The Inn At Newport Ranch Wedding | Fort Bragg, CA

 

“My favorite moment was taking the ATV with my dad to the ceremony, and walking down the "aisle". The weather was absolutely perfect - I remember the crunch beneath my heels as I walked on bits of dried grass and the sounds of the waves crashing against the bluffs, and seeing all of our friends and family gathered on this one cliff overlooking the ocean was a moment I'll never forget. I truly felt like I was with Greg and my favorite people, celebrating love and life at the edge of the world.” - Hatty

Fort Bragg Wedding 

Hatty and Greg’s The Inn At Newport Ranch Wedding in Fort Bragg, California was intimate, inspiring, and beautiful. The Inn At Newport Ranch is located on the California Coast which resulted in beautiful light, perfect weather, and an epic venue on the cliff side.

We connected with the couple around a year before their wedding and had an awesome opportunity to get to know them and even take an adventure to the Columbia River Gorge for their engagement session. Afterwards, we grabbed food and drinks at the Whiskey Lounge in Portland to celebrate our new friendship.

Bride & Groom portraits

 

History About The Inn At Newport Ranch Wedding Venue

The Inn At Newport Ranch Wedding venue has a unique history behind it:

“Our story begins differently than most. Before The Inn at Newport Ranch, there was Newport — a small town that sprouted around a logging community in 1865. When the industry left town two decades later, its inhabitants went with it. Farmers soon took their place, constructing numerous buildings on the abandoned land. One of those was a two-story house; today, some 100-plus years later, the bones of the old farm house form the core of our newly-constructed Inn.” - www.theinnatnewportranch.com 

bride preps

 

Groom Preps

 

Details

The Inn At Newport Ranch Wedding Photos:

“Wedding Ceremony:  took place on the striking and dramatic "Celebration Bluff", perched above the Pacific ocean at Newport Ranch. Wooden benches were arranged on both sides of the aisle, where I installed lush deep-toned seasonal foliage and clusters of the vibrant featured blooms of the day including dahlia, rose, amaranthus, allium, and eryngium thistle.  Placed at the ends of the benches  were ground level boxes of weathered redwood to hold collections of foliage, grasses and the deep and moody featured blooms of the day.  Hatty and Greg were joined in the middle of a semicircle of flowers, textures and grasses that were made to look to sprout from the ground with the installation of the assorted wedding flowers. The view behind the couple was of the vast and open sea and the rocky outcroppings; they requested for this low level installation so that it would not impede the surrounding view.” - Hatty

ceremony at “celebration bluff”

 

“Cocktail hour:  Following the ceremony, the wedding party and guests walked across the meadows to the Inn at Newport Ranch for a beautiful cocktail party and seated dinner to follow. Upon arrival at the inn, guests gathered on the south lawn and inn decks  for a casual cocktail and social hour.  A service bar, two cocktail tables and two lounge areas were set for guests to place their drinks on and socialize around during this time.  Tabletops were adorned with a floral splash made with an understated gathering of mixed wedding flowers and greens  combined in a natural composition. The bar also host edtwo small  arrangements following the design inspiration  of the day.” - Hatty

cocktail hour

 

“Following the cocktail hour, guests were invited into the warm and festive dining tent, where long rectangular Mendocino wooden tables were set for family style dining.  Two low centerpieces were set on each table for a cohesive central display to embrace the rich and naturally inspired theme of the day. A base of mixed and textured seasonal foliage including deep green boughs, burgundy maple leaves and ruscus were infused with an open collection of the richly inspired wedding blooms.  Quicksand roses, deep burgundy dahlias, amaranthus, scabiosa and zinnias in the deep and moody tones were set in loose, open and low arrangements.  The bride and groom's chair backs were highlighted in a floral and greenery swag.  Candlelight on the tabletops added warm dancing light and sparkle to each space, as well as reflection and twinkle off of the surrounding glassware.” - Hatty

reception

Vendor Team:

Check out these other Bay Area Weddings we’ve captured:

Q&A with the Bride!

How did you two meet?

“We met the old-fashioned way - totally randomly at a bar!  It was a snowy winter night in NYC, and Greg was grabbing a beer with a friend at a low-key cocktail bar called Mother's Ruin, in NoLiTa.  Meanwhile after a long night of barhopping, my friend convinced me for "one more nightcap" at this place (which I had never been to before), and I ended up sitting a few seats away from Greg at the bar.  My friend thought she recognized Greg's friend, and struck up a conversation - but the night ended with Greg and I bantering away and exchanging phone #s.  We would have our very first date a few weeks later at another cocktail bar, the Mulberry Project, and we didn't stop chatting for over 5 hours!  It was the best (and last) first date we'd both been on, and we've been two peas in a pod ever since.”

