BOTANICAL WEDDING NEAR SANTA CRUZ, CA [RANCHO SOQUEL]
Leilani and Matt tying the knot in a beautiful fall afternoon
on October 8th, 2016 at the spectacular Rancho Soquel venue in Aptos, CA.
Leilani and Matt’s wedding was really a dream come true. Surrounded by all the close family and friends, love and happiness were all around us. Five years ago L+M met at Palapas Restaurant and Bar on the sea cliff of Aptos, CA. Those five years were filled with adventures and romance in Costa Rica, Kauai, Mendocino, Santa Barbara, Bali and in Santa Cruz where Matt is from. While living in Kauai where Leilani is from, one warm evening at sunset Matt proposed Leilani. Leilani describes it as ‘He made it all so sweet and romantic! I was totally surprised!!’ Knowing both of them for almost a year, I can say that those two lovebirds are just made for each other. The pictures show it all. Leilani - a nature beauty inside and out and Matt - the man with the gold heart.
Leilani and Ariel who is her maid of honor, best friend and partner in crime since childhood are the owners of Botanic and Lux, a luxurious lifestyle store in the Downtown Santa Cruz . Described by them as ‘a place for dreamers, lovers and seekers of all things beautiful’. So if you are in the area of Santa Cruz or doing a highway 1 trip don't forget to stop by Botanic and Lux. Talking about their live indoor plants business and born and raised in Hawaii, Leilani has always been surrounded by nature and flowers. No wonder, she choose Rancho Soquel for the place to say ‘I do’ . A place in first sight that can be a botanical garden or part of an excotic island. For her wedding day they both wanted everything to be as simple as possible, but the same time to be fresh, elegant and authentic.
Leilani is one of those people that makes everything looks so easy and simple around her. Her smile is captivating. People wants to be around her and that explains her big bridal party of all that awesome people I had the honor to meet and photograph that day. The bridesmaid dresses were one of my favorite accents of the wedding theme. Long dresses with flower prints on them , but all uniquely designed from one another by Show Me Your Mu Mu.
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The beautiful invitations were printed by Wedding Paper Divas and the Thank you card was designed and printed by me, the photographer.
The guests name tags were handwritten by Matt’s talented step sister Margo. All the little, but important elements were in a botanical theme. Cake by Jennifer Fontes.
One of the most authentic elements at the wedding were the inherited ring from Leilani’s grandma whose mom gave it to her at the day of the wedding and Matt’s cufflinks from his grandpa given to him by his mom as well.
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One of the best parts of the party night was the father -daughter dance.
Leilani’s mom dancing Hula dance, a hawaiian traditional dance. It as an ancient dancing , Aloha in action. Beautiful!
