Out of Office: A Planner’s Own Destination Wedding
From the moment wedding planner Kristina Valle of Wedicity posted her engagement to John on Instagram, her comments flooded with love and support. Then came a second wave: “This is going to be the best wedding ever.” “I can’t wait to see your dream wedding.” While she knew everyone meant well, the pressure began to creep in.
“Truthfully, I had nothing planned,” she said. “I didn’t know what my dream wedding was. I was just soaking up being a fiancée and staring at my ring any chance I got!”
As someone who spends her career bringing other couples’ visions to life, Kristina began asking herself new questions: What did she actually want? Would the wedding live up to expectations? How would it reflect on her work as a planner? “I quickly had to check myself and come back to what actually mattered,” she said.
That perspective became the foundation for the entire wedding weekend. Instead of chasing a “perfect” planner wedding, Kristina and John blocked out outside pressures and created a Southern California destination celebration that was exactly what they wanted it to be.
CALIFORNIA DREAMING
Though the couple built their life in Chicago, California always held a special place in their hearts. Neither had roots there, but every visit left an impression. So when it came time to choose a wedding location, bringing everyone they loved to Southern California just felt right.
They landed on Tivoli Italian Villa in San Diego County, a venue Kristina had quietly admired for years after discovering it through a past client wedding. “It truly felt like we were in Italy, not Fallbrook, California,” she said. “We were surrounded by mountain views and lush, colorful florals everywhere we looked.”
A WARM WELCOME
Rather than focusing on one big night, the couple wanted the entire weekend to feel like a vacation with their favorite people. This priority for guest experience began at check-in. Guests stayed at Seabird Resort in Oceanside, California, a charming beach town that made the weekend feel like a true getaway. “One of our favorite memories was seeing all of our friends and family around the hotel and beach before everything officially began,” Kristina said. “It felt like we took over in the best way possible.”
For the welcome dinner, the party moved to Cococabana, a cocktail bar atop The Brick Hotel. The extra time with guests made all the difference. By the time the wedding day arrived, the couple felt more present and less pulled in a hundred different directions.
THE WEDDING DAY
On the morning of their wedding, Kristina was feeling every emotion at once. “I was excited and present, but also very overstimulated,” she said. “All I wanted was to see John and live the moments we had been planning.”
The moment their first look began, everything settled. “That’s why I’m such a big advocate for a first look,” she said. “It grounds you, centers you and gives you more time together.”
That sense of calm carried into the rest of the day. Beneath Tivoli Italian Villa’s sprawling canopy tree, the couple exchanged vows during a ceremony officiated by their very good friend. And while the first look gave the couple a quiet moment together beforehand, Kristina walking down the aisle was still John’s favorite memory from the day.
The reception leaned into the natural beauty of the venue. Though Kristina admits she went back and forth on floral decisions quite a bit, the couple ultimately landed on a soft, organic palette complementary of the surroundings. “The venue spoke for itself,” Kristina said. “I didn’t want much to compete with what we were already surrounded by.”
BRINGING CHICAGO TO SOCAL
While she may plan weddings for a living, planning her own from across the country came with its own set of challenges. But with planner Giovanna Danno at the helm, her Wedicity team really stepped up, allowing Kristina to step out of her planner shoes and into bridal ones.
“It really helped John and me experience the planning process the way our couples do,” she said. Kristina still had a strong hand in the creative direction, but having logistics off her plate was an enormous relief.
She also leaned on longtime relationships throughout the process. Several Chicago vendors made the trip west, including Aspen Avenue, Berlez, La Novia Creations and Hair by Juan Jose. Having familiar faces behind the camera and in the getting-ready room brought a comforting piece of Chicago with them. The stationery, designed by Amanda Morgan of XO Art & Design — Kristina’s best friend from high school and a maid of honor in the wedding — carried that same intimacy. As did their first dance, choreographed by Windy City Wedding Dance. Although 2,000 miles from Chicago, the wedding still felt like home.
THROUGH NEW EYES
Stepping to the other side of the planning process gave Kristina a new appreciation for her clients. “These are big decisions,” she said. “I found myself doing the same things they do: waiting, going back and forth, not being ready to sign right away.”
That perspective became even more clear the very next weekend, when Kristina was back on-site coordinating another celebration. She noticed a bride quietly taking everything in around her, focused and a little overwhelmed. “I knew exactly how she felt, because I had just been there myself,” she said.
By the time their R&B electric violinist was bowing unforgettable Drake retentions, those pressures to produce something “worthy of a planner’s reputation” had long faded away. What remained was exactly what they’d started with: just the two of them, deciding what mattered.
And after years spent guiding couples through wedding planning, she left with the same reminder she now shares with every client who sits across from her: “You have to remember to take it all in. It really does go by in the blink of an eye.”
Vendors
PHOTOGRAPHY Berlez
VIDEOGRAPHY Aspen Avenue Studios
VENUE Tivoli Italian Villa
PLANNER Wedicity Wedding Planning & Design
FLORAL Mai Floral Design
HAIR Hair by Juan José
MAKEUP Makeup by Adrianne
BRIDE’S ATTIRE Martina Liana from Mira Couture
BRIDE’S RECEPTION ATTIRE Grace + Ivory
GROOM’S FORMALWEAR SuitShop
STATIONERY XO Art & Design
CAKE & DESSERTS Lila Cake Shop
LATE NIGHT SNACK In-N-Out Burger
LINENS BBJ La Tavola
RENTALS Hostess Haven
ELECTRIC VIOLINIST Jeremy Green
ENTERTAINMENT Vox Djs
DANCE LESSONS/CHOREOGRAPHY Windy City Wedding Dance
TRANSPORTATION Stryder Transportation
CONTENT CREATOR La Novia Creations
ACCOMMODATIONS The Seabird Resort
