Our wedding day and the days that led up to it were so filled with the love and support of our family and friends creating a memory I’ll never forget. I wish I could name a favorite moment but every single part was so special to me.
When we began planning I knew I wanted to have an intimate wedding that truly focused on our love and the love that came before us. I keep a painting that my great great grandfather painted in Denmark in my room and I knew I wanted our day to feel like that painting, peaceful and full of nature. I wanted to be able to share the painting with our guests without hauling a 100+ year old painting to our wedding so when I was designing our invitations I decided to incorporate it in to the design. On the opposite side of our invitation was a small print of the painting so our guests could have their own copy as a memory.
We considered doing a destination wedding in the beginning to keep that small intimate feeling but I couldn’t imagine doing it any other way than we did now. It was so wonderful having all of our friends unite in our home town to celebrate our wedding at one of our favorite places, the Gallo’s gorgeous Tuscan inspired restaurant Galletto Ristorante. It fit perfectly with the simple old world herb scented environment we both envisioned getting married in. The chef so kindly worked with us to include delicious herbs in all of the family style dishes right down to the basil lemonade.
My sweet friends spent the day before the wedding picking lavender and rosemary and then we all gathered together to make the bridesmaids bouquets the morning of the wedding. The best surprise was when a friend who is a florist showed up with huge white peonies after I thought it was too late in the year to find them.
One of the sweetest memories of our wedding for me was Kyle’s two gifts. The night before he gave me an antique robe that had been his grandmother’s from Korea for me to wear while getting ready. Then, while I was getting ready, his best man delivered my second gift, a first edition copy of I Married Adventure by Osa Johnson with the most beautiful note written inside. When Kyle was in Africa during his time in the Peace Corps I read and cherished my library copy of I Married Adventure, so it really brought it all together that today really was my day to marry adventure, the love of my life.
As my mom and dad walked me down the aisle to the song that Kyle picked out, “Angel” by Jack Johnson I was taken over by my happiness and excitement as I saw Kyle’s smiling face waiting for me and all of our loved ones watching me make my way down to commit our lives to each other.
My childhood minister who I always wanted to marry us came out of retirement and made the trip up from San Diego to perform the ceremony, which was something I never thought would actually happen and was so extremely happy that it actually did. My other favorite moment of the day was when Kyle’s brothers performed “Overwhelmed” by Tim McMoris which was what finally pushed me over the edge to tears (something I guaranteed would not happen) with their beautiful performance.
The rest of the night was so perfect in every way… from cutting our rosemary wrapped dream cake and eating the amazing mints my grandmother hand made for us to our crazy fun family dance to “Moondance” by Michael Buble. It was everything I had hoped for and more!
It means so much to me now hearing stories of how much people enjoyed our wedding day and how they’re still enjoying a piece of it with their homemade rosemary California sea salt favors.
As a wedding photographer I was so worried I wouldn’t be able to let go and experience the day in its entirety but thanks to my wonderful photographers, Brumley and Wells, I never felt the need to grab my camera at any time during the night and instead I am able to cherish all of my memories and now, their photos. When I look at the photos, I’m ready to marry Kyle again and again. Nothing can beat sharing the best sort of memories with your best friends.
Ceremony & Reception Site: Galletto Ristorante http://www.galletto.biz/ | Videography: Rumble Cinematography http://rumblecinematography.com/ and Echo Media Productions http://www.echomediaphoto.com/ | Officiant: Reverend Mary Beck | Gowns: Bride: Lazaro and Bridesmaids: BHLDN http://www.bhldn.com | Hair and Makeup: Done by bride | Shoes: Madden Girl | Wedding Rings: Brides: A Jaffe Grooms: Benchmark | Necklace & Earings: Pearl necklace gift from grandfather | Formalwear: Groom and Groomsmen’s suits from Express http://www.express.com/ | Invitations: Made by bride http://www.bungalow.etsy.com | Stationery: Made by bride http://www.bungalow.etsy.com | Flowers: Lavender Hollow Farms http://www.lavenderhollowfarm.com/ with Assistance from Flowers Studio | Catering: Galletto Ristorante http://www.galletto.biz/ | Music: http://site.soundsinmotiondj.com/ and ceremony music preformed by grooms brothers Kevin & Kody Fliflet | Cake: Shal Singh-The Pastry Queen https://www.facebook.com/shalthepastryqueen | Favors: Rosemary Sea Salt made by family
