A Guide to Getting Married at Wind and Sea Estate in Big Sur
Wind and Sea Estate in Big Sur California is a beautiful cliffside venue overlooking the sea. With two outdoor copper tubs, an outdoor shower and sauna its one of the most accessible Big Sur Wedding Venues. I’ve shot here a ton over the past 3 years and I’ve learned some things! I’ve seen what’s worked and what hasn’t and I’m here to help you make the best decisions ( according to me!). If you are wanting to start off at Wind and sea and still capture some of the Big Sur landscape keep in mind the venue is at least 45 min from beaches and cliffs.
Have the bride getting ready upstairs! the light is so much better upstairs and women generally need the room for makeup!
Parking is difficult; be kind to your vendors with heavy equipment! Caterers, photo and video often have the most things to unload and often need to access their cars for back ups.
Have a first look before your guests arrive! Once the guests arrive it can be really hard to find some space AND prevent your guests from seeing you! You can find my guide on how to have a first look HERE
Use the deck as your dancing space! Make sure you have heaters set up and know how to turn on the twinkle lights.
Have the bar set up by the fire pit for the reception area! This allows all your guests to gather down below instead of immediately hiking back up to the house.
I LOVE when the reception dinner is set up on the lawn! check that your caterer is willing to do this!
Add on a day before or after session so you get some photos off-property! Clients always struggle with wanting the Big Sur landscape but not wanting to leave their guests, a day before or after session solves all these problems! Wind and Sea is at least 30 min from the closest cliffs and beach access so if you are planning on going off-property the day of keep in mind you will at least want to budget at least 3 hours.
Make sure your Caterer is ok driving back to town in the dark, there are many that are not comfortable with the winding roads at night and you want to be able to shoot until sunset !
You can see an example of a full wedding day at Wind and Sea Big Sur HERE
Camila and Greg Eloped this week at Garrapata Beach. When Hwy 1 had a rock slide a week ago we had to quickly pivot away from their original plan of getting married in the redwoods. They found an incredible Airbnb at Ribera Beach where they had their first look and ceremony. From there we adventured down the coast with an impromptu cheesecake on the hood of their rented vintage Thunderbird. They were both so full of joy and love it was infectious.