Sarah and Erin first met at work, but didn’t start dating until years later when their two best guy friends started to encourage them to talk more and see if something was there – little did they know that it would turn into love! Luckily we have these images from Anna Delores Photography to relive the magic of their big day.
THE PROPOSAL
From Sarah – “Just before Christmas, Erin planned a day full of my favorite holiday activities: brunch, shopping, baking sugar cookies, more shopping, and then suggested that we go to one of our favorite restaurants, The Beachcomber Café at Crystal Cove. I was so excited to have dinner on the beach that I didn’t mind the potential 2-hour wait.
Erin packed up a picnic basket of wine and martini fixings for us to enjoy on the beach while we waited. When we arrived, we were surprised to find out that a beach side table was open for us and there was no wait. Erin was hesitant to take the table because she wanted to have some cocktails on the beach, which was weird since tables are never open so I insisted on grabbing the table while it was available.
During dinner Erin was acting so awkward and barely talked, she looked nervous and was barely eating. I kept asking her what was wrong, with no response, I couldn’t figure out why our beautiful dinner was making her so uncomfortable. After dinner, Erin still wanted to go have drinks on the beach (in pitch black darkness at this point) which I still thought was so weird. Once I finally gave in, Erin set up a spot for us and as we talked and listened to the waves, she proposed. I was so surprised and realized why she had been so nervous during dinner – I had messed up her plan for a sunset beach proposal!”
THE WEDDING VISION
“We wanted our wedding to be beautiful and elegant, while still feeling casual and inviting. It was important to both of us that the wedding was a reflection of who we are and not just a mix of current wedding trends and An Enlightened Event was the perfect planner for us. I wanted the tables to be a family style set up so that we could have as many guests interacting as possible.
The tablescapes were my main focus and I tried to implement as much unique detail as possible at each place setting. Our color selections were muted blues, creams, ivory, gold, with the name cards adding a pop of color on each plate. Our venue is in the middle of a beautiful little town called Santa Paula. Limoneira Co. is a lemon packing house with lemon fields throughout the property. We were married on their ‘North Lawn’ surrounded by lemon trees, with beautiful mountains in the background. Although the venue had a rustic feel, I wanted the wedding itself to still feel modern and clean.”
THE DRESS & SUIT
“Erin and I both wanted to feel comfortable and like ourselves. I am not an over the top glamour girl and I wanted a dress that was simple, with beautiful details, that would add to the overall feeling of the wedding and not dominate it. I found the perfect dress at BHLDN on my first shopping day with my mom and sister.
Erin’s perfect wedding outfit was a little harder to pin down. She doesn’t like to wear dresses, but she still wanted to feel beautiful and feminine on her wedding day. We found an amazing team at Sharpe Suiting