A Whimsical Wine Country Wedding

As a busy single mom and publicist for Pixar Animation Studios, Briana Gardner decided it was easiest for her to embrace the world of online dating. Much to her surprise, she found herself coming across a profile that was appealing to her for one reason—Adam Nesiba was a single parent too. Despite having not so much in common at first profile glance, the two decided to meet for coffee. The pair giggled over the fact that they both had back-up dates planned, however, they soon found them completely unnecessary. Briana and Adam grew to be inseparable, eventually forming a modern day Brady Bunch when Adam got down on one knee and asked Briana to be his wife in front of their closest family and friends at a pre-Thanksgiving dinner. 

Almost exactly three years to the day later, on October 11, 2014, the bride and her barber beau exchanged vows surrounded by 80 of their closest loved ones at Anderson Ranch. Briana searched for different ways to customize their special day, from her nude gown, to an antler ring holder, to taxidermy mice as a décor accent, creating a rustic and whimsical celebration in the California wine country.

Watch Briana and Adam's Wedding Video

Adam proposed to Briana with a cushion-cut diamond so that she could pick her ring setting—the bride opted for a custom design from Christopher Designs and the groom's ring is Simon G.

Briana was a beautiful in a Vera Wang nude organza dress and veil.

The bridal party complemented the bride's gown with a variety of white dresses, making for one of Briana's favorite visuals of the day.

Chestnut and Vine Floral Design created a lush white and green bouquet, with the cameo of Briana's late maternal grandmother and the wedding ring of her paternal grandmother attached to the ribbons.

The bridesmaids carried white and green bouquets of patience and David Austin garden rose, oak leave hydrangea, white tweedia, eucalyptus foliage, and gardenias.

Adam got ready for the big day with his seven-year-old son, Lincoln, and best man (Briana's brother) Jesse. The groom was clad in a Hugo Boss suit and tie. Lincoln was dapper in an Appaman suit for his role as "best boy."

Flower girl Emmerson, Briana's niece, carefully delivered gardenias to guests as she walked down the aisle.

The bride's twin nephews prepared the groom for his bride's procession with custom flags, saying "Here Comes the Bride" and "Yay," from TheRitzyRose.

Briana and Adam wrote their own vows, making the ceremony personal. In fact, it was the bride's favorite party of the entire day. "When he was finished without even thinking I said out loud 'You did so good!' Everyone started laughing, but I was just so proud of him! Every word was perfect," gushes Briana.

The newlyweds walked up the aisle hand in hand to Michael Franti's "Life Is Better With You."

Prior to arriving at their reception, the newlyweds spent time driving around the Anderson Ranch in a vintage car, enjoying the beauty of the wine country and their time together as newlyweds.

Calligraphed flags with guests' names were placed in the venue's antique fountain in a bed of moss, serving as a lush escort card display.

At first, Briana was not thrilled with the idea of a traditional guest book and wanted to create an alternative display that was interesting and unique. With the help of her florist and friend, Svenja, the display was turned into a fun "romantic taxidermy scene."

The taxidermy collection included a bride and groom mice pair, adding an extra eccentric touch.

Initially Briana wanted a rustic barn wedding, so the maid of honor gifted the couple with a southern-inspired ring bearer box. Despite the couple's wedding theme going in a different direction, Briana still wanted to use the handmade gift and featured it in one of the vignettes.

After the cocktail hour, guests were shuttled to the venue's main house for the reception. Dinner and toasts were held outside, with guests seated at oval tables, surrounding a rectangular head table. The reception décor boasted rustic elegance with taupe paisley table linens, gold votives, lush floral arrangements, and vintage chairs.

The head table was adorned with tall cascading floral centerpieces of eucalyptus, ivy, Florida beauty, pittosporum, thyme, rosemary, oregano, cafe au lait dahlias, patience and Juliette roses, and hydrangeas, placed in candelabras—the oval tables had low arrangements in white cast iron urns.

Twig and Fig created the laser cut gold leather table numbers tied to antlers.

Table settings included a gold leather strip (same as the table numbers) with each guests' name placed atop the menus with either a sprig of thyme or rosemary, charcoal gray napkins, and crisp white china. Briana designed the menus alongside her calligrapher, Jilly Ink, to create an elegant presentation on Italian linen paper with a deckled edge.

The guests clanked glasses for the newlyweds over a series of toasts from the groom, maid of honor, best man, and father of the bride. The maid of honor's speech had a sweet interruption when her daughter (Briana's niece) grabbed the microphone and wished all the guests a wonderful night.

After toasts were completed under the venue's twinkling café lights, guests took to the dance floor inside the main house to further celebrate and bust out some moves.

Briana and Adam shared their first dance as newlyweds to "We" by Neil Diamond. "It's such a sweet song and perfectly describes not only Adam and my relationship, but also the fact that 'we' are a family now," says Briana.

The only direction Briana gave Amber from Sweet on Cake was to shape the cake in an oval, to complement the oval tables. The sweet confectionary surprise ended up being a blush, gold and white four-layer cake of strawberry basil, caramel toffee, milk and cookies, and lemon blackberry flavors.

Guests were gifted with jars of olive oil as a "thank you" for being present for the couple's wedding.

Photography: Jessica Claire

Location: Anderson Ranch

Event Planning: A Savvy Event

Flowers: Chestnut & Vine Floral Design

Catering: Ramekins

Cake: Sweet on Cake

Videography: LoveSpun Films

Stationery: Twig & Fig; Julie Song Ink

Calligraphy: Jilly Ink

Music: [ceremony] Ryan Heflin; [reception] Boutique DJs

Rentals: La Tavola Fine Linen

Hair: Meghan Lunn

Makeup: Julie Dy

Gown and Veil/Headpiece: Vera Wang 

Bride's Shoes: BHLDN

Groom's Attire: Hugo Boss

Rings: Christopher Designs; Simon G 

Bridesmaids' Dresses: BCBG; Watters; BHLDN