–Author Unknown

Each of the events we host here at our Ranch is wonderful and unique in the love and joy they bring.

Weddings, especially, generate electric love. Excitement for the new is a scent aloft, wafting, intoxicating, and mingling with the sweet tang of orange blossoms in the ocean breeze.

But, what we find deserves special recognition are the hearts of an older, timeless love.

We’ve seen countless mothers pass beneath our weathered arches for these weddings.

The warm adobe brick floors act as silent witnesses to precious moments between mothers and their children, their babies, now grown. Our soft, white-washed walls offer support to these hearts, generous as the sun. Each, brimming over with the bittersweet taste of pride and a dash of heartache, another milestone reached. Willingly relinquishing bits of themselves with each step their children take further from them across thresholds, praying they did enough. Enough to guide, teach, cultivate strength and beauty, to prepare them for this new life.

If we can offer one grain of reassurance to these individuals of everlasting love, we’d remind them that though their children are grown, you never cease being their Mother, and you will always be with them.

“He didn’t realize that love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark…to have been loved so deeply…will give us some protection forever.”

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter, and the Sorcerer’s Stone

We here at Leo Carrillo Ranch commend all the Mothers out there for the endless amount of love you bring to us and the world.

We hope you feel Loved and Celebrated this Mother’s Day.

“Yours were the first eyes I looked into.
Yours were the first arms to hold me tight.
You were the first to show me never-ending love and compassion.
Forever . . . you are my mother
And I am blessed.”

–E.K. Mitchell

Thanks to Joe + Kathrina Photography for these incredible pictures!

From trade shows and corporate meetings to weddings, a comfortable lounge area can be beneficial in various ways. They offer an oasis to your guests, particularly if your event involves a lot of walking or standing, but they can also be an excellent meeting point for attendees to network. Creating a relaxed or informal moment during an event can be more conducive to starting a conversation and getting things flowing.

Hot Spots

Create a variety of matching locations for your attendees to chat comfortably in smaller groups. This layout is ideal if you have a lot of space, and it can be more luxurious than offering just one lounge area.

Plum & Oak Photography, Lounge Furniture: Folklore.

New Hollywood

Old Hollywood glam mixed with the latest fashions is always a hit with guests. This themed lounge is effective, creates an immersive experience, and looks welcoming.

Tayler Ashley Photography, Lounge Furniture: Folklore.

Wide Open Spaces

An open layout such as this makes for fluid mingling allows attendees to sit without cornering themselves off from the rest of the event. This is particularly good if there is something to watch on a stage or pay attention to, and these low tables make resting drinks easier for a more informal atmosphere.

Holly Ireland Photography, Lounge Furniture: Folklore.

Networking Stations

Although originally used for a wedding, this layout would also suit a corporate setting. Add a lounge to your corporate meeting or conference for a welcome break, as well as a way to promote continued conversation throughout the day. The combination between stools and rattan chairs provides a seating option for everyone.

True Photography, Lounge Furniture: Folklore.

Vintage Elegance

A popular trend as of late is creating a traditional lounge space in different settings. For example, it would be suited to an old-style English living room. However, it has been adapted to create an outdoor event lounge looking like the Beauty and the Beast library has inspired it.

True Photography

In-Tents!

Give your event a luxurious vibe by providing themed tents dotted around the venue. This wedding example provides more options for guests to sit and relax if they want to get up from the tables without making them wander in this outdoor setting.

Clifton Photography

See something you like?

Reach out to our talented Event Coordination Team to set up your ideal event lounge!

Wedding planning can be exhausting, and one of the hardest parts is the seating chart. After worrying about where and how your guests will be sitting, some couples forget to seat themselves!

Choosing whether you want to sit close to your bridal party and family or on your own throne as wedding royalty can be a tough choice. The decision between a Head Table and a Sweetheart Table comes down to preference and logistics, but if you and your honey aren’t particularly swayed in one direction over another, here’s some detailed information about both options to help you decide.

