Wedded bliss? Check. A majestic view of the Pacific Ocean atop Malibu? Um yes, check. And a feature in the eponymous Brides Magazine (August/September print issue)? Check (we are honored and humbled). Read below for an excerpt of this awe-inspiring ceremony and celebration…

Caroline Cuse knew just what her ideal wedding locale looked like, though she wasn’t entirely sure it existed. “I grew up hiking the hills around Los Angeles and dreamed of getting married overlooking the ocean,” says the photographer and floral designer. By her side in the search? Sean Duncan, a financial technology strategist, whom she met in 2009 while both were students at Harvard. Hailing from the UK, Sean had never been to Southern California before he met Caroline, but soon fell in love with its wild landscape too. In 2016, he proposed on a hike in the Santa Monica Mountains.

The couple looked at venues, but nothing felt quite right until Caroline received a text from her mother that simply read, “I think I found it.” Attached was a photo of a lush, grassy hill in Malibu with views of the Pacific. “It was perfect,” she says, but the remote area had no infrastructure, so everything from electricity to decor had to be imported to Black Sage Mesa, named to reflect the abundance of the aromatic evergreen on the site.

See more on Brides’ online feature, too!