Garden Wedding in Santa Cruz

Anika and Jonathan’s Santa Cruz wedding was a friends and family affair. Held on the property of close family friends, the day was filled with gorgeous garden party details and florals all designed by the couple’s friend and florist Joann Moritz. Anika’s father built the ceremony arch that was decked out in stunning florals, friends decorated the pool area with floating candles that stunned after dusk, and the ceremony music was also performed by a couple dear to the bride and groom. Anika had this piece of advice “…allow the people who love you to help you.”

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“The arch was built by my father, with a lot of help from friends and neighbors. He’s a physicist and can’t help over-engineering everything he does–he built several prototypes before settling on the final form of 3 nested arches made of willow branches cut from our friend’s farm. Some of my parents’ neighbors came to help him execute, and our event designer filled it all in with the most beautiful floral.”

“A fantastic piece of advice I received far too late in the process was to allow the people who love you to help you. Not necessarily because of the burden it removes from you, but because they want to be a part of bringing the day together. I was so afraid of asking too much of people, but they were so happy when I gave them a way to contribute and bring the day together (and it helped with my stress too!)

We had pizza delivered at 9pm–this was a lifesaver. We were luckily able to find ONE pizza place in Santa Cruz that would deliver to the venue. Not the fanciest late night snack but at that point nobody really minds”

Photography: ONELOVE PHOTOGRAPHY // Day of Coordination: Sonia Gosline, E EVENTS CO. // Event Designer: JOANN MORITZ // Florals: Joann Moritz, JULIET’S GARDEN // Stationery Design: MAGGIE BIGNELL AND JOANN MORITZ // Stationery Printing: SENTINEL PRINTERS // Venue: Private Residence, Santa Cruz CA // Dress Designer: Willoby by Watters for BHLDN // Makeup: JILLIAN WILKEY // Hair: Tara Murphy, SALON ON THE SQUARE // Dessert Bar: KELLY’S BAKERY // Caterer: Jorden Richardson, SAVORY EVENTS // Videography: PER JERNER // DJ: Joe Williams, SANTA CRUZ DJ // Groom’s Attire: THEORY // Lighting: WOODWORM // Rentals: ALEXIS PARTY RENTAL