Marie Kinnaman Designs: The Meeting Tree

Mike and Lindsey's wedding had many unique qualities. Something different and unexpected - that's the part of wedding planning and designing that I love. The first thing I do is create a vision - it's almost like writing a script for a play. Then we bring it to life.

This wedding was in a beautiful backyard in Orange County, California. Both the ceremony and reception took place in the yard. We timed the ceremony to begin at dusk, and the lights became magical as the ceremony ended. More on that soon . . .

One aspect of the ceremony that was different was the path the bride walked down to reach the ceremony site. It was not a typical isle. It was the path that led from the gates and went around the yard.

The long and winding path

The bride thought she'd like to walk alone to meet-up with her groom . . . but it was a long walk from the gate to the lamppost where the ceremony would take place.

About half way down the path was a big tree and the idea of a "meeting tree" was born. We would do something special to signify that the tree was important and that is where the groom would walk to meet his bride - for their continued journey to the lamppost together. I thought of this engraved wood heart. It was meant to give the feeling of having their initials carved in the tree as young sweethearts would do.

This heart was made by my friend's company just for us.

The bride decided she really wanted to walk on the arm of her step-father, at least to the tree, and since we liked our meeting tree idea so much, we stayed with the plan for the bride and groom to walk together the rest of the way.

Mike and Lindsey meet at the tree. Photo by John Woods Photography

Here is another view of the lamppost from the other side of the yard. And the following photos show how the area was transformed into a winter wonderland for the wedding.