A Coastal Private-Residence Micro Wedding Above the Laguna Beach Cove

A Live-Wedding-Painting Ceremony in the Garden

The live-wedding-painting ceremony was set in the garden, tropical greenery all around, rows of bamboo chairs on the lawn, Ariel Corpuz already at his canvas. John came in first with the two mothers; then Brianna walked the aisle to him. It ran warm and easy, Brianna beaming through her vows, John grinning back, their hands wrapped together in front of everyone, then the kiss, right there in the middle of the seated guests, and a recessional back up the aisle with high-fives on both sides.

Through the whole ceremony, Ariel Corpuz was painting, catching the garden, the chairs, the couple, the light off the cove, in a canvas that would end up being the one thing you can't photograph: the day as it was actually happening.

“Our Little Wedding made wedding planning for these two wedding-newbies easy and fun. Our wedding was the intimate and romantic micro-wedding of our dreams.”

Portraits Above the Cove: This Coastal Private-Residence Wedding on Film

Before the guests sat, there was time in the garden, the whole wedding party, groomsmen in white and bridesmaids in blush, both families gathered around the two of them under the palms. A champagne tower went up on the terrace, John pouring while Brianna held the base.

With the light going gold, they slipped away for portraits along the cliff path above the cove and down onto the beach itself, the headland rising behind them, then a golf cart ferried them along the coast road back, Brianna waving from the passenger seat. The SoCal private-estate setting gave them the kind of portrait range that doesn't require driving anywhere: the house, the cove, the cliffs, the water.

The Reception at the SoCal Private Estate

After dark the garden turned into the reception, one long table under the palms, gold chargers and candlelight, a green neon glowing in the greenery. Brianna and John had their first dance on the lawn, and the toasts came one after another from the head table. They cut a two-tier cake, fed each other a bite, and kissed over the plate.

The night finished with the two of them dancing back in, hands up, straight into the party. The live painting hung nearby, the whole day on one canvas.