Niki & Will | Super-fun + frolicsome Jewish Wedding at Santa Margarita Ranch, California

Ok lovely people, we are starting the week at TRULY EPIC on the wedding spectrum. So get ready. ..

The bride and groom are both into comedy (Niki is a writer for The Office and Will is an actor) so they ramped up the fun factor to the extreme. In fact their wedding slogan was ‘Have fun. Get Messy’ and their monogram was two back to back guns that together formed a heart. ADORE! The couple made up personalised plastic bibs for their guests incorporating the Have fun. Get Messy logo too! How can you not have a ball at a wedding where bibs get handed out for goodness sake?!

The venue, Santa Margarita Ranch, is beyond incredible, and watch out for the couple’s chuppah too. I guarantee it’s one of the most unusual you will EVER catch sight of. Let’s just say that it’s essentially made up of shabby-chic-esque screen doors adorned with multi-coloured paper spiral flowers, and what’s more, a reading from Quentin Tarantino’s True Romance was one of the readings recited under it!

OK enough of me, right? Let’s hand over to our fabulous (and utterly gorgeous) bride, Niki, for the story of her and Will’s W-Day, and feast your eyes on onelove’s photographic delights..

AN INSANE PARTY
Niki, the Bride: The one thing we wanted to make sure we had was a fun freakin’ party! We didn’t want the vibe to be stuffy or serious, so we tried to let that be known from the get-go with our jokey save-the-dates. Will and I are both into comedy, so we wanted there to be some silly aspects to both the ceremony and the reception. And the after-party. And the hotel lobby.

CHUPPAH
Well, instead of doing the traditional jewish chuppah, Will built us this amazing backdrop out of three different, shabby-chic-esque screen doors he found out at a re-sale shop in Pasadena. Then he spent the next few weeks crafting his butt off, creating the multi-coloured paper spiral flowers that he attached to them as decoration. It was exactly what we wanted: different, colourful, and fun.

MUSIC
We walked intoYou’re So Cool from “True Romance” and The London Suede’s cover of The Pretenders’ Brass in Pocket. Our first dance was to Dancin’ in the Moonlight by King Harvest

A PERSONALISED CEREMONY
We had our two close friends Rob and Taylor read a scene from Quentin Tarantino’s “True Romance” It was truly magical. Also our friend Bill read a hilarious poem by Steve Martin, and finally, our dear pal Lydia read a romantic Rumi poem. It was amazing. 

ENTERTAINMENT
We had a blue grass band for our cocktail hour called the Wild River Ramblers that were FABULOUS. Also, our DJ’s could NOT be beat. They kept people dancing from the get go. Truly phenom!


DIY FAVOURS + DECOR
For our flowers we decided to go all DIY scary!) and we did a succulent theme. We bought a ton of succulents, ordered some cute tins off Etsy, and then had a succulent planting party with some besties. We used them for our centrepieces and then found tiny succulents in little tin pales (also off Etsy) to use as our escort cards/party favours. Each table was named after one of my Texan father’s famous sayings (the man has a way with words.) Finally, we had personalised bibs made featuring our ‘wedding logo’, two back to back guns that go into a heart and read “Have fun. Get Messy.” And that was it! We left the rest of the major decor up to the natural beauty of the barn.

WEDDING BLOG INSPIRATION
I found the majority of my inspiration from wedding blogs! I have to admit I did very little magazine reading. I also took a lot of inspiration from all my intensely creative gal pals and their truly intimidatingly chic weddings (Amy, Lyds, Mary, Marah, Jen, Anjali, Beth — I’m lookin’ at you!!!) Luckily, wedding ideas can’t be patented…

THE AMAZING MADONNA INN
Both Will and I as well as ALL of our guests stayed at the Madonna Inn and it was a HOOT. So much fun. They also hosted our after party in their Silver Bar that was a full on dance party from 11-2AM. They provided food and a cash bar and a huge dance floor. They also let us use our own music. It was fabulous.

TRANSPORTATION
Our Shuttle Buses were wonderful! Ride-On transportation took everybody from the Madonna Inn to the Ranch and back. They were super great.

PARTAAAAAAAY!
Our dance party was off the chain!!! We just had the greatest group of friends assembled that really brought their A-game. People tore that dance floor up! It could not have been better food or music. And there certainly could not have been more love under one roof.

ADVICE TO OTHER BRIDES
My only advice would be to have fun, try not to freak out, and don’t sweat the small stuff. At the end of the day, nobody remembers whether or not the LED votives you bought were cute or not, they remember the food, the music, and most importantly, the vibe of the group you’ve brought together. They remember the party!

NIKI + WILL’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photographer — onelove photography
Venue — Santa Margarita Ranch
Event design + planner: Angel Swanson and Michelle Cardona at Love & Splendor
Bride’s dress, shoes + bridesmaid dresses — J.Crew
Groom’s attire — Bloomingdales
Hair + make up — Felicia Howe from Primrose Organics
Catering — Trumpet Vine
Pies — The Avila Barn
Music — Red Shoe / Wild River Ramblers
Hotel — Madonna Inn
Transportation — Ride-On