Behold, the Most Glamorous Camping Wedding Ever
All photography by Christa Milster for Our Labor of Love
Ligaya and Russel may or may not have met at a party in 2005. “I wish I could say it was love at first sight,” Ligaya tells Yahoo Style, “but admittedly I don’t even remember meeting Russ — though he claims to have been struck by me somehow.” Fortunately, fate stepped in and the couple was formally introduced a short time later when the future bride and groom became co-workers at Yelp.
The two sat side-by-side, but few words passed between them. “Despite my attempts at friendly coworker conversation, I couldn’t coax more than ten words out of him!” Ligaya remembers.
When the two finally had a work lunch together, their conversation was far from awkward. “To my surprise, we hit it off right away,” she says. They discovered they had a lot in common, including a Midwestern upbringing, quirky families, and a mutual love for the band Portishead. “By the end of the meal I was convinced that Russ was the man for me.”
Within a few weeks, the two had parted ways with their significant others and began dating, though they kept the liaison hush at the office. Over the next eight years the couple spent time together and apart, and finally found their way back to each other in 2009. Three years later, Russel knew it was time he proposed.
“Shortly after Ligaya and I first had lunch, I told my friend Paul that she was the woman I intended to marry,” Russ tells Yahoo Style. And seven years later he decided to let her in on the secret. “Our upcoming vacation to Japan seemed like the perfect time to pop the question.”
The pair had gone ring shopping at an antiques store and Ligaya picked out a 1920s white gold band with a vine motif and hexagon-cut diamond set in platinum. Russ went back the next day to buy it so the proposal would be a surprise.
His plan was to propose on their first night in Tokyo, but the setting wasn’t as warm and romantic as he had hoped, so he rethought his plan and waited to find the opportune moment. Luckily several days later he found the ideal location: a private outdoor spring.
“Ligaya and I arrived at the small outdoor spring and disrobed,” Russ recalls. “The first snow of the season had fallen on the mountains. The leaves were changing colors. A gurgling river flowed beside us. Everything was beautiful and awesome!” He dropped to one knee, told Ligaya how much he loved her and asked her to marry him.
For their wedding, the couple envisioned an outdoor space with epic views and the sound of the waves crashing around them. “We knew we wanted to have an outdoor wedding and hoped to have some camping component where guests could meet and mingle over the course of a weekend instead of a drive-by experience,” Ligaya explains. They hired Shelter Co. and created a campsite at Dos Pueblos Ranch in Santa Barbara with luxurious tent accommodations for their guests, which included fire pits, a kid-friendly area, in-ground pool, outdoor showers, and a sauna.
The wedding details all complemented the rustic setting and palette. Neutrals, greens, navy, and the occasional coral or persimmon accented everything from the stationery by Zargosy, to the flowers, to the bridesmaids’ jumpsuits. The bride was true to her own style in a two-piece Monique Lhuillier crop top and high-waisted skirt. “It felt like just the right amount of edge and elegance,” she says.
Ligaya’s wedding-day look was completed with camel studded Valentino sandals, gold shoulder chains by Rosantica, and diamond earrings by Yvonne Leon. The bride’s bouquet, by Brown Paper Design, featured lush anemones, peonies, parrot tulips, dahlias, and proteas framed with ferns and other greenery.
The couple personalized their ceremony by asking the groom’s mom to read a poem she wrote for the occasion, and a friend recited “I Carry Your Heart” by E.E. Cummings. The bride and groom wrote their own vows, including making six promises to each other that they said in unison.
The party started right after, where the couple kicked off dancing with “Something About Us” by Daft Punk. Guests celebrated with the newlyweds well into the night. “We rode the bus with guests back to the campsite and snuck away as everyone was partying around the fire pits,” Ligaya remembers.
“I’m so glad we decided to have multiple events over the course of the weekend,” Ligaya says. “It gave us time to spend with friends and family that we don’t get to see enough. Having everyone you love in the same place is utterly magical!”
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