Ojala Floral Wedding Gallery for Paige & Matt
The exchange of vows was a celebration of color, scent and sound set against the backdrop of the topa topas, the same view that Paige and Matt had undoubtedly gazed at many afternoons as they contemplated this one.
I BEGAN FORAGING WEEKS BEFORE. I gathered sweet everlasting flower and fragrant Spanish broom from the property.
Event Coordinator. Little Creek Events
OCTOBER SKIES
It turned out that the last Saturday of October was also the hottest Saturday of October. The load in began at dawn. Pick up beds of native chaparral including the invasive and beloved pampas among wild coyote bush bursting open by the autumn sun. I had begun foraging weeks before as I like to visit many different spots to take a little from what’s there rather than ravaging any given area. I gathered sweet everlasting flower and fragrant Spanish broom from the property.
Once everything was in place, I poked my head inside the East End home of Paige and Matt. It’s a sweet and quaint stone cottage set on an idyllic property shaded by an olive grove at one edge and citrus at the other. Their guest count had doubled during the lead up. The couple had leveled and weeded a large portion of their yard to accommodate the wedding goers. All of the doors to the cottage were open, children weaved in and out while dogs skimmed their feet. Matt and Paige warmly welcomed a few of their guests as the photographer tried to shoo them outside for photos in which case I quickly crowned her in strawflower and filled her hands with fresh cut yellow marigolds as I clipped a strawflower to Matt’s collar.
The exchange of vows was a celebration of color, scent and sound set against the backdrop of the Topa Topas, the same view that Paige and Matt had undoubtedly gazed at many afternoons as they contemplated this one. Paige wore a traditional white Mexican wedding gown with butterfly sleeves and hand embroidery in a cornucopia of tones. The beckoning smell of BBQ filled the air and mariachis waited for the happy squeals and celebratory yells of ceremony to commence before breaking into song.
Tables were adorned with nopales paddles and prickly pear decorated with marigolds and strawflower, pomegranates and passion fruit which I saw more than one child sneak into their small fist. I lit candles as I admired the colorfully dressed participants grinning and cracking their first beer as they began to take their seats. I walked west, towards my truck, into the last Saturday sunset of October and as it turned out, the most magnificent of October sunsets. As I turned back to look at the party underneath a sea of string lights, I smiled at the vibrant and festive world Paige and Matt had created for themselves.