The Knot's pick of best outdoor sites features the Redwood Grove at the UC Botanical Gardens. This place is beautiful ~ the tall redwood trees create a very magical and romantic setting while the amphitheater creates an atypical but intimate ceremony site. We coordinated Christine and Tom's wedding here last August. Everything from the floral arrangements to the voluptuous redwoods was stunning and caught the guests by surprise.

The service started with the bridesmaids and groomsmen entering from behind the guests as tradition states, but the bride and her father walked through the trees down a winding path in front of the amphitheater, allowing the guests to sneak a peak of the bride in between the tree trunks and the greenery. During the service, Christine's brother joined the musicians by playing the violin. It was romantic, peaceful, and perfect!

Ceremony Venue · UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens

Reception Venue · The Berkeley City Club

Florist · Grandi Flora

Photographer · Darcy Padilla

Videographer · Martin Meyer

DJ · Denon & Doyle

Ceremony Musicians · The Sterling Trio

This past summer, I worked with a very creative florist, www.Grandi-flora.com. For the ring pillow, instead of using a white pillow with a ribbon attached for the ring, she created a beautifully natural ensemble. Banana leaves wrapped the base complimented by a collection of three different flowers, each small and dainty, yet bold and sophisticated. The flowers met the willow twig just off the center of the pillow. The willow twirled into two branches: one looped round to meet the flowers; the other stood soundly holding the two rings. The ensemble created an effervescent twist to the traditional ring bearer's pillow. Here are a couple more pictures of Grandiflora's ring pillows. The photo on the far right matches the description above.

UC Berkeley's Forest Fantasy | The Knot's Pick of Best Outdoor Site

Creative Flower Arrangement