In Part One of this topic, we discussed all the perks of a Sweetheart Table over a Head Table. Now it’s time to fully explore the benefits of this grand feasting table design to see if it’s right for you!

Head Tables: For Your Knights and Ladies In Waiting

As mentioned before, Head Tables can come with their own difficulties, but with an appropriately sized bridal party, they can be a perfect fit! Medium to small-sized bridal parties (4-10 people total, including the Bride and Groom) are what Head Tables are literally built for.

Photographer: Photo by Chana and Don, Florist: Splendid Sentiments.

Modeled After “High Tables” from Medieval Feasts!

Royalty kept only the most trusted people close to them at meals. Without getting too into the history, it was a matter of safety and propriety, which determined where guests were seated. So today, we seat those that the Bride and Groom want to honor closest to them for their friendship and loyalty in their lives. Usually the Best Man and Maid of Honor, these people have helped support the happy couple throughout their relationship and wedding planning mayhem. Placing them next to the newlyweds as a way to honor them give them the thanks they deserve seems only natural.

Photographer: Photography by Joshua Killeen, Florist: The Flower Shop Encinitas.

Family Matters

Family is an enormous part of weddings, and we wouldn’t want anybody to feel left out. Some couples stick everybody who was part of the processional of their ceremony at one table. Meaning the happy couple, the bridal party, all parents, and any other significant members all come together again, essentially creating an XXL Head Table. Here the love birds can be in the thick of all the fun, and surprisingly, it works out flawlessly! Their bridal party, full of people practically family to them already, is sometimes too big. It makes sense to be with them in the middle of the festivities. Your family and closest friends are all going to want to talk to you anyway; you might as well join them so everyone can be able to sit and chat!

Photographer: Vafa Photography, Florist: Haystack Floral.

Tired Of The Spotlight?

Let’s say you don’t particularly care for the spotlight 100% of the time, and you want to be seated with your family. We suggest trying a Family Table. Introverted and family-focused couples love this option, especially when so much stimulation over the course of the day gets to be too much. The extra support you’ll receive surrounded by those already begging at the chance to help will be a relief. This option is also smart for pinching a few pennies since you won’t need to order extra tables and decorations!

Photographer: Gipe Photography, Florist: Huntress Florals.

Now that you have all the information, good and bad points, make a choice!

Just remember to be true to what you and your significant other want.

Thanks to all of the amazing photographers mentioned above, whose pictures we used to make this collaboration, and all the Florists who help inspire us with these beautiful arrangements!

Wedding planning can be exhausting, and one of the hardest parts is the seating chart. After worrying about where and how your guests will be sitting, some couples forget to seat themselves!

Choosing whether you want to sit close to your bridal party and family or on your own throne as wedding royalty can be a tough choice. The decision between a Head Table and a Sweetheart Table comes down to most couples’ preferences or logistics. If you and your hunny aren’t particularly swayed in one direction over another, here’s some detailed information about both options to help you decide.

Photographer: Plum and Oak Photography, Florist: Native Poppy.

Sweetheart Tables

A Sweetheart Table is exactly what it sounds like: a table meant for only the “Sweethearts,” aka the Bride and Groom. It will be one of the few designated places you and your significant other will be able to–frankly–escape the hordes of your adoring fans. There won’t be many moments over the course of the night where the two of you will be able to have private moments to yourselves, and having a designated seat away from the crowd might be exactly what you need.

Photographer: Elizabeth French Creative, Florals by a family member of the Bride.

A Remote Island Getaway

This table acts as a liferaft in the sea of your enthusiastic family members and will become your perching place for those few precious moments that nobody needs you for anything. Plus, everything on the table only comes in two’s, so you can afford to decorate! Without worrying about making 100+ copies of everything and buying in bulk, you can customize your special space all you want. Make it look like the table of your wildest dreams! (Or your wildest Pinterest boards…)

Photographer: By Amy Lynn Photography, Florist: KO Floral Designs.

