Ashley Pittman and Taylor Hamra grew up mere blocks from one another in Highland Park. Taylor, four years her senior, went to St. Mark’s School of Texas; she was at sister school The Hockaday School. Work later sent them both to Los Angeles, where Ashley launched her namesake jewelry company and where Taylor is a television writer (his credits include “Nashville” and “Dallas”). But it would take a blind date arranged by a mutual friend for them to finally meet.

The timing was far from ideal—Ashley had moved her business back to Dallas several months prior, and she was in Los Angeles for a quick visit. “We both had trepidations since we were living in different cities, and I hate blind dates,” she says, and laughs. But, “he is wildly funny and the most honest, heartfelt person, and I knew what a good man I had met almost immediately.” Nine months later they were engaged, and Ashley moved back to LA.

The proposal was simple and sentimental: Taylor cooked one of Ashley’s favorite meals for dinner, something he did often, and “deftly turned the conversation to talking about our lives and future, and pulled out a ring,” Ashley says. “We were in sweats and it was just us, sitting on the couch. There was no fanfare, and it felt natural and easy.”

An organic and intimate setting also would inform every decision behind their midsummer-night nuptials. Though they considered a number of places, the most idyllic spot happened to be the backyard of the Bel Air home belonging to Ashley’s mother, Renvy Pittman, an interior designer. “She has such a gorgeous house, and the grounds are so beautiful,” Ashley says. “I knew it would be special.”

She turned to longtime friend Sara Fay Egan, co-owner of Dallas-based event design firm Jackson Durham, for help. “I needed someone I could trust with the details, because they are important to me,” Ashley says.

No element was left unconsidered. The lush landscape inspired a Southern California wedding that took cues from the garden’s lavender, lemon, agave, and bougainvillea hues. Invitations were meticulously designed with icons symbolic to the couple—a palm tree, their dog, Scout—and Sara Fay used Renvy’s blue zodiac-print fabric to make custom reception table linens. Sara Fay also brought in custom wood floors—one to cover the pool for the cocktail hour and a second for the ceremony-cum-reception site. The former was hand-painted blue-green and distressed to complement tiles in the loggia, while the latter was checkered in a deep green precisely matched to the home’s front door.

Heath Alan Ray, the other half of Jackson Durham, covered the ceremony arch in solidago, seen on California hillsides, and tucked in snips of bougainvillea from the grounds. They composed arrangements with other native flowers, strung smilax and Renvy’s pagoda chandeliers from a clear tent over the checkered floor, and piled antique silver high with kumquats and lemons. “Everything was curated and tailored for this specific home, which made it feel so special and like we brought the inside out,” Sara Fay says.

At the ceremony’s end, a gospel choir sang The Beatles’ “All You Need is Love.” “I could see everyone important in my life, and it was such a beautiful moment,” Ashley remembers. “It felt so intimate.” It was exactly as she had imagined.

—Jessica Elliott

"I could see everyone important in my life, and it was such a beautiful moment. It felt so intimate."