Big Sur, a fever, and an amazing wedding...

This past weekend was Botanique's first official wedding! It was for two good friends of mine, Katie and Jeff, who got married at an incredible ranch in Big Sur, CA. I say incredible because that is the closest word I can find to describing a living dream: it was so beautiful and so magical up there, perched at the top of a long, winding dirt road, engulfed in passing clouds half the day, and clearing to reveal the ocean beneath the bluffs on which the ranch sat the other half.

We drove up to the ranch from LA on Thursday, and unfortunately, by Thursday night I was plagued with a horrible fever! Not exactly the best way to start the weekend. I had an insanely feverish sleep, complete with bizarro hallucinations in the middle of the night, but as they say, duty calls, and the next morning I was back out in my "studio" getting down to business!

I don't know what I would have done without that yellow vest, lent to me by Lygia, the woman who runs the ranch and my guardian angle for the time I was there: she brought me tea, goat cheese made fresh on the farm, and all the warm cloths I needed to stay bundled up.

Lucky for me, two of Katie's bridesmaids (Michelle and Sidonie) had experience working for an event florist, and they swooped in to help that afternoon. By the end of the day, we had made all the bridesmaid bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages, two big arrangements for the buffet table, six smaller arrangements for the bars, a really sweet flower crown for the flower girl, and (with the help of another set of friends) table arrangements for 18 tables! I was so thankful to have help from such talented friends!!! I don't know what I would have done without it. I did, however, feel very possessive over Katie's bouquet- I wanted it to be dreamy, romantic, fun, whimsical... I had to make sure it was just perfect.

The next day, I woke up feeling just as lousy as I had the previous two days! I couldn't believe I was so sick not only for my first wedding, but for the wedding of a dear friend! Before I had to go back to bed (the sickness was getting worse!) I managed to wrap the bridesmaid bouquets and Katie's bouquet (in gorgeous lace, I really hope the professional photographer got a shot of the handle wraps, because I sure didn't!), made up an example of how I wanted to the corsages and boutonnieres wrapped, left detailed instructions on the chuppah decorations, and crossed my fingers that Katie's two friends would do a good job finishing everything. I feel SO FORTUNATE that Michelle and Sidonie were such talented florists in their own right: they did a GREAT job, and everything really looked wonderful for the wedding.

The day of the wedding, everyone was shuttled up to the ranch. Though I was so sick that I couldn't stay for the party (I still have not quite gotten over that!) I did manage to make it through the ceremony, which was extremely heartfelt and beautiful. And Katie looked absolutely STUNNING. It was so, so wonderful to see such a good friend looking so beautiful and happy, on such an important day in her life, carrying a bouquet I had made especially for her! I managed to take one good photo of her before I went back to my little cabin and fell asleep.

I am sure there will be plenty of lovely shots from the professional photographers that were there that day, and when they come out I will share them! Until then, I am savoring this shot of Katie with her bouquet like it was the last flower on the planet.