Their LOVE

Both of us being from California, we met while living in Colorado. We spent our first date together ice skating under the festive holiday lights, and have been inseparable ever since. He has always told me it was love at second sight. We spent 3 years together in Colorado, and in that time adopted our cat named Meowtron. From there we continued our adventure to Arizona. A year later we decided it was time to head back to our home state of California, and we moved to San Diego.

The Proposal
Once we were back home the story begins one evening when Sara France asked Matt and I to be models for a stylized photo shoot, coordinated by Krystel from Couture Events, to give couples inspiration for their wedding day. The theme for this photo shoot was Beauty & the Beast (anyone who knows me realizes how beyond excited I was that it’s Disney themed!). The day of the photo shoot arrives, we pull up to the Valentino Estate in Rancho Santa Fe. What a magnificent place it is. I go into hair and makeup, still without any clue what is truly ahead for me. We did a scene with a charming couch that had a tea set, the rose covered by glass, and had books as props. We posed with the books as if we were reading to each other. Matt then got down on one knee, opened his book and said the sweetest words anyone has ever told me followed by the question “..will you marry me?” It took me a few moments to realize that this was actually happening. He was definitely able to pull off quite a surprise!! Of course I said yes ! When it clicked in, I pinched myself just to be sure it wasn’t a dream. We popped a bottle of Champaign and drank out of Chip and another tea cup . What a breathtaking experience.

Wedding Planning
The next step was to find a venue and set a date for the big day. We knew right away that we wanted to be as close to the ocean as possible, but still wanted to privacy for a more intimate wedding. As soon as we toured the Darlington House we fell in love with the design and details. Walking through double French doors, leads a brick-paved Egyptian Patio, which features a stunning fountain and pool lined with colorful Egyptian tiles. We could already picture ourselves standing above the fountain promising our vows to each other. Right around the corner there is the Andalusian Patio, that was radiating with Spanish style, with Roman arches. Both the Egyptian and Andalusian Patios open up to the Rose Garden. The Rose Garden could not have been more charming, surrounded by roses, followed by the sounds of the water from the fountains. We absolutely adored that each of the patios and the garden itself, seemed as if it was a different room in its own, which was perfect for setting up without our guests seeing the process. It was seamless transition to go from ceremony in the Egyptian Patio, to cocktail hour in the Andalusian Patio and Library, and then to the reception in the Rose Garden. Oh, did I forget to mention they had an amazing library with a beautiful staircase!

We were so excited to find the perfect location and that both us loved it equally since both Matt’s and my design choices are very different. Myself, being in love with vintage details and romance, Matt on the other hand loves everything modern, and simple. We knew after having our proposal photo shoot and working with Krystel and Couture Events we wanted to have her help on how to combine these two extremes together. From our very first meeting with Krystel, we could tell she fully understood our inspiration for the wedding, and was personally invested in making our wedding dream come true. We wished to make it to be completely unlike typical beach themes. To bring a fresh and organic feel to the overall idea. We gathered shades of blue and clear bottles and vintage globes, and mixed in fresh succulents for a modern twist. Envisioning a timeless, romantic, and intimate evening. We chose a color palette of pastels and neutrals, and adorned the way these soft shades worked together, from the flowers, to the bridesmaids dress, to the table decor. Last we wanted to find a way to add a special touch that would be uniquely us. With every decision we made, we just did what we felt right and most like us as a couple, instead of think about what the ‘proper etiquette’ was. We aspired to have a wedding that felt like us and no one else. Disney has always been close to my heart, and Matt and I have made it a tradition to visit Disneyland as much as possible. So we of course wanted to put in a Disney flare here and there. We wanted to make them hidden details, similar to how they have them in Disney Parks. Examples would be Our Adventure Book, used as our guest book and Polaroid photos of guest, to our ‘drink me’ drink stirrers in our signature beverage, and even our Floating Lanterns that we released on the beach at the end of the evening.

The WEDDING DAY
Hands down the most memorable moment of our day was the first look. The time Matt and I got to spend together before the ceremony for our photo shoot was very special to us. It was so romantic and excepetional to hug each other and talk about what was going to happen. A major bonus was getting so many more photos out of the way before our ceremony. We had so much fun going from site to site throughout the Darlington House, down to the beach, and just spending time with each other in our beautiful surroundings. We had more time with our amazing photographer Sara France, which meant more photos to document the most special day in our lives. Capturing our day in photos was extremely important to us. Sara has such a way of making everyone feel at ease and natural and because of that, we feel she perfectly portrayed the unique details of our day along with all the love that was in the air.

The most important part of the whole wedding was to share the event and our happiness with our families and friends as we declared our promises and love for one another. I had so many emotions come over me right before I walked down the isle, but when I rounded the corner and saw everyone who had taken the time to come to our wedding and partake in the celebration, I was overcome with joy. It was completely divine.
We look back on our day with the most amazing amount of happiness and sweet nostalgia.

Their Wedding was also featured on STYLE ME PRETTY!

Vendors:

Coordination & Styling: Couture Events, http://www.CoutureEventsSD.com
Venue: Darlington House, http://www.darlingtonhouse.com/
Photographer: Sara France, http://sarafrance.com
Videographer: Joe Parks, http://www.joeparkweddings.com/
Florist: Posies Flowers, http://leighsposies.blogspot.com/
Catering: Personal Touch Dining, http://www.personaltouchdining.com/
Cupcakes: Baby Cakes, http://www.babycakessandiego.com/
DJ: DJ Jarrod
Vintage Bottles & Globes: Teal Green Designs, http://www.tealgreendesign.com/
Teacups: Verity Jane Vintage, http://www.verityjanevintage.com/
Makeup: Faces of California, http://facesofcalifornia.com/
Hair: Andrea Duggan
Rentals: Raphaels, http://www.raphaels.com/

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