Seven months and 8 days ago, I was in Palm Springs, surrounded by some of my favourite people, and saying ‘I Do’ to a guy who makes me smile, EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And yes, all the clichés are true: It was the best day/week of my LIFE!
The best thing about it? We stayed true to our vision and it was 100% us. Super chill, bright and fun; Margarita Truck and all.
Scott and I wanted a non-wedding kind of wedding. One that felt more like a party, without too many formalities and our main focusses landing on the things most important to us: Atmosphere, Great Food, Epic Music and a Photographer that would capture the vibe perfectly…. and personally, I think we nailed it!
Since returning to Sydney, I’ve had plenty of questions fired at me, about how I pulled off an international destination wedding, with no wedding planner, and without having actually stepped foot in Palm Springs, prior to deciding that it was THE place…. so, I thought that I’d share a little bit about it.
THE DESTINATION
Yes, I do arrange travel for a living, and I DO also plan destination weddings…. but as an Australian in Sydney, I am used to organising weddings in Byron Bay, Bali, Fiji and Thailand, and normally they are in conjunction with one of our hotel/resort partners, who have their own on site wedding teams, so when I was scrolling Instagram for rad destination wedding ideas, I did NOT anticipate that Palm Springs would be the ultimate choice.
With my guy being from the UK, our criteria was:
- Somewhere different (not Byron, Bali, Thailand or Fiji)
- Somewhere that was one flight away (ideally) for our family and friends in Sydney and London.
- A destination with sunny days, and mild temps (I was marrying a Brit after all, so anything too humid or too hot was going to be a no go zone. No one wants to see sweaty backs in a tailored shirt).
- Somewhere that was really, really, cool! (Like, fun and somewhere a little out of the box)
When I started seeing images of desert back drops, palm trees, mid-century modern houses, Spanish haciendas, pops of colour and Saguaro Cactus’ everywhere, I just knew in my heart, that it was Palm Springs…. It ticked all the boxes. It HAD to be Palm Springs. I’d never even really been there!!
So, without seeing a single venue, or having set foot on North Palm Canyon Drive, I told EVERYONE we were getting married in Palm Springs…. and so, the planning began (and I guess, I had to pull it off!).
THE DRESS
Probably the thing that Brides worry the most about is the dress, and it was a process that I thought was going to be way harder than it was. I have issues choosing great outfits at the best of time; how was I going to choose my WEDDING DRESS? There were so many options, and it’s the one occasion where you’re supposed to look your most beautiful (at least, that’s what you think you should look like).
But in the end it was SO EASY!
I’d done some insta stalking, and had loved a range of designers, but after seeing Georgia Young Couture’s dresses on the wedding blog ‘Ivory Tribe’. I was in love, and I just knew her dresses would be perfect for me.
Georgia’s designs are modern, quirky, sexy, feminine, sculptured, and they definitely make a statement. With a combination of fabrics, various lace styles, sheer panels, plunging backs and necklines, they really stood out to me, so I found my way to a trunk show that was being hosted at ‘Love Marie Bridal, in a small country town, outside of Sydney.
Amy at ‘Love Marie Bridal’ was incredible, and this was Georgia’s first ready to wear collection. They were all amazing, but my dress was literally the second dress I’d tried on. It had all of the elements I was looking for, and while it wasn’t at ALL what I’d pictured in my head, the moment I put THIS dress on, I knew it was the one….. AND, I felt like a goddam rock star!
THE VENUE
My biggest challenge was finding a venue, as it turned out; Palm Springs has some crazy noise ordinance (I suppose that’s because it is basically a city full of old Hollywood retirees) that prohibits music above speaking level after 9pm, and that just WOULD NOT DO! I love a good GREAT wedding dancefloor, and I’d imaged dancing with my shoes off, under fairy lights, until the wee hours, so we needed a venue that would accommodate loud music.
Luckily through Google, Instagram and a flurry of hastag searches (#palmspringswedding #palmspringsweddingvenues) I came up with the goods.
I found a beautiful estate ‘Historic Cree Estate‘ which was just on the outskirts of town (technically Cathedral City), that would not only accommodate our immediate family for the whole week, but it had an amazing pool, beautiful grounds, palm trees, fairy lights galore, they would allow music until late AND it had a built in dance floor! YES!
It ticked all the boxes, and set the scene for the most wonderful week of our lives.
CAPTURING THE MOMENT
Photography was SUPER important to us. Well, let’s be honest…. important to me. Scott’s initial suggestion is that we just had all of our guests use their phones. Um, sorry, what?! No.
I’d reached out to some of the ‘recommended’ photographers that had come suggested from the venue and celebrant, but they were a little too ‘weddingy’ for my liking. I knew we needed someone different. A little quirky, and more US.
We needed someone who was going to capture the vibe of the day, because we had so many people to share the photos with once we got home. We wanted them to feel like they were there.
A little more insta stalking, and my scrolling stopped when I landed on Ryan Horban’s Instagram profile. It was SO good! So fun, so vibrant, lot’s of natural, non cheesy couples, who looked like they were having FUN! … and then I read his website, and knew he was the one.
