A Villa Micro Wedding at Villa Francesca in La Jolla

Sunset Portraits at La Jolla Cove

Cocktail hour followed on the grounds, with passed appetizers going out to guests while family photos happened on the villa property. Then Dreidel, Joshua, and the photographer drove the four minutes down to La Jolla Cove for portraits as the sun dropped.

The cove sits below sandstone cliffs along the San Diego coastline, where California sea lions haul out on the rocks, part of the reason people make the short drive from the villa to photograph there. The couple caught the last of the afternoon light before heading back up. La Jolla Cove is a protected marine reserve, which is why the sea lions stay; it also means the water runs a particular clear blue-green in the afternoon sun, and the sandstone comes in warm gold when the light drops low. The two of them and the photographer had that whole stretch of cliff to themselves before dinner.

Dinner Under the Wooden Awning

Back at Villa Francesca, the guests moved under the wooden awning for dinner. Dreidel and Joshua were announced in and went straight into a first dance, then Joshua's father, Vince, gave the one speech of the evening.

Dinner came out from the caterer, the couple gave their own brief thank-you to the room, and the cake was cut. Twenty people, one villa from morning to end, exactly the casual, intimate day they had asked for.