How did the proposal go down?!

“On the beach at sunset in Tulum, Mexico.  Funny enough, Greg had orchestrated the whole trip as a surprise for weeks, but his cover was blown within minutes of arrival!  On the taxi ride from Cancun airport to our hotel (Be Tulum), we celebrated with a few mini bottles of Corona, and upon check-in, Greg took a quick trip to the bathroom.  In those few minutes, the front desk clerk asked me if we were celebrating anything and I told him I was just there with my boyfriend to celebrate the holidays.  He took a closer look at our check-in sheet and asked, "Oh nothing else?  It says here that you are celebrating your surprise engagement..... " and as soon as he read those last two words out loud, his face dropped and he literally put down the sheet and walked away in humiliation!!  Greg came back in high spirits and asked if he'd missed anything, and I didn't have the heart to tell him that the surprise had been ruined.  I finally told him when we checked into the room, and he tried his best to tell me he didn't know what they were talking about...  In the end, he still had me wondering whether he'd stick with the original plan or not and when he'd pull the trigger - so it was a surprise after all.  Funny enough, Tulum had a pop-up cocktail bar from the very same place that we had our first date, The Mulberry Project - where we had drinks after getting engaged on the beach!”


What did you envision your wedding being prior to planning?

“I envisioned a design that would flow naturally with the dramatic bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, redwoods and forest surrounding the Inn at Newport Ranch.  I pictured cascading details, with a broodingly romantic feel for the overall aesthetic of the wedding.  I didn't want anything to overpower the nature around us, but just enough decor to make it "feel" like a celebration that also complemented the beauty of the coastline and the ranch.”


What unique elements or DIY details did you include?

“I wanted there to be lots of magical flickering light, so we got a TON of candles/votives/hurricanes from Dollar Tree! (not sure I'd recommend this as a logistical nightmare ensued resulted in us pulling and reboxing our 150 pieces from their shelves ourselves)

We had also recently moved from NYC so we wanted to incorporate as much of our backgrounds as possible (me being Korean, Greg being Canadian, our lives in NYC, and our new life in SF) which we did primarily through the food.  The first night happened to be Halloween, so we had everyone dress up in "Canadian Tuxedos" (denim-on-denim) which was super fun, and our wedding designer created a beautifully elevated Halloween dinner where we feasted on cioppino, an iconic dish from SF.  The second night (our "rehearsal dinner") started out with firepit cocktails overlooking the ocean where the guests were transported by ATVs, followed by an incredible Korean BBQ dinner indoors, live music by Jamal Corrie (an incredible singer I had discovered when he was busking in San Francisco, and was recently on the show "The Voice"!), late night s'mores and dancing.  We also had pastrami sandwiches, pickles and latkes delivered from the iconic Katz's Delicatessen in NYC for the wedding's late night snacks - which were all demolished!  

We also tried to represent as much of our backgrounds in our DIY "welcome bags" through various snacks/alcohol from SF/NYC/Korea.”


What was your favorite moment?

“My favorite moment was taking the ATV with my dad to the ceremony, and walking down the "aisle".  The weather was absolutely perfect - I remember the crunch beneath my heels as I walked on bits of dried grass and the sounds of the waves crashing against the bluffs, and seeing all of our friends and family gathered on this one cliff overlooking the ocean was a moment I'll never forget.  I truly felt like I was with Greg and my favorite people, celebrating love and life at the edge of the world.”

Describe your wedding day in your own words:

“I couldn't imagine any other way to celebrate the beginning of our lives together with the people we love most, in the most breathtakingly beautiful place on Earth.  I will always be in such awe of the beauty of nature and love being so present on a single day, just for us.”


What is one piece of advice you can give to brides-to-be?

“STOP PLANNING AND STRESSING when your wedding day/weekend begins!!!  Things WILL go wrong, but you have no time to waste on fretting over the details that no one (including you!) will remember.  Focus on being present, because time WILL fly and your wedding will be over before you know it!!”


Any final thoughts?

“Go with your gut instinct on EVERYTHING, from design choices to vendors, and don't waste time overthinking the small stuff.  It is true that you and your guests will not remember the things you are finding yourself bickering over with your fiance!!”

Photo & Cinema, WeddingOutlive Creative LLCwedding videographer san francisco, the inn at newport ranch wedding photographer, fort bragg wedding, outlive creativeComment