Candace & Asher | Super-stylish ‘shabby chic’ Jewish wedding, Rancho Las Lomas, USA

An explosion of colour, a totally WOW vintage dress, and a sensationally decorated ‘shabby chic’ space. That’s what first struck me about today’s gorgeous lush garden wedding.

I should probably begin this beautiful big day with a Pinterest warning, because dear readers, Candace and Asher’s wedding is filled to bursting with oodles of gorgeous details that I can guarantee you’ll love. They accomplished their dream decor with bells on, creating a whimsical yet contemporary fairytale within a beautiful outside space.

There are so many details that I love about this W-day from the wonderfully colourful florals to a really original bouquet (featuring mini lockets with photos of the brides grandparents), to the astonishing decor, to the very personalised family input throughout the ceremony, that I think anyone trying to pull of a wedding with that homespun feel can be inspired. Essentially this wedding is FULL of covetable details, and all of this fabulousness is captured by the awesome Sloan Photographers. Enjoy!

VENUE
Candace, the Bride: We originally wanted to find a location on the Central coast of America where we both have family, but we couldn’t find a location that would seat enough people while still being secluded. From there we started looking in Santa Barbara at a few hotels but it just didn’t feel like ‘us’.

Asher was living in Orange County at the time and decided to look around down south. He remembered a co-worker showing him some photos of Rancho Las Lomas for another wedding and he thought it was beautiful. Asher went over to the site (I was in Chicago for Med School) and couldn’t believe how beautiful and perfect it was.

Rancho Las Lomas was perfectly secluded yet had easy access for guests, with a farm/mission-esque feel, beautiful trees and animals all around with an incredible shaded outdoor patio that could be used for both the ceremony and reception. I actually didn’t have a chance to see the venue until after we booked it but I could tell from the way he described it that it was perfect and I loved it on the spot once I saw it.

THEME
The theme for our wedding was “shabby-chic” with bright oranges, fuchsias, purples, greens – essentially colours that complimented the beautiful surroundings.

THE DRESS
The dress was from Mon Amie and the designer was Lazaro. The dress was very different to what I had expected I would wear, but when I tried it on (it was the first dress of the day), I knew (and so did my mum, sister, and made of honour) that it was the dress for me.

I tried on several other dresses that day but nothing compared to that dress. The dress had an extremely vintage feel – beautiful, form fitting, and flowing without being OTT.

VEIL, BOUQUET + ACCESSORIES
The veil was also from Mon Amie but Asher and I decided to keep the veil over my hair instead of over my face. We wanted him to be able to see me walk down the isle unimpeded by a veil. I also wore beautiful blue diamond earrings that Asher had given me for our 7 year anniversary, and a beautiful diamond cross necklace that my mum had given me.

Asher wore his Star of David necklace that I gave him for our 1 year anniversary and a beautiful Movado watch that I gave him just before the wedding. But my favourite pieces were the miniature lockets with photos of my grandparents that hung from my bouquet.

SHOES
My shoes were open toed, silver, with curvy rhinestone details, just tall enough so I wouldn’t tower over my groom. But they only lasted about 20 minutes into the ceremony before I took them off so I could enjoy the rest without thinking about how badly my feet hurt.

After the ceremony, Asher and I both busted out our checkered Vans, mine red and black, and his blue and black, which was just so us… spending the rest of the reception in our beautiful outfits and our outrageous shoes.

THE HANDSOME GROOM
Asher wore a “James Bond Black” Larrenzo Narrow Tux with an Ivory vest, pocket square, and kippah. He wore black cuff-links, his new Movado watch, and Star of David necklace.

HAIR + MAKE-UP
Design Visage did my hair and makeup. I wore my hair down and curled, and I wanted to keep my makeup more natural and less over the top, but still beautiful.


A VERY PERSONALISED CEREMONY
Asher and I wrote the entire ceremony (including our vows) except for the wedding address which was written by my brother and his sister who officiated our wedding. Everything about our ceremony was perfect and exactly us. It was so great to be married by family, by people who were so close to us and so much a part of our lives.

Our entire family got to be part of the ceremony in someway, from readings to prayers, to officiating the wedding. My favourite part of the wedding was listening to Asher’s very personal vows that he had written for me and having my Papa Ronnie serve as the ring bearer.

Asher’s favourite part of the ceremony was when his dad came up and discussed how in the Jewish tradition there are 7 blessings bestowed upon the married couple, but in true “us” fashion, those 7 blessings were replaced by individual blessings written by each one of our immediate family members.

Special touches during the ceremony included having Asher’s friends from his college acapella group sing our entrance songs, the bride’s brother and groom’s sister officiate the wedding, and doing our own twist to the traditional Jewish blessings by having each immediate family member write a blessing to be read by the groom’s dad at our ceremony. We constructed our whole ceremony from scratch – picking prayers and readings we both loved that could incorporate both our Catholic and Jewish backgrounds.

