Kaitlin & Logan's Dreamy Big Sur Wedding

Posted on May 30, 2025 By Isobel Schofield

Name: Kaitlin Brooks
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Where you live: San Diego, CA

Where your wedding was: Big Sur, CA
What you do: For a living I work in publishing and in my free time I am an amateur beekeeper, ceramics dabbler and an aspiring writer.

Can you tell me a little about how you and your partner made your wedding feel special for you?

We wanted our wedding to reflect us and the things that mattered most to us, namely being in nature with the people we love, creativity, music and spending lots of leisure time eating good food and drinking good wine. We spent the weekend camping in Big Sur—arguably one of the most gorgeous places in the world, and all our guests camped with us. We kept the guest list as intimate as we thought we could and had a rule that we didn’t want either of us to be meeting any of our guests for the first time the weekend of the wedding. This really ensured that we were relaxed and comfortable with everyone attending.

We arrived a day before anyone else, which helped us feel grounded and allowed us to spend some quality time together before the festivities began. Guests arrived in waves over the next few days, and this worked out perfectly for everyone to gradually get to know each other. We had some communal gathering spaces (a firepit, a breakfast table with coffee, etc.) and people gravitated toward those places. We decided to give everyone a unique mug for the weekend’s beverages and watching folks pick out their mugs when they arrived, and then use it as a conversation starter, was a really fun touch.

With the help of my friend Emily (another clog enthusiast), we created a zine for guests with the daily itinerary and lots of useful info for the weekend. We included drawings of poison oak so folks could be sure to avoid it, and the lyrics to a song I surprised Logan by singing for him at the picnic reception.

Each morning, we set up a small table we called Coffee & Crosswords for any early risers who wanted to geek out with us in some of our favorite morning rituals. We provided coffee, tea, biscotti, homemade granola, and crossword puzzles we made with trivia about our relationship.

The night before the ceremony, in leu of a rehearsal dinner we had an outdoor potluck with our whole group, twinkle lights, and a live bluegrass band—this was magical with the sun setting over the hills.

By the day of the ceremony, most everyone knew everyone else, which was perfect. We had our guests grab a beer and walk into a nearby redwood fairy circle for the actual ceremony portion. One of my sweet friends, Billy, played acoustic guitar and sang for my entrance and then my undergrad professor and mentor married us in a short, intimate, and poetic ceremony. The guests all gathered around us under the enormous and magical redwoods. One of the highlights was a line from a Mary Oliver poem that reads, “If you have ever gone to the woods with me, I must love you very much.” It felt like that was a gesture toward each and every person invited into that space with us.

I’m a huge Joan Didion fan and I love the line she wrote about nearby San Simeon: “The guests ate pressed duck and wiped their hands on paper napkins: again, a child’s fantasy, every meal a picnic.” I wanted to capture this simple and magical essence in our reception. Instead of a traditional reception, it was my dream to have an afternoon picnic with our favorite cheeses, meats, accoutrements, and natural wines. I am a sommelier, and wine has played an important role in my life over the past few years, so good wine was a must for us. Guests sprawled out on the grass or nearby picnic tables and opened picnic baskets that we had filled with goodies to share with their group—tin fish, artisan crackers, cheeses, chocolates, olives and cornichons. We spared no expenses on this part because we wanted it to be high quality and to really wow the guests. Logan and I rejoined the group after the ceremony and walked into the clearing to see all of our closest family and friends lingering over their incredible picnic baskets, and that was one of the best moments for me, personally.

We also ended the wedding day with a denim and bolo tie-themed silent disco dance party outside under the stars, which was the absolute most fun. Our incredibly talented DJ friend, Michaela, made three distinct playlists and people danced their butts off late into the night. We turned our vintage Scamp trailer into a Speakeasy for the night and served craft batched cocktails for anyone who managed to discover it.

I’m sure she’s slightly biased but to this day my grandma says this was the most fun wedding she’s ever been to (and she’s been to a lot)! This was so encouraging to hear since it was exactly what we had wanted to create.

What things did you decide were important for you as a couple, and what traditions did you decide weren't for you (if any)?

Since our dream was to have all our favorite people in one space, meeting each other and hanging out in nature, we built in a lot of spontaneous time for hiking, exploring, surfing, etc. (including time for a siesta after the picnic reception, though not many people could rest with all the excitement). We gently suggested that everyone camp/stay on the premises with us, encouraged shared meals and taking care of each other. We wanted everyone to feel important and included and that dictated a lot of our choices. Watching people who hadn’t met before, sharing meals throughout the weekend and exchanging contact info by the end, was really special.

We decided to eliminate any/most wedding traditions that didn’t fit for us and our space: no decorations, no real vendors, no amplified sound to preserve the natural beauty of being outdoors, no garter, no first dances or money dances, no wedding parties or wedding colors, etc. Instead of thinking about what traditions we were getting rid of, we tried to start with a blank slate and think about what might be important for us to add in.

Creativity, music and poetry are very important to us, and we tried to incorporate this into many aspects of the weekend. We wrote our own vows and worked on making each detail of the weekend something that reflected us and our relationship.

Logan really wanted to do a traditional cake cutting so we had a friend make a small cake that we covered with pressed flowers and then surrounded by mostly just all the kids we cut the cake. He fed me a bite of the cake and then he cut a piece and fed it to himself, which made everyone laugh.

