Stunning Carmel-by-the-Sea Wedding at Carmel Valley Ranch
A Carmel-by-the-Sea wedding promises to be romantic and cinematic, and it’s the perfect gateway to Big Sur!
When Maggie and Robert asked me to be their florist for their Carmel Valley Ranch wedding, it was all I could think about! I had so many creative and fun ideas for the direction I could take their wedding florals in, as Carmel Valley Ranch is the perfect balance between rustic countryside, paired with the charming natural beauty of the coastal Big Sur area.
Read on to learn more about what planning a Carmel-by-the-Sea wedding at Carmel Valley Ranch looks like!
Carmel Valley Ranch: A Magical Carmel-by-the-Sea Wedding Venue
Carmel Valley Ranch is a gorgeous wedding venue that includes the Santa Lucia Mountains as your backdrop, a hillside vineyard, rolling lavender fields, and is a luxury resort in the heart of Central California’s wine country.
It’s also an incredibly versatile venue that can be used for a meaningful, intimate celebration or to plan a grand, unforgettable party. Another reason to love this venue is that it’s also a hotel, so you and your nearest and dearest are able to stay right at the venue or even make it a whole wedding weekend if that’s more your style!
Carmel Valley Ranch also has a variety of different venues you could choose from, so you can pick the one that perfectly matches your wedding vision.
Some of the options you have include the following:
Valley Lawn
Ideal for a large gathering with lots of space and unmatched views of Carmel Valley and the rolling hillside.
Vineyard Lawn
The Vineyard Lawn is tucked away in a four-acre Pinot Noir vineyard and is surrounded by large oaks and the enchanting lavender fields. You’ll have a lush, verdant lawn, views of the Santa Lucia Highlands, and be immersed in a magical garden-like setting.
Harvest Landing
Harvest Landing has stunning views of Carmel Valley and beautiful vineyards, and you’ll be surrounded by oaks, birdsong, and the best the valley has to offer!
For a full list of all the different ceremony sites you could choose from (because there’s a lot), go here!
Another standout feature of Carmel Valley Ranch is the resort experience it offers - aside from its award-winning cuisine and abundance of activities, you and your guests can enjoy, it also features a full-service spa, on-site creamery, pools, culinary demonstrations, and more. They’ve really thought of everything when it comes to crafting an unforgettable wedding day and experience for you.
Services and Amenities at Carmel Valley Ranch
Carmel Valley Ranch offers you full-service wedding packages and an expert team to help you plan the perfect day! Here’s a breakdown of the different services and amenities you’ll find at this venue:
Venue rental for six hours— a ceremony of one hour and a reception of five hours
Private ceremony space dedicated to you and your guests
White folding garden chairs
Spa water for pre-ceremony welcome beverage
For cocktail receptions: Tall/short cocktail tables and chairs, house linen, votive candles, house tabletop décor, and bar setup
For dinner receptions: Round tables for dining, dark mahogany Chiavari chairs, house linen and napkins, stemware, glassware, flatware, white china, votive candles, and a dance floor (indoors only)
Want to learn more about what a wedding at Carmel Valley Ranch entails? Check out their in-depth wedding brochure here!
Which Flowers Go Well With Carmel Valley Ranch for Your Wedding?
When it comes to blooms you could choose from for your Carmel Valley Ranch celebration, there’s genuinely no “wrong” bloom you could pick as this venue is just like working with a blank slate - you can make the venue feel like its truly your own and ensure it perfectly aligns with your wedding vision.
Personally, for this venue, I would suggest using wild, organic blooms and lots of florals with different pops of color to create an enchanting ambiance.
For the couple featured throughout this blog, I went with colorful, vibrant colors and blooms for their wedding floral arrangements. When I had my consult call with the couple, they came to me and told me that they knew they wanted a colorscape of pinks, purple, and yellow, so I chose blooms that included daisies, roses, cosmos, and lisianthus to pair with the vision they had in mind.
Their entire day, from beginning to end, exuded pure magic. One of my favorite features of their floral arrangements was adding in bittersweet berry in the arch - swoon!
I definitely would recommend adding in a floral arch to your wedding at Carmel Valley Ranch as it can be used in so many different ways at this venue from being the backdrop to your ceremony to being a favorite feature of the day for guests to take pictures in front of or as an eye catching piece at the head table. It’s incredibly versatile and, of course, fun to have too!
For this wedding, I opted for a garden-style arrangement, which I felt perfectly complemented the venue. Garden-style floral arrangements can suit a wide range of moods, whether you want your wedding to have a rustic, country atmosphere, an organic and natural feel, or a whimsical ambiance.
This is a beautiful, loose floral arrangement that has the appearance of freshly gathered flowers from a garden put on display.
Also, this floral style is a great choice for you if you’re drawn toward bright colors, flower crowns, a natural feel, and garden-inspired elements.
Ready to Plan a Carmel-by-the-Sea Wedding at Carmel Valley Ranch?
I hope you found all this info on planning an enchanting Carmel-by-the-Sea wedding at Carmel Valley Ranch helpful. Carmel Valley Ranch is so much more than just a wedding venue - it’s an entire experience that will sweep you off your feet.
And…if you are in Southern California and want to work with a florist who has an elevated, whimsical style and who will artfully design your florals for your celebration, wedding, or a private event, then let’s connect.
My focus is to stay true to a nature-inspired style while also being versatile by incorporating a variety of styles. Romantic, whimsical, structured, artful - I love to grow and expand in what I can create for you. You can learn more about my work here or contact me directly here.
