I thought it would be fun to write a post all about our wedding to help recently engaged brides, or anyone who is wanting to get married sometime in the future. Our wedding day was the best day of my life, not only because I married Garrett, but because everything went perfectly and I got the wedding of my absolute dreams! There are so many things that I'm so glad we decided to do that I will share below. We got married on May 18th 2013 in San Diego, California. It was such a beautiful day which made the whole day just wonderful.
We decided to take pictures and video the day before we got married so that we didn't have to worry about it the day of and just take pictures with the family and bridal party on our actual wedding day.
Here are some of those photos...
We wanted to make sure that we took plenty of photos at the temple where we were getting married the next day. We then went to a beautiful pier about 10 mins away and took some pictures on the beach.
These pictures were so much fun to take and both our photographer and videographer were feeding off of each other's ideas. I definitely recommend taking pictures of just the bride and groom the day before the wedding because it made the whole wedding process feel longer and we got to capture Garrett seeing me for the first time in my dress on camera and on video. I made sure that my florist had our flowers ready on Friday (the day we took these pics) because I wanted to make sure we could take pictures with them. Many people have asked me where I got my dress. It is from Gateway Bridal in SLC however, I changed a lot of things about it to make it exactly what I wanted. I changed the color underneath the lace to a champagne color and left the lace ivory. I added the belt to it, changed the neckline to sweetheart, and made the skirt more full so it was a very dramatic mermaid look. I also got it tailored to fit my body perfectly because that it SO important to make sure a bride's wedding dress fits them like a dream. The whole dress is beaded lace. What can I say? I like bling!
Here is a better picture of the champagne color in the dress and the belt.
There is so much beautiful beading all over the dress and so much gorgeous detail, that Garrett and I decided that we are going to have it framed and hung in my future closet.
The flowers in my bouquet were peonies, hydrangeas, blush roses imported from Holland, and wax flowers. My florist also added jewels to the blush roses to add some more bling.
The actual day of our wedding was the most amazing day. When I think back on that day, my only thoughts are full of joy. We had so much fun and it was so cool to see my vision for my dream wedding come to life. The morning of my wedding day, I woke up at 5:45 am because I just couldn't sleep any longer (duh) and went into my parents room where my mom was getting ready to go for a run. We went on a run together and got to have mommy daughter bonding time before the crazy day started happening.
When we got back to the house, all of my eight bridesmaids were up and getting ready. The hair ladies came and did everyone's hair while my mom made us an amazing pre-wedding breakfast. Garrett and I got married at one in the afternoon, so we didn't need to be at the temple until noon. Having the whole morning to get ready with all my best friends and not feeling pressed for time whatsoever, was an incredible blessing. It just set the stage for a relaxing and fun day. And that's exactly what it was!
This picture was taken right after we got married in the temple.
This is all the family that came.
Just my side of the family.
Also my family.
Taking pictures with all my family and the bridal party was one of my favorite parts of the day. We all had so much fun and everyone just seemed so happy!
I have always wanted a black and white wedding and I just love the way everyone looks in this picture. Such classic and crisp colors.
One of my favorites of the bridal party!
The reception was held in an amazing backyard of some good friends, the Bertha's. You can tell by my expression that I was more than pleased with the way the dinner part of the reception was looking.
The upper deck (or pool area) is where we had hors d'oeuvres and a bar for "mocktails." We also had our wedding video playing for the guests to enjoy while sipping on drinks. Our videographer took the footage from the day before, and earlier that day and made our video for everyone to enjoy. To watch that video click the link below. It's amazing!
http://vimeo.com/69494204
There just so happened to be a plethora of hot air balloons in the sky during cocktail hour of the reception. It was pretty magical.
During the cocktail hour, we had belly bars set up for guests to set their drinks and food on while socializing before dinner.
We also had the catering staff walking around with the hors d'oeuvres. We had three different kinds of hors d'oeuvres that were a huge hit!
This is the set up for dinner. I love the way it turned out because it still looks clean, yet glamorous, and that was exactly my vision.
Garrett and I created our own signature drinks exclusively for our reception that were super yummy and also a huge hit.
We had three framed photos on every table.
Just a little thank you note attached to a box of chocolates and a picture of one of the bridesmaid's bouquets.
I have always loved big center pieces, and I am so happy with the way mine turned out. They added so much to giant space where dinner was being held.
The boys had a lot of fun with this. We hired some people to drive the golf cart with the guests in it to and from where the cars were being parked, but the boys high jacked it and took it for a spin.
After hors d'oeuvres and mocktails, the DJ invited the guests down into the garden area for dinner.
The bridal table. I love my mom's expression in this photo. So much joy!
Right before we got announced as husband and wife before dinner.