What advice would you give to other future brides to make the day/weekend go smoothly?

Establish clear expectations for guests. This permeated into so many aspects of the weekend, including the size of the guest list, the energy and tone of the event, priorities, etc. Have a smaller wedding if you want time with the people there—I cannot recommend cutting the list enough. Protect the energy of your event by only having people there who will add to the overall feel and goal, rather than taking away from it. I had recently read The Art of Gathering, and that helped give me permission to create boundaries in this way. I highly recommend that book.

Also, as impossible as it seems, set the tone for the event early on. For us, our vision was a relaxing, joyful time of being together outdoors and we had to actively work against the surmounting stress that can come with planning and executing such an event. We kept having to remind ourselves (and sometimes well-meaning family members) that the purpose was for us to get to commit to each other with our friends and family around and that each step of the planning process was also part of the love story we were building. In other words, no detail or plan was more important than showing each other, and our guests, kindness and consideration. While we knew we wanted to do a DIY sort of thing, we also didn’t want our guests and especially our family members, to have to be working on projects the whole weekend and not getting to enjoy it. There were other ideas we had for the weekend, but we ended up letting them go in an effort to recognize our limits (both financially and emotionally). There is so much pressure to pull everything together perfectly for weddings, but none of that matters if it isn’t fun and people aren’t happy to be there.

We did a ton of work ahead of time (I’m thankful for Logan’s Excel spreadsheet skills) to make things look and feel effortless the weekend of, but that paid off when we got to the campsite and were able to enjoy all that we had put into motion. Our location also offered poor cell service, which ended up being something that encouraged people to really be present and interact with others. Our actual ceremony was phone-free and was another way we tried to facilitate being present in the space and with each other.

One thing we did that helped a lot was ask one of our good friends, in lieu of a wedding gift, to be in charge of feeding the two of us throughout the weekend. We had him add two extra servings to everything he was making for his group and to track us down with it when he could. It sounds silly but meal planning for camping and then all of the running around during the days of the actual event kept us so busy that we knew thinking about food would be the last thing on our minds. This truly saved us, and he was happy to do it. I highly recommend this idea.

Ultimately, we wanted our wedding to be about community and connection and not about having a perfectly executed, formal event. Each step of the planning process we worked on establishing that clear expectation for our guests as well.

What clogs did you pick for your wedding and why?

Before I even had an idea for a dress, I knew I wanted to wear Bryr clogs. It was funny because each time I told people this, they looked at me quizzically and I realized most of them were imagining traditional wooden painted Dutch clogs. After much deliberation (y’all don’t make it easy to choose between so many gorgeous designs and colors), and after ordering a few color swatches, I decided on the Miranda Peep Toe High Heel. I went back and forth on choosing a more traditional color (Agave for my something blue, or a Bone for a more bridal look), but I ultimately landed on the Fennel color and I’m so glad I did. It fit perfectly with the fall landscape in Big Sur and added a pop of color that felt playful and natural. My dress was delicate, handmade French silk, and somehow that paired with the clogs made it the most comfortable and elegant combination imaginable. Logan’s suit was a dark green wool herringbone, so rather than try to match the colors, the fennel provided a nice compliment to the Big Sur landscape and the brown/green color palate we had accidentally stumbled on.

I also wanted to find a balance between a simple, natural elegance and something I could walk around in the forest in without the heal sinking into the soft dirt or my feet hurting all day. The block heel of the clog was perfect for this.

Have you found yourself wearing them again, or are you keeping them as a keepsake?

I definitely wear them! That was also part of my decision-making process. I didn’t want to spend money on any aspects of the weekend that weren’t able to be used or worn again. Even my dress is going to be cut and turned into something a little less formal that I can wear hopefully again and again. Logan just recently wore a part of his suit for a formal evening out. The night of the wedding for our dance party, I changed into my denim and bolo tie, added some ruffled socks under my clogs and wore them for a night of dancing. The Fennel is such a versatile color, and the style is timeless. They are too gorgeous to sit on my shelf unworn.

Do you have any other Bryr clogs

This was my first pair but certainly not my last. It was a special treat to buy myself these clogs for the wedding, but I love them and want them in so many colors and styles!

Anything else you'd like to share?

We did not plan on doing any flowers, in part because we wanted to keep things simple for ourselves and because we wanted to be conscious not to bring anything into the area that could be invasive or compromise the existing ecosystem (I’m looking at you, Pampas Grass). As a gift, my lovely friend Paulina of Fig & Vine Florals put together the most perfect bouquet filled with native leaves, shrubs and wildflowers, and it was just such a great fit for me. It was tasteful but also less formal than many bouquets I have seen—exactly the feel we wanted for our weekend. Not only is she incredibly talented, but her keen awareness and consideration in choosing plants and color combinations to create or match an overall mood, was expert.

We also had a frank conversation with our photographer about what kind of images we wanted—a lot of candid photos that captured moments throughout the weekend. We mostly resisted any formally styled photos and didn’t want to take time away from the guests and festivities for photos. She was incredible about being part of the group, really listening to what we wanted, and working with us to photograph over the span of the weekend.

Kaitlin wore the Miranda Clog in Fennel on her wedding day. The Miranda is currently available in bone, fennel and adobe.