over the finish line and being able to be husband and wife brought us so much joy. Looking back, we also really appreciated the extremely small guest list - it was an unforgettable evening and we got to share it with deep people that we love with all our hearts. After all is said and done, we have each other and there is nothing better than that."