Joanna married Phil in April, at Bandy Canyon Ranch. I had the privilege of working with Joanna and Phil from the very beginning of the planning process. They are such a sweet couple. We hand-picked every single vendor, venue, color and detail together. It was a great opportunity to help plan a semi destination wedding fro the couple. All of Phil’s family is from Australia. So, we had the chance to plan and choose things for the wedding to showcase San Diego in all its glory!
Joanna was a bride who knew what she wanted, but needed a little guidance along the way to pull it all together. She was a detailed bride which I really liked! Detailed brides are organized and don’t mind all my organization and details as well. There are always little bumps in the planning process but Joanna took them in stride and was able to over come everything because she knew that the most important thing was that she was marring the love of her life. This was especially a good trait to have because the week of the wedding the weather showed possible rain. We had a contingency plan all set and ready to go, but we never want to have to use it. So we decided that we would wait until the wedding day to make a full decision on whether or not to move everything inside the lodge at Bandy Canyon. Our original plan was to have the ceremony on the lawn and the reception in the outside courtyard space.
On the wedding day it was dreary out but not raining in the morning. Everyone was optimistic…. until the bride and groom had their first look and it started to lightly rain, and then it turned into full rain. Thankfully, the Bandy Canyon wedding team was wonderful and we were able to move the ceremony to a beautiful covered outdoor space in less than 20 minutes before the ceremony started. The ceremony location was not were the bride and groom initially wanted it to be, but it was absolutely beautiful. We held the ceremony in front of an outdoor stone fireplace. Small glass containers filled with beautiful florals lined the aisle, while guests were seated under a beautiful outdoor canopy covered in vines. The reception was held inside the 100-year-old lodge. Round and rectangular tables were adorned with light grey linens and gorgeous eclectic centerpieces, with so many candles that it made the room warm. It was as beautiful as if we planned it that way from the beginning.
Because Joanna and Phil were such a flexible bride and groom, they rolled with the punches. They took a large umbrella I brought and took some fun rainy photos. When it cleared up for a few minutes they would run out and do more photos, they were not going to let the rain ruin their wedding day. As a coordinator I will say that you HAVE to have a contingency plan for weather planed out months before the wedding. This way the couple knows that plan in case of bad weather, and they are not surprised or disappointed when it happens. This will help to manage their expectations. Thankfully we did this, and the bride and groom were such sweet people that we made it all work. Even the guests didn’t mind a little rain.
With everything that happened on the wedding day Joanna and Phil still had a huge smile on their faces the whole day. Thank you to Joanna and Phil for letting me share in their rainy special day!
Vendors that helped make the day:
Wedding Consultant: Rachel Finn, I Do…Weddings & Events
Florals: Simply Adina
Ceremony & Reception Music: JD Musik
Photographer: True Photography( Dustin)
Cake: Pure Cupcakes
Venue, Rentals and Catering: Bandy Canyon
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