Did you know that Pechanga Resort & Casino of Temecula has its very own golf course and wedding venue… and it’s beautiful?! I sure didn’t, until Kelsey Rae Designs brought me down to this hidden gem called Journey’s End that sits on a golf course and backs right up to the Temecula hills.

If you didn’t already catch it, this winter shoot was published on 100 Layer Cake recently! You can see the feature here. I’m excited to finally share with you my whole take on the special day!

This wedding inspiration started over a year ago, when I was having my very own wedding gown hand made by the sweet Jennifer Sitchler of Eden Couture. I would go in for fittings and see this amazing, custom wedding dress hanging on her mannequin. She spoke about how sweet the bride Alex was and how beautiful she would look on her wedding day. Jennifer asked if I would like to do a photoshoot with the bride in her dress after the wedding, and I couldn’t resist. This dress was one-of-a-kind!

When the time came, we brought Kelsey in and she brought everything to life. Her and I collaborated on a vision of winter themes and a neutral color pallet with cool tones as opposed to the traditional reds of winter. From there the vision blossomed, and she expanded our team and brought all of the details together to make magic!

For starters, Kelsey brought in Loren James of Four Things Paper for our invitation suite! Loren, your work is just….dreamy.

As a photographer, I especially appreciated this shoot, because it stretched me even more as an artist. After selecting our location, we came to the realization that we would have full sun hitting all of the aspects of the venue we wanted to incorporate. Backlighting simply wasn’t an option for our cold, winter theme, as this would add a glow to the images and warm up the feel. I had to find a way to make it look cold on a hot day, which was a new challenge. Kelsey helped me with this by setting up smaller details in full shade while the sun was out. I did my best to shoot into the shadows and keep from any rays of sun from shining through trees. We were fortunate to be in a valley of hills, so we had an entire hour of open shade covering the whole venue. This was where I popped around and photographed everything else with backdrops I couldn’t use earlier on, while the sun was hitting them. We had to move quickly, but it worked out well!

Did I mention I shot a hybrid of film and digital for this shoot?! Thank you Photovision for the beautiful film processing!

And how cute are these two together. If you didn’t catch that note about Alex’s wedding gown, our models were a real couple and they just celebrated one year of marriage last fall!

Katie Volmer of Beauty and the Beach came out and dolled up Alex for us. She is probably one of my favorite hair stylists! Look at how she perfectly mastered that soft, loose hairstyle that blows perfectly in the wind. Dreamy!

And don’t you love these bridal accessories by Petals and Stones? Katie co-owns the line with Heather Puhek and we loved their rose gold hair pieces and earrings to accent the coppers of the shoot. They were perfect!

Hannah of Modern Bouquet did wonders for our vision with her organic floral arranging. How pretty is this bridal bouquet?! And you have to see the table centerpiece she created for us. Such a beauty.

Props to this groom for great taste in shoes. (Cue impeccable hand gesture emoji!). And the navy suit?! Yes.

I adored how Kelsey tied in whites and grays, wood textures and pinecones for the tablescape. Just my style! Our sweet and talented friend Kristin of Phoenix Feathers Calligraphy made the most beautiful, hand-calligraphed table runner and my jaw about fell to the floor when I saw it in person! She also created for us the escort cards and cake signs!

These copper mugs!! I want them in my home!! Moscow mule anyone??

We were so excited to have Hey there, Cupcake! create some delicious cakes for our dessert table. She pulled off the prettiest modern take on a vanilla late two-tiered cake, and those copper strokes are oh, so lovely! She also whipped up the cutest cinnamon roll cake you ever did see!

And did I mention that all of these dreamy, white farm tables were made and provided by Rustic Urban Events? They’re a husband-wife team based out of Temecula. It was my first time working with them, and co-owner Jennifer was a sweetheart! I hope to see them at more of my weddings this year!

And a few words from our most talented wedding coordinator who helped bring this wedding inspiration shoot to life and did so much of the planning for us!

“I was honored to have been brought on to help style this beautiful winter shoot with Jenna of Jenna Joseph Photography. Her style reflects a softness that I have been so attracted to and I knew we would make a great team in exploring a different take on a California winter shoot. We both quickly got to work coming up with ways to create an earthy feel, while also bringing in touches of winter comfort, such as a giant cinnamon roll cake and pine cones. I had been to Journey’s at Pechanga several times and one day it clicked with me- their stone covered walls and endless trees backing up against their golf course, would be the perfect backdrop for our shoot. We brought on Hannah of Modern Bouquet because we felt her arranging style would embrace the organic, whimsical feel we were striving for. Our favorite calligrapher, Kristin of Phoenix Feathers Calligraphy, created a show stopping hand lettered table runner with the romantic lyrics of “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheran. Katie of Beauty and the Beach did a beautiful job of creating a soft look on our model and also provided jewelry from Petals and Stones which complimented the overall look so well. Rustic Urban Events provided white washed tables which gave a different look to the traditional farm tables we see so much of. We were blown away by the cake detail that Stevi of Hey There Cupcake came up with! Jennifer Sitchler of Eden Couture hand stitched the amazing custom gown we featured. Loren of Four Things Paper came up with a stationery suite that blew us all away. We truly had the most talented group of vendors to showcase this amazing property in Temecula Valley! – Kelsey Rae Designs

 

Vendor Love:

Venue: Journey’s End
Style & Design: Kelsey Rae Designs
Photographer: Jenna Joseph Photography
Florist: Modern Bouquet
Hair & Makeup: Beauty and the Beach
Table Runner, Escort Cards + Cake Signs: Phoenix Feathers Calligraphy
Invitation Suite: Four Things Paper
Cakes: Hey There Cupcake
Farm Tables: Rustic Urban Events
Dress: Eden Couture Bridal
Jewelry: Petals and Stones
Film Processing: PhotoVision