After everyone was seated and we were announced, we had our first dance to Just the Way You Look Tonight by Tony Bennett. It was perfect.
During dinner and also during cocktail hour, we had old timey jazz love songs playing in the background (ie. Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, Stevie Wonder, etc.) My mom, our caterer, and myself created the dinner menu which was complete with only the healthiest (of course) and yummiest foods such as tri tip, salad, chicken with avocado sauce, garlic bread, and a lot more that I can't remember.
While we were eating dinner, the catering staff came to each table and poured Martinelli into each glass for the toasts. We had toasts from the best man (Aaron), the maid of honor (Victoria), Garrett's parents and my parents. They were all quick but so sweet and thoughtful. One of my favorite parts of the evening.
Daddy daughter dance to Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely." It was so special. I love my daddy so much!
Garrett and his mom danced to "I'm Gonna Soak Up the Sun" by Sheryl Crow. It was super cute because they were just having a blast the whole time.
Our lovely cupcakes were made by the one and only Jan Stone. A lifelong family friend and dessert extraordinaire. They were so yummy and so beautiful! This picture was obviously taken after we cut the cake.
After cutting the cake, we danced! The dance floor was packed the whole night!
The DJ played all the party pumper songs such as, Cupid Shuffle, I Love It, Thrift Shop, etc.
I love this picture of the dance floor and all the lights. We had heaters for the guests that just wanted to socialize to stay warm next to. The three large lights that are shown in this picture where beautiful lanterns that we rented from the rental place where we got everything else, such as the tables, glasses, dishes, lights, dance floor, and pretty much everything else.
We had a sparkler exit. The carpet we are walking on in this picture was the carpet that all the guests walked on as they came in to the reception.
And we left and began our life together!
I just wanted to put this picture up to express how wonderful my parents were during the whole wedding planning process. They saw my vision of my dream wedding and made it come to life. They were so patient and loving and the most involved I could have ever asked for. My mom pretty much planned the whole thing and my dad put his input in throughout the whole process. I am so grateful to them for spoiling me and putting in so much time, effort, love, money, and patience to give me everything and more that I envisioned for my special day. I love them so much!
Now to help all those new brides out, I am going to try and list all the vendors and companies we used to make the day as perfect as it was.
Photographer: Mark Frapwell
http://www.markfrapwell.com/
Videographer: Chris McClain
http://cmcclainproductions.com/
Dress: Gateway Bridal- The brand is Casablanca
Shoes: Nordstrom
Bride's Hair: Tanya Proctor
Bridesmaid's Hair: Heather Pappas
Bridal Makeup: I did it myself
Reception Venue: Private
Catering: Private. We have a good family friend that used to run the catering for a prestigious restaurant in Del Mar. She brought in the catering staff and helped create the menu for the hors d'oeuvres and dinner. We then used another family friend for the cooking and preparing of the food since he has been catering large events for years. We bought all the food and rented all the supplies for cooking the food, and he prepared it for us.
DJ: David Butler
Cake and Cupcakes: Jan Stone
Lighting, Tables, Chairs, Dance floor, etc.: San Diego Party Rentals
Flowers: Leanora Desparza
Bridemaids Dresses: JCrew
Bridal Hair Piece and Earrings: Etsy
There were about 300 people that attended my wedding reception, so it is important to take into consideration how many people are coming and add that into the budget. There are a lot of random expenses that go along with planning a wedding and there are a lot of details that should be accounted for. Planning your dream wedding can be stressful at times, however, when everything is said and done, and you see your vision come to life, it is the most rewarding experience to know that all that hard work paid off! It is also important to have a vision in the first place before even beginning to plan your dream wedding, so you know exactly what you want.
I wanted our reception to feel like an old Hollywood glamorous affair. On the invitation, we invited the guests to wear black and white and most did just that. I felt that it would make the guests feel more involved and would make them more excited to find something to wear and get dressed up for the occasion. My reception was from 5:30 to 9:30 (I know it seems long!) but it had to be that long because I wanted it to feel like an event, and also because we had hors d'oeuvres, then dinner, then toasts, then cake, then dancing. I made sure that the guests knew prior to coming to the reception that it was a structured event. I put the schedule of the evening directly on the invitation so that the guests knew to come fairly on time, and that it wasn't an open house type reception.
This blog post is already so long and has taken me forever to complete and I know I could go on and on about every single detail about my wedding, however, I think I got the gist of everything, and said everything I needed to. If I forgot about something, I will make sure to add it in another blog post. My biggest recommendation for a reception is DO NOT be stingy on the photographer or the dress. Get your dream dress (you only get married once) and make sure you have a stellar photographer because you will be looking at these pictures forever. I definitely recommend my photographer! And make sure that you are marrying someone that you love more than anything.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this ridiculously long blog post! I hope it helps with your big day!
