A forest fairytale dream, our real wedding couple Elena and Sam exchanged their vows in the High Sierra Iris & Wedding Gardens in California. Timeless and elegant, the couple's storybook day featured an adorable page boy with the cutest wedding sign, a spectacular outdoor ceremony in the woods and a stylish green and white colour palette. With their photographer and friend Brooke Battle Photography there to capture their day in all its glory, check out Elena and Sam's sun-soaked celebration below!

Before diving into the details of their fabulous wedding day, let's get to know the happy couple! Elena and Sam, who are both Ukrainian and based in Sacramento in California, originally met when they were introduced through mutual friends.

Fast forward to their sweet proposal story: "Our friend, and photographer, Brooke Battle, originally asked us if we would model for a styled shoot. I saw it as the perfect time to propose... Brooke had vow books filled out with fake vows written by Chat GPT in Elena’s book and my book was empty. We told her we that we had to read it to make it look real for the videographer. She of course had no idea that I was going to propose when it was my turn to read! After that, we all did a photoshoot that we used for our invitations!"

Wearing mix-and-match bridesmaid dresses, Elena shared a sweet first look with her bridal party before the couple's chic outdoor ceremony.

Our glowing bride donned a fabulous off-the-shoulder, wonderfully draped gown paired with a statement veil and a bouquet of foliage and white flowers, tying in with the celebration's chic green and neutral colour palette.

Sharing a second sweet first-look with groom Sam, the two headed over to their picture-perfect ceremony spot tucked away in the woods, where guests were shaded from the California sunshine.

How adorable is their page boy's wedding sign?

Surrounded by 150 of their closest friends and family, Elena and Sam exchanged their vows in a breathtaking outdoor ceremony in a glorious forest wedding venue, and included a Loving Cup unity ritual: "A friend got married there a few years ago and it always stood out to me because it was small, quaint but had that woodsy feel. When we initially called the venue it was booked out. Ironically enough, the only day they had a cancellation was June of this year, so we of course had to go with it!"

Elena and Sam had this advice for couples embarking on their own wedding planning journey: "Don’t stress the details. The marriage is about you, not having everyone else pleased."

From the outset, it was important to the couple to: "create an atmosphere of joy, celebration, and connection. So our priorities weren’t on the details. We let the vendors do their thing and just enjoyed getting married!"

Against the backdrop of the iris and foxglove-filled gardens, Elena and Sam's celebrations included a gorgeous photoshoot as the sun set over the Californian forest.

The couple's stylish outdoor reception went on to include plenty of heartwarming speeches, a first dance under twinkling festoon lighting and a chic two-tier floral wedding cake, before enjoying a bubble tunnel send off. Following their busy wedding festivities, the couple jetted off to Hawaii for their well deserved honeymoon.

A very special thank you to Elena, Sam and Brooke Battle Photography for sharing this spectacular wedding celebration with One Fab Day! There are also plenty more gorgeous photos from their special day to check out in the gallery below!