Intimate Big Sur Wedding: A Sanctuary of Love and Family

Bride and groom share a tender kiss on a cliffside

Sarah and Kelly wanted their wedding to be very intimate from the beginning. They were inspired by a Lemony Snicket quote: “They are the sort of people who know that there's always something. Something to invent, something to read, something to bite, and something to do, to make a sanctuary, no matter how small".
That's exactly what they created, with help from their amazing event designer Wylie West Creative. A sanctuary with just their nearest and dearest all together in one of the most magical places on earth. Delve in deep to this Big Sur sanctuary wedding and you won't regret it. The full gallery is available here, captured by Evynn LeValley Photography.

Bridal bouquet with pink, peach, and burgundy roses

Bride and bridesmaid in gray dress, outdoor wedding

Bride and bridesmaids in gray dresses under a tree

Words from The bride

Unlike most girls the dress wasn’t a priority for me. The food, wine, and atmosphere took center stage for me. While it’s completely true that you want your wedding to be about you as a couple, its equally important to consider the people you are inviting to celebrate with you. I think the thing that is often missing from weddings is that consideration of how the day will go from the guests' perspective. We wanted to ensure that they were having as much fun as we were - no awkward waiting or gaps between events. We wanted there to be a really free-spirited and organic flow to the afternoon and evening.

Rustic wooden frame with Get with the Program sign

Wedding favors: heart-shaped tags on white boxes and recipe-paper cones filled with treats

Wedding guest book with envelopes and bear silhouettes

My cousin Jonny played his guitars (acoustic and electric), as well as his harmonica for the ceremony. My cousin Whitney - one of the most spiritual people in our lives, got ordained so she could marry us. My best friend’s mother made our wedding cake. Another dear friend and woodworker sourced and created a gorgeous wood stump for us to use as a cake stand. My dad cured the charcuterie that we served during cocktail hour. The olive oil that we served during dinner was made by my parents at their small vineyard nearby. The list goes on …everyone really chipped in which made the day even more memorable.

Wedding seating sign: Find your name, find your table

Wedding seating chart with feather details and names

Condor table setting with name card and bread

Wedding table setting with place card and honey favors

Camp Hendrix menu: illustrated food choices for guests

Advice for future brides

I don’t think I would have done anything differently - everything was so imperfectly perfect in the end. When your wedding day arrives you just have to relish every possible moment and realize that not everything will go exactly how you imagined or planned it would - which is part of the joy in it all! I ended up ditching my heels for moccasins at the last minute and my bridesmaids went barefoot - it just felt right, regardless of how much time we had spent altering all of the dresses to be the perfect length for the heels. The amount of love is overwhelming in the most wonderful way and so you just have to be present and remember to take it all in. Oh and I might have had the rental company come closer to noon the day after to pick everything up instead of bright and early at 8am - we ended up offering them wedding cake and coffee and had a good laugh about it all.

Caramel apples on sticks, rustic wooden platter