Here’s a sneak peak:
Are you ready to have a kick ass time in the desert? F**K YEAH!
Planning a destination wedding in Palm Springs, or sneaking away for a intimate elopement in Joshua Tree can drive any sane person to drink a bottle of wine or even a case. That’s totally fine, and in some cultures it is even considered good luck!
So indulge yourself a little, enjoy the process of all things wedding-related and visualize yourself at the pool with a cocktail in hand while looking up at palm trees. Once you get to the desert everything will be amazing, and I will be ready with camera in hand to capture you in all your glory + awesomeness. You got this!
See! His website spoke to me.
Upon reaching out to Ryan, he was awesome to communicate with, and totally got the vibe we were going for. He was in!
On the day itself, he made us laugh and made sure we were super chill, so getting great natural photos wasn’t too difficult (I don’t think – unless he just made it look easy?). He got in everyone’s faces whilst they were eating, mingling, and then hitting the dance floor (but not in a creepy or annoying way), so it meant he captured all the action; yes, even the ‘Shoey’ which is an actual thing here in Australia. (Where you drink beer out of someone’s shoe. Not exactly classy, but at least i didn’t end up in the pool in my dress!).
Point is, Ryan was in the moment and all of our guests loved him. My only regret is that we didn’t have him stay for the late night dance floor shenanigans (which did get a little out of control).
Thank you Ryan for totally rocking our wedding, and for the photos that we will cherish forever.
GLAM SQAUD
I was on the hunt for a hair and make-up team that would listen to what we were looking for, and not have me looking way too made up. I rarely wear a lot of make-up, and when I do I generally HATE the photos, so I needed someone to keep it super natural.
Again, through the help of Instagram and Yelp I landed on Lettie Mix and her hair gal Helena from Hair of the Bride.
After speaking to Lettie via email, my mind was at ease as she seemed lovely and keen to keep it all simple for me. She would travel to us in Palm Springs, and my hens day trial would give us a benchmark of what to work with for the wedding day.
On the day Lettie and Helena were awesome, and totally nailed the looks we were all going for. They were both so down to earth and lovely, and I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.
My make-up was better on my wedding day than my hens, and I looked like myself; albeit, slightly more ‘bridey’ and glamourous than my normal day to day self, so thank you beautiful ladies… we loved you!.
THEME, ATMOSPHERE , CEREMONY & STYLE
In terms of the ‘Theme’ I suppose that all happened pretty organically, and I didn’t choose anything specifically. We just utilised the theme of the destination (Palm Springs) and added a few travel related touches to tie it all back to our love of travel and adventure.
To create atmosphere and give the romance of it all a little oomph, we strung about a zillion fairy lights between the palm trees that flanked the property, which created the most magical setting. (Thanks to the family who all chipped in and installed the lights – screwing and unscrewing 600 bulbs in the process).
I found our celebrant as a recommendation from the venue (and through 100% positive reviews on Yelp) and he was just wonderful! He completely understood the style of service that we wanted (non-religious, relaxed, true to the heart and up lifting) and helped us write the perfect ceremony.
With a reading from two of our closest friends and the iconic words of Dr Seuss:
‘We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness, and call it love’; The scene was set.
Once the ceremony was complete we had beer pong, giant jenga, croquet and drinks on the lawn, for the guests to amuse themselves with; whilst we had photos taken.
We’d also decided against set seating. I mean, who really wants to agonise over who sits next to who? We wanted our guests to feel relaxed, and have an opportunity to mingle, so we arranged a mix of high and low tables around the grounds, where people could spread themselves out, eat, drink and relax.
When it came to styling, the venue was a stand out in it’s own right, and with enough fairy lights to land an Airbus A380, we didn’t need to do much. But, thanks to the wonder of Etsy, Amazon, some DIY craft time and the convenience of having a good friend living in Desert Hot Springs (about 20mins from Palm Springs, whom I could ship orders to), I did all of the styling myself, with help from my bridesmaids on the day; and the vision came together perfectly.
With a mix of colourful desert flowers from a great local supplier, a few cheeky bunches of bougainvillea picked from the side of the road, some geometric vases (which linked to the mid-century modern elements of Palm Springs) and candles, our styling was pretty simple, but perfect for us.
BOOZE & FOOD
Food Trucks were our catering option of choice, which gave it a carnival feel and the guests loved them!
It was such a fun talking point, and they allowed our guests to eat as much or as little as they wanted, while continuing to mingle, play games or dance (yep, there were people bopping away early on), and the food was SENSATIONAL! All of our guests commented on how tasty it was.
Think Mexican street corn, ahi tuna and steak tacos, spicy chicken wings, quesadillas and of course Margaritas (as well as a myriad of other yummy appetizers, cocktails and a full bar)… it was epic!
Again, it was through Instagram and other wedding blogs that I’d stalked our vendors, and none of them disappointed. They were all fabulous.
OUR BRIDE GANG
Our bridal party were all absolute rock stars and keeping true to our vision and style, we didn’t have set colours or dresses or styles for the girls. They chose dresses that they each loved, and matched them together (sort of).
