Modern fall garden wedding | San Diego wedding

Happy Friday, friends! We’ve sure had some super creative, and really different, real weddings on the blog as of late. The inspiration for those of you planning for fall continues with Cassie + Dustin’s modern, elegant garden wedding at the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego. They incorporated a lot of thoughtful details to show their guests a personal take on a classic, timeless look. Thanks to Zelo Photography for sharing the images in this post!

With a Hayley Paige gown like this, you know our bride’s gotta give it a whirl. Cassie actually tried on about a zillion dresses, but kept coming back to this beauty. Her tip? If you like one dress from a particular designer, chances are you’ll like their other ones, too. Don’t be afraid to shop around so you can land on exactly which one you want!

Cassie tells it, We imagined our day to be simple, classic, and elegant with our personalities woven into each special moment. As we discovered our style, we landed on a fall, modern garden wedding choosing burgundy as the main color with navy and gold accents. We wanted to create a wedding day that was tons of fun and left all of the guests with a full heart. Ultimately, Dustin and I wanted every guest to leave the night knowing a little bit more about us as a couple.

Since they were having the wedding in San Diego with half the guests coming from Los Angeles, they loved the idea that they’d take them to a venue they wouldn’t have been to. The Lower Garden of the Japanese Friendship Garden has tons of photo opps (pro tip: make sure your photog and other vendors have been to your venue before or at least scoped it out!). Get a closer peek at their ceremony in the courtyard and the reception space in the Inamori Pavilion below:

Such a cute snap by Zelo Photography. They got their friend Sean ordained and worked together to write the ceremony. That and writing their own vows made the whole day (with 140 guests) feel super personal + intimate.

We put our own spin on the traditional choices for our guest book and dessert bar. Rather than the traditional guest book, we chose to have guests sign wine bottles we’d open on our upcoming wedding anniversaries. Instead of the traditional dessert bar, we served our favorite dessert: chocolate bread pudding. It was a hit!

Um, stunning indoor reception alert! Cassie + Dustin knew they wanted hanging greenery, so the biggest challenge was making it happen. Luckily Rachel of Plan It San Diego, Adorations Inc. Botanical Artistry, and their rental company Farm Tables & More, Inc. (who had built wooden beams that can hold greenery on top) all worked together to bring their vision to life.