A Colorful Summer Wedding at Malibou Lake
Last Sunday, August 30th, I had the pleasure of working a beautiful wedding at The Lodge at Malibou Lake in Agoura Hills.
Our day began at the shop at 10 a.m., where we made the final preparations to the personal flowers before loading everything into the van. From there, we headed out to one of Agoura Hills’ hidden gems: Malibou Lake, a beautiful wedding venue tucked away among the hills with an open grassy area for ceremonies, a cozy ballroom for receptions, and—of course—a lake sitting right across from it all!
We arrived around noon, unloaded the van, and got straight to work on this colorful, dreamy wedding.
Our first stop was the Pink Room, the venue’s bridal suite, where we dropped off all of the personal flowers. Vendors weren’t allowed to begin setting up the reception area until 1 p.m., so we used the extra time to get started on the chuppah in the ceremony area.
And let me tell you… it was HOT.
Temperatures were already pushing 100 degrees, and installing a chuppah means a lot of climbing up and down ladders, lifting, kneeling, and moving around. To say we were sweating would be a serious understatement! Since the ceremony wasn’t scheduled to begin until 5 p.m., we decided to hold off on attaching the flowers to the chuppah for as long as possible to keep them from wilting in the hot sun.
Once the chuppah was installed, we headed inside to begin setting up the reception.
This wedding called for upwards of 70 bud vases, along with floating candles for the tables. We came prepared with about 10 gallons of water, but with that many vases, we quickly realized it wasn’t going to be nearly enough. Cue the outdoor hose! We filled our 5-gallon jug, lugged it back inside, and repeated the process three more times. Nothing says wedding setup quite like hauling five gallons of water back and forth in 100-degree heat!
By around 3 p.m., we had finished the reception setup and decided it was finally time for a much-needed lunch break. We ran out for some Margherita pizza and Italian sodas before heading back to the venue for the final stretch.
At last, it was time to attach the flower clusters and set out the floor pieces at the end of the aisle. Because we wanted to wait as long as possible before putting out the flowers to prevent them from wilting, we had to work quickly—and quietly!—to get everything in place before guests began arriving.
Once everything was complete, we tucked ourselves away in the reception area and watched as the ceremony began. Despite the heat and all the behind-the-scenes hustle, it was a beautiful moment to witness as two families came together.
As the ceremony came to an end and guests began making their way toward cocktail hour, we waited for our cue to move the ceremony flowers into the reception area. This was our final task of the evening.
By about 7 p.m., we were officially finished. We loaded everything back into the van, took a very well-earned deep breath, and headed home for the night.
Another wedding in the books—and another beautiful day at Malibou Lake!