To be honest I had no idea how they would all really look together until the day; as all the girls live in different cities, but in the end it totally worked, and went with the fun, laid back vibe of the destination.
The lads all scrubbed up nicely too, with their braces/suspenders and bow ties. Again, we opted for no jackets, mismatched ties and we scored a beautiful Palm Springs Winters day, that was perfect for a wedding.
We also had our hens/stag day celebrations out in Palm Springs, which they absolutely nailed! With ATV’ing for the boys, and a decadent lunch and pool party for us girls, we had the best day ever (and the worst hangovers ever to go along with it). Yikes.
Thanks crew for standing beside us and helping to calm the nerves, fix my dress, bust out on the dance floor and be there to witness us saying I do’. We love you alllllllllllllllllllll!
TIME TO PARTY
Probably the thing I stressed over the most was the music…. not that I needed to.
I love MUSIC. I love going to see live music, I love listening to music, I love DANCING to music, and I have been to many a wedding, where the music was a little… MEH, so I needed ours to be on point.
I’d initially looked at some pretty serious DJ’s (like proper LA Club DJ’s) but managed to tone it down and convince myself that I was being ridiculous. Like, really? Who did I think i was?
In the end, I found our DJ ‘Alex Updike’ as a recommendation through Yelp. Alex came very highly recommended not only as a ‘Wedding DJ’, but he did also play club and corporate gigs, so I knew it wasn’t all going to be cheesy ‘wedding music’.
I mayyyyy have micro-managed the genres of music and the permitted artists a little too closely, giving him about 4 different Spotify playlists as a guide (sorry Alex – eeek!), but I wanted to make sure the dance floor was pumping all night, and it was.
Alex read the crowd perfectly, played all of our fave tunes, loads of classic sing a longs and dance floor fillers, plus a bunch of rad bangers in the mix. The only hiccup was when my new Mother in Law requested ‘Love Shack’, only to be told it was on my band songs list. Opps! 9Don’t worry, I quickly unbanned it, and Sue got her song).
I suppose the ‘Piece de Résistance’ was when the Aussie anthem ‘HORSES, by Daryl Braithwaite’ brought the night to a close, with the crowd (The Brits and the Aussies) coming in tightly for a final sing a long. Scott and I were hoisted high above the guests on a couple of chairs (Jewish wedding style), and bounced around as we all sang ‘That’s the way it’s gonna be little darlin’ at the top of our lungs.
After the final song, came the chants of the guests asking for ‘One more song’, then ‘Ten more songs’ ….. Alex eventually gave in and indulged them with ‘Your the Voice, by John Farnham’ – which he had to download on the spot. haha.
Overall, I’m confident to say that we nailed the music.
Thank you Alex for your epic skills. Thanks also to the Palm Springs police department who showed up due to a noise complaint, but told us to ‘turn it up’ once they saw it was a wedding. I think the ravishing beauty of my two gorgeous bridesmaids; who went out to convince them that we shouldn’t be shut down helped, haha. Thanks Kersh and Alana.
AND THE REST……….
This post would be way too long if i went in to all the detail on the whole wedding week, but I suppose that’s the beauty of a destination wedding. You get more than one day to spend with your favourite people.
To round it all out we hosted a pool party / recovery session the next day at our venue, and there were some sore heads, that’s for sure.
I did think it was going to be another big afternoon of drinking, but in the end our guests were happy to chill on a pool float, have a sausage sanga and lay out in the sun. I guess that’s what they needed, and I’m totally cool with that. For me, the Sunday was nice to just relax with everyone, knowing that we’d pulled off the most epic few days ever.
As I sat in the sun and watched on as our best friends from opposite sides of the word mingled and became new friends, I realised that that’s what it’s all about; Family, Friends, Love, Connection and Celebration. We both felt so much love from all of the people in our lives, and can’t thank them all enough for travelling across the globe to be with us in Palm Springs.
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So, all in all, would I do it again? HELL YES!!!!
Would I change anything? Not really no. A few small details here and there perhaps, and one or two fewer cocktails at the hens day possibly, but it was pretty near perfect. We stayed true to what we wanted and that’s all that really matters.
For a list of our vendors, see them all below, and if you’re thinking of planning a destination wedding or elopement, I work with some of the worlds best hotels and resorts, who can help us bring your wedding dream to life (and having been through it, I know what details are the most important, and which are not worth losing any sleep over).
I can tell you now wholeheartedly, like every other bride who is recently married; it truly is the best day of your life!
Thanks for checking out our wedding!
Kate xx
Our amazing vendors and wedding squad
Dress: Georgia Young Couture and Love Marie Bridal
Venue: ‘Historic Cree Estate’
Celebrant: Richard Cadieux My Joyful Weddings
Photographer: Ryan Horban
Music: Alex Updike
Hair: Hair of the bride
Make Up: Lettie Mix Make Up
Flowers: Palm Springs Flowermart
Food Truck: The Lime Truck
Margarita Truck: Rasta Rita
Cakes: Over the Rainbow Cakes
Furniture Rentals: Classic Party Rentals
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