My grandfather (the only living grandparent between the two of us) was our ring bearer – one of the most special moments of the day. Given my grandmothers had both passed away, I had a locket on my bouquet of both my grandmothers with their husbands, so they could be up there with my on my special day. I additionally wore one of my grandmother’s engagement bands and a bracelet that belonged to the other.

SONGS FOR THE CEREMONY
Asher and the bridal party walked in to Train’s Marry Me and I walked into Adele’s Make You Feel My Love. The songs were beautiful and we both loved them and felt that the mood was right for us, but what really made them significant is that they were performed by two of our good friends who are some of the most talented musicians we know.

BRIDESMAIDS
I had 5 bridesmaids and they all wore beautiful fuchsia strapless, floor-length dresses that really complimented my wedding dress. All of the girls picked out their own shoes and jewellery.
FLOWERS ‘FROM THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GARDEN IN THE WORLD’
Larissa at Inviting Occasion was the mastermind florist who helped us create the beautiful ambiance that we couldn’t imagine being surpassed in our wildest dreams. We had a very wide variety of flowers and I can’t even begin to describe the varieties. When Larissa asked what we wanted, I just told her “imagine you have the opportunity to pick flowers from the most beautiful garden in the world” and she did not disappoint.

PHOTOGRAPHERS
We spent several weeks looking at blogs for photographers in Orange County, especially recommended photographers from Rancho Las Lomas. Almost everyone’s photos that we looked at seemed very “planned” and didn’t quite catch the beauty of the moment. Then we came across Matt and Angie’s pictures from Sloan Photographers. They captured everything we imagined wedding photos should be. A wide mix of staged and ‘in-the-moment’ photos that looked natural and beautiful.

After meeting with Matt and Angie, you could not have asked for two more fun photographers that really blended in to the events of the wedding and captured all of the emotion and beauty of the day.

A CREAM AND GOLD CAKE
The cake was from A Wish and a Whisk and was recommended to us by our caterer. The cake was 5 tiers, and cream colored with gold highlights, decorated in beautiful cream coloured fondant roses.

If I do say so myself, the cake was the best wedding cake I have ever tasted and consisted of three different flavors: turtle (caramel, walnut), peanut butter chocolate, and Jamocha almond fudge. Just thinking about it again makes me hungry!

ENTERTAINMENT
For the ceremony we had two of our good friends (who in my opinion are maybe the most talented musicians we have ever met!) perform the procession and the exit.

We then used Elevated Pulse Productions for the best DJ we could have asked for. He played the perfect mix of music during the cocktail hour and dinner, was a great MC for the evening without seeming tacky or over the top, and he was really able to get the party started and pumping all night after dinner.

Asher and I did not stop dancing from 8:30pm till midnight when the wedding ended. He was also able to handle the tricky layout of Rancho Las Lomas really well which most DJs have trouble with.


DELICIOUS + PERSONAL FAVOURS
We came across a lovely lady that makes beautiful homemade, individually wrapped biscotti that tasted delicious. What made it so special was that she was able to use my dad’s almonds to make them (my dad is an almond and pistachio farmer).

DECOR
The venue was naturally beautiful, and little “dressing it up” was needed. But we did have Inviting Occasions help us with extra flowers, cafe lights, vases, candles, eclectic jars, planters, and vintage furniture. One touch that made it really special was having photos of our family throughout the location, including on a beautiful vintage piano.

GUEST BOOK
Our guest book was actually a collection of small, wooden planks structured together that the guests then signed with Sharpies. We stained it afterwards and now have it hanging in our kitchen.

TABLE NUMBERS
The table numbers were written on chalkboard in Italian – which I studied for 2 years in college and did an abroad rotation in Sienna for 3 months, during which Asher visited me.

ADVICE TO OTHER BRIDES
Try and make room in your budget to use at least an on-the-day coordinator so that you don’t have to worry about anything on your special day. Everything will be fine, and everyone else won’t notice if things go wrong so don’t stress.

Most importantly, make sure you stop occasionally throughout the day and just take it all in. Spend time with your guests, but most importantly, spend time with your hubby/wife partying and celebrating the fact that it finally all came together.

CANDACE + ASHER’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography — Sloan Photographers
Venue — Rancho Las Lomas
Catering — 24 Carrots
Planning & Coordination — LVL Events
Florals and Design — Inviting Occasion
Cake — A Wish and a Whisk
Rentals — Found Rentals
Hair and Makeup — Design Visage
DJ — Elevated Pulse Productions
Bride’s Dress — Lazaro from Mon Amie

This is one of those weddings that is so full to the brim with things I love, and such an abundance of stylish ideas, that I am just totally honoured to have featured it on STG. Outrageously good images from Matt and Angie from Sloan Photographers too. Thank you Candace and Asher for sharing your special day with Smashing The Glass!