Alicia & Taylor | Fall California Micro-Wedding on Family Ranch

Featured on Martha Stewart Weddings.

I’m so excited to share photos from Alicia and Taylor’s intimate fall California Micro-Wedding on her family ranch. Alicia and Taylor were scheduled to have a 300-person black-tie wedding at Ojai Valley Inn (with Michel B as the planner) in September of 2020, with a great number of guests flying in from Hong Kong. When Covid hit, they knew they'd have to postpone their larger celebration but still wanted to have a small wedding on their original date. Their friends came together to throw them the perfect wedding at Alicia's family ranch (with horses and cows roaming the property!). Their dog, Rufus, was able to join in on the festivities too! From doing Alicia's hair and makeup to arranging the ceremony seating and setting up the tables for the reception, their friends became the equivalent of a vendor team. A local florist, Expressions Floral, creating a stunning bouquet filled with white cosmos, pink and orange strawflowers, rust-toned and dark red dahlias, red and peach zinnias, white and “black knight” scabiosa, orange ranunculus, foxtails, white daisies, mini roses, and lisianthus buds. All their guests stayed onsite at the ranch sleeping in tents that the couple set up for them. They gave each guest a gift tote with items to make their camping experience more comfortable, including earplugs and an eyemask.

The ceremony took place on a mountain top on the family property. Guests were shuttled up to the ceremony site in the various jeeps that are always on the property. Their friends arranged bales of hay as seating and covered them with white linens and marigold pillows. Two floral arrangements sat on top of wine barrels to frame the altar. The reception was held at the main house. Taylor’s mom used to own her own bakery so she made a 7-layer wedding cake for them with buttermilk-lavender frosting. She also made two types of cupcakes: coconut cake with toasted coconut buttercream, and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

To keep the event as safe as possible for everyone attending, all guests were asked to get a Covid test before the wedding. Alicia and Taylor provided tons of resources and information on testing sites to help make this easier for their guests.

See more from this beautiful wedding below!