A Wedding of Wildflowers and Whimsy, Gathered by the Basketful

A Closer Look

Vine + Branch Events Co. set out to give Kaylyn and Kevin a romantic garden at The Inn at Mattei's Tavern in Los Olivos, California, and they built it two ways. Some of the garden was gathered fresh and heaped into wicker. The rest was pressed and painted onto paper and porcelain so guests could take it with them. The first hint arrived by mail, where Studio Cynth tucked deckle-edged cards into a liner painted with lilacs.

Kaylyn and Kevin shared a first look under the inn's vine-covered pergola. Her strapless ball gown kept a clean line from the straight neckline through the full skirt, and a cathedral-length veil scattered with dimensional florals trailed behind it. Her bouquet of white peonies and coral garden roses ran warmer than the ceremony's lilacs, and Kevin's navy suit gave the pair a crisp, dark anchor.

On the lawn, Knot Just Flowers framed the altar with towering wicker urns that overflowed with hydrangeas, dahlias and feathery smoke bush in lilac, white and rust. The rust was the smart move. It gave all that pastel a shadow, so the arrangements read rich instead of sweet. More stems spilled onto the gravel at their base and collected along the grass aisle between rows of bentwood chairs. Piled that high, it all looked as though someone had walked out to the garden at dawn and refused to stop picking. A lone cypress rose behind the couple, and the inn's white water tower stood watch beside the seating.

Cocktail hour moved to the barn, and the wicker came down in scale with it. Baskets of pink garden roses rested on the gravel beneath the escort display, where each card held a different pressed bloom in a small wooden stand. At the white cottage bar, a scalloped rattan lamp hung over bowls of plums and green grapes, and a striped drinks banner fell from gold tassels. Even the cocktail napkins, sketched with a martini glass and K + K, waited in a woven caddy topped with a plum. The fruit was doing color work too, previewing the burgundy that would turn up in the dinner flowers. Outside, the garden was still growing. In guests' hands, it had become a keepsake.

Dinner was laid on long tables across the lawn, between the water tower and a stand of palms, and details from the bar came along. A stripe much like the banner's ran down the linens. The scallop on the bar lamp returned on the plate rims and again on the lanterns hanging from the string lights. The plates themselves were printed with wildflower sprigs in the style of French country faience, while rattan chairs and wood-handled flatware kept the setting relaxed. At every seat, a hummingbird cut from sage card stock perched on the knife with a guest's name, and green tapers carried the same shade down each row. The flowers changed shape for dinner. Instead of climbing like the ceremony urns, the centerpieces stayed low in white and green with ranunculus and burgundy accents, which kept sight lines open. More wicker urns in the grass at either end held on to the height. Here the garden appeared in both of its forms at once, cut flowers above the plate and printed ones on it.

After dark, the party moved into the barn. Disco balls in every size hung over a black-and-white checkered dance floor. The room traded baskets for mirror, but blooms and candlelight lined the fireplace hearth. Even on the dance floor, Kaylyn and Kevin never quite left the garden.