A Chic, Black & White Style Wedding at Monserate Winery - Fallbrook, CA - Melanie & Nate

Aug 13

Melanie & Nate’s Chic, Black and White Style Wedding at Montserate Winery was one of my favorites in 2024.

It was love at first sight for Melanie & Nate. They met through a mutual friend, playing hockey, a passion they share, and connected immediately. A year and a half later, Nate proposed in Palm Springs.

The couple really wanted their wedding to reflect their personal style, and their dream Italian aesthetic, with modern and traditional elements. Nate has a big immediate family, so a destination wedding wasn’t an option, but the couple’s wedding planner, Jessica with Crowned Events, found a new local venue, making all their Tuscany dreams come true. With the architecture, limestone brick, tall trees, lake and vast grape fields, Monserate truly feels like the Italian countryside.

Melanie is very passionate about interior design, and her bold, brave and eclectic taste reflects in the uniqueness and creativity of the wedding fashion and details and choices. The couple set a moody and dark color pallet, incorporating stone and wood, with ivory florals and greenery to accent, complimenting the venue features beautifully. Pulling the vision together was a team effort with Nate and Melanie, Melanie’s friend at Studio Restore, and their wedding planner, Crowned Events.

For the the bride’s look, she chose a feminine, custom made, Pallas Couture gown with boning and 3D florals. It was fun, sexy, and chic, and a gorgeous expression of Melanie’s penchant for bold design. This dress was the first and only dress Melanie tried on; it was meant to be, on theme with the couples’ story and their venue. In bright and daring colors and necklines, Melanie’s gal’s were also a reflection of the eclectic and sophisticated style that the couple loves. Their dresses were very black tie cocktail attire but make it vibrant and elegantly non-traditional.

For Nate’s look, he wore a custom black tux with a pair of black Dior shoes his brothers gifted him for the wedding, and Melanie’s father gifted him with a two-tone Day Just Rolex the day before the wedding. The watch is a match to Melanie’s Rolex that her dad gifted her mom on their wedding day 30 years ago. This is as personal and special as it gets.

M + N wanted the wedding day to flow with ease. Stand out moments of this are: a first touch instead of a first look, so the couple could have an intimate moment, and still let the ceremony hold the excitement and anticipation of seeing each other as bride and groom for the first time; and the couple had their officiant take time to turn and face their guests to process the magnitude and all the emotions of the moment. The bride and groom sides were switched so their families could see their faces, so fun and sentimental.

The reception was full of personal touches like the black and white photos of each guest placed on their table settings in lieu of a traditional name tag, a video on film that was projected onto the brick wall for the guests to enjoy, as Nate and Melanie stood on a balcony and looked upon and the secret, bespoke tattoos given to the couple in private during cocktail hour - Nate getting “blue eyed girl” and Melanie getting their wedding date. During the reception, Melanie surprised Nate with a personal cigar roller and station for him and the guests to enjoy, a secret she had been planning for over a year. And later, for late night snack, the couple had In N Out cater as they danced and celebrated the rest of the evening.

Some advice from the bride: “A lot of people will tell you, "the day goes by so fast" or "stay present" but it's so true. My husband and I did a great job by not leaving each others side on our wedding day which was extremely important. To all the engaged couples getting married, don't stress too much! Easier said than done right. The more relaxed and "go with the flow mentality" we had, the more perfect things went. Sure there are going to be hiccups, guest may drop out last minute, things happen, but know there is always a solution! Best advice, remember why you are there in the first place.”

This wedding was a perfect coming together of chic and minimal and sophisticated with the deeply personal and unique, really showing your perfect day is exactly that: YOURS. Keep what you like from traditional and modern wedding culture, and what truly aligns with and honors you as a couple. And then let me have the honor of capturing it all for you!

Shot on Digital & Film Photography by AshGabes Photography. Follow me on instagram! @ashgabes_photography