No Need to Have Your Friends on a Leash!

Having your own table also grants your bridal party the freedom to mingle and pursue their own agendas throughout the night without feeling like they have to ask permission to leave the table. Most bridal party members will also be bringing a date, and they’ll want to be seated close to them. The Sweetheart Table keeps your honored friends out from under the spotlight and can entertain your other guests.

Photographer: Jordan Galindo, Florist: Layered Vintage.

It’s All About The Numbers.

Speaking of bridal parties, have you considered the size of your whole crew? Plus their dates? If you plan on seating only the designated bridal party with you, hopefully, their “Plus Ones” know somebody else to sit and talk with at their tables…

In general, extensive bridal parties tend to look a bit excessive if they’re all seated away from the rest of your guests at a Head Table. A group of people over twelve thick is tough to seat properly, especially if they’re all looking out in the same direction since you wouldn’t want anybody’s back to the rest of your guests. That can mean your head table is now around eighteen feet long! (If you want to talk to the ones at either end, start practicing your smoke signals now.) In this situation, unfortunately, those whom you wanted closest to you can end up not being the most remote.

Photographer: Gipe Photography, Florals by the Bride and Groom.

Musical Chairs

Think back to other occasions where a large group of friends and family got together at a restaurant. One of the biggest seating issues is making others have to get up or scoot their seats in every time you need to get up. Honestly, at your wedding, you only get to sit and relax for a total of about 45 minutes, if you’re lucky, and the toasts are long. You’re going to want every second of that seated peace enjoyed.

This seat-shuffling issue is removed by having a Sweetheart Table. It also makes you seem more approachable to your guests. Nobody wants to cause an inconvenience by imposing themselves on someone else’s space. By removing additional bodies, a direct line of traffic can form between your excited guests to you. Thus, creating a quicker flow of interactions and a more time-efficient process for the event overall.

Photographer: Shelly Anderson Photography, Florist: I Do Flowers For You.

Sentiments and Symbolism

Sitting at a Sweetheart Table can also be the first gesture a couple can make together in their married lives. It can signify that they are a single united entity forging a future path of their own. Many couples choose this option for that reason and the privacy it allows as well. Whispering sweet nothings in the ear of your freshly wedded spouse, without worrying about an audience, can keep the romance alive on such a crazy day.

Photographer: Lauren Scotti Photography, Florist: Siren Floral Co.

Still Can’t Decide?

With all of this said, the idea of a Sweetheart Table doesn’t sit right with some couples. They want their bridal party right at their sides, or they love the thought of a Head Table’s ability to make a bigger design statement.

Keep an eye out for Part 2 coming next week, where we’ll explore the other side of this decision and all the Head Table benefits!

Welcome Boxes

Photography- True Photography Welcome Box- Personal Touch Dining

There are so many welcome gifts that have become a new standard for couples to give–and generally have available– to their guests now. It seems like it’d be odd not to offer cute personalized hand sanitizers and optional masks, but what about programs and take-home favors too? Instead of assuming your guests have space to fit all these fun trinkets into their pockets throughout the event, a box filled with everything they could need from the start is the perfect solution. Guest-centered details like this are blowing up in popularity since so many weddings have been downsized. As a wedding favor that they can actually use at the wedding, these boxes act as a thoughtful way to make your loved ones feel that they’re cared for on your wedding day.

Environmentally Mindful

Photography- Meurer Image

An admittedly late, amped-up appreciation for sustainability was said to be a top trend in design and planning for 2020 until all gatherings were put on pause. It was a happy accident that many events in 2020 did end up being inherently more sustainable given their smaller scale. They were planned in backyards, amid gardens, and on terraces with help from neighborhood vendors and were more locally-sourced than ever before! 2021 weddings promise to continue that trend, with much of the product—from food to beverage or floral—being sourced as locally as possible, limiting carbon emissions in transportation and supporting small, artisan businesses. Getting married somewhere is now a commitment to supporting a local economy that undoubtedly felt the effects of 2020.

Uniquely Intentioned Tablescapes

Photography- Alexandria Monette Florist- Wildflower Studios

Couples are centering their event decisions around what is most important to them. We’re seeing more planned “private moments” on timelines and sentimental details taking the forefront in decor. Tablescapes are flourishing with custom linens, handwritten thank you notes, and elaborate food service displays. In theory, since there are fewer guests per table, there is more space to build your dream tablescape design. (We can all thank Pinterest for making us acutely aware of gorgeous stylized shoots.) Luxury linens, layered china, candles, and multicolored crystal glassware are sure to be prominent this Spring season and through the Fall.

Dream Livingroom Lounges

Photography- Joe & Kathrina Photography Florist- Beautiful Savage Flowers Furniture- Sundrop Vintage Rentals

Give us cozy throws, plush pillows, and couches! The outdoor lounge lives on in 2021, but the furnishings are leaning towards a cozy farmhouse rendition of a living room. Guests will most likely find themselves sitting for longer, and the Spring can be known for its chilly moments as it shakes off Winter. Plucked straight from Magnolia to an airy field, create a lounge layout for comfort and warmth.

Color Me Bold!

Photography- Top Shelf Photo Florist- Studio Fleurish

Across the board, Florists have been seeing brilliant pops of yellow become the dominating color in their clients’ requests. Yellow has so many wonderful tones in nature that there are shades to suit every season. Last fall, we saw genius mixes of dried bracken, autumnal-tinged foliage, and honey-yellow roses to achieve a classic “Fall” look. Now, the Spring and Summer seasons are riding the yellow tidal wave. Get ready for buttery yellows, ochers, and bold mustard tones in layers everywhere, including the linens, glassware, and china! Not only does it look good as flowers, but the intensity of mustard works so well with rich fabrics like velvet and satin. Events this year are inherently going to mean so much more than they used to, and with yellow being such a vibrant, joyful color, it seems fitting to help bring us back from such a dark year.

Floral Focus

Photography- Rachael Consaul Photography Florist- Posies Flowers

A 2021 floral trend to arise is a pure focus on voluminous floral arrangements that are equal parts breathtaking and sentimental. Couples are unanimously making design decisions based on this key importance. Instead of vaguely describing their dream florals in colors or choosing whatever is “in” at the moment, couples are insisting on a sense of personal touch. When you notice intricacies in the season’s details, the event’s motif flows effortlessly. The flavors and colors harmonize naturally, and the difference between this and something fabricated is obvious. The flowers chosen can create magic between the food you pick and the music played, collecting everything together beautifully. Statement florals are no longer impressive and impossible simply for the sake of impossibility. If the floral design is meant to reflect the couples, it becomes less orchestrated and more sensible, but no less eye-catching.

Something Spontaneous

Photography- Top Shelf Photo Lithuanian “Sakotas Cake”

As we’ve mentioned, 2021 wedding trends—reflective of more intimate affairs—are all about going deep into the details and accompanying experiences. Why not include an element of surprise or spontaneity? Whether it’s having a mentalist perform or asking a celeb to sing your first dance song over Zoom, the options to delight your guests are endless. Reducing a sauce will bring out its strongest flavors, and having smaller weddings allows couples to focus on smaller details. Adding in dashes of spice in the form of the couple’s unique personalities might be the right amount of quirky to be seen as spontaneous. Guests eat that up. We’ve seen caricature artists, palm and tarot readers, even custom haiku writers at our events, but waiting in the wings, even wilder interactive experiences await!

Looking for even more Spring 2021 Wedding Trends?

Check out our Instagram and Pinterest!

We’re so glad Paulina had a stress- free time planning her wedding with us! We take care to ensure that our all-inclusive packages make your wedding worries disappear. Minor details are our specialty, so we’ll make sure you don’t miss a thing. Our Special Events Team are pros at coordinating and helping you design your dream wedding.

Thanks, Paulina, for taking the time to review us!