Adrienne and Ben met with me about a year before their wedding and said they wanted to plan a fun, outdoor wedding with a tent and lawn games and a food truck for a caterer! What fun! I was immediately excited about their vision and thrilled to work with them. The problem was they really wanted to get married at Balboa Park but couldn’t find the right venue there to fit their vision. I adore Balboa Park but it does fit more of a ballroom or museum style event, rather than a tent and lawn games. I suggested they consider Heritage Park, just south of Old Town on a hill, and still close to Balboa Park. I suggested they go to Balboa Park for photos before the ceremony and they loved the idea. Heritage Park has a huge green grassy field and they allow tents and alcohol on site. The only constraint is that events have to end an hour after sunset, but in the heart of the summer, that’s 9pm! Adrienne and Ben decided they would designate a friend’s restaurant as the after party venue and we began to plan!
Adrienne wanted to a natural yet slightly nostalgic look for the wedding and chose to let her bridesmaids pick their own dress in a burlap hue. The look adds texture and style and is a great idea! For the gentlemen, Adrienne chose dark pants, suspenders, and ties in different bright colors. The mixture of similar yet different adds interest to the look while still being pulled together. Love it! Also notice the bright bouquet Adrienne chose to further add some color. For the ceremony, Adrienne and Ben used the standing gazebo as their chuppah and added a prayer shawl to the underneath side of it, to work with Jewish tradition.
Below, some of the fabulous photos at Balboa Park taken by True Photography. Adrienne and Ben did what is called a “first look” prior to their ceremony–a special moment of seeking each other for the first time with only their photographer present–and then took photos with their wedding party. As long as a couple is comfortable with it, I definitely recommend doing a first look and taking photos before the ceremony as once it begins, things move quickly and it’s hard to take the time to get photos like these. And the below photos are clearly the ones the couple will frame and forever savor!
For the reception, Adrienne wanted a very natural, outdoor look, with white linens, burlap table runners, dark wood chairs, and a bright mix of wildflowers for centerpieces. Blush Botanicals provided the runners and all the decor. They were the perfect company for this kind of look! Since a food truck was going to cater the event (the fantastic Curiocity) and would provide biodegradable plates as they served from the truck, we set the tables with a very simple design: napkin, champagne glass, fork, knife, and cute retro lollipop for color. The wedding party actually popped and poured the champagne as part of the grand entrance! Curiocity set a cheese display for the cocktail hour and a simple bar of beer and wine the couple had purchased, and then my team switched the appetizer table to a dessert display with fantastic sweets provided by CAKE.
Following dinner, J of J Soul Productions, one of my favorite DJ’s, invited Adrienne and Ben to do their first dance on a small dance floor outside the tent and then encouraged the entire crowd to join in the hora afterwards. Adrienne and Ben purposely kept the dance floor small, in case the lawn games were more of a hit, but found that all their guests danced away to DJ J and took over all the grass adjacent! Everyone danced until we had to end at 9pm. It was a perfect event! So fun and SO Adrienne and Ben! My team loved being part of it!
Cynthia Zatkin Events 
Beautiful and fun! Looks like a perfect wedding with the CZ team aiding and abetting.
Looks like a really fun event. Good job!