A Cliffside Estate Wedding at Wind and Sea in Big Sur

Portraits Along the Cliffs at a Big Sur Cliffside Wedding

Wind and Sea sits on a six-acre bluff that juts out over the Pacific along Highway 1, so portraits had the ocean in nearly every direction. Family photos came first, close family gathered together at the point, before Kristina and Matthew slipped off for couple portraits along the cliff terraces as the afternoon went on.

Appetizers and cocktails were set out on the small deck while photos ran, everyone spread across the terraces with the water below.

Dinner on the Deck

Dinner was at a long table on the deck, a menu cooked on-site by a private chef, with champagne toasts poured as everyone sat. The maid of honor and best man gave their speeches with the ocean at their backs. Fourteen people around one table on a Big Sur bluff has a particular feel, the space is intimate enough that every toast is heard by everyone, and the Pacific going dark past the railing makes the room feel both vast and close at the same time.

As the sun dropped, Kristina and Matthew had their first dance to a cover of 'Dusk Till Dawn,' followed by a mother-and-son dance and a father-and-daughter dance. The cake from Sweet Reba's was cut, and the last of the light went down over the water while everyone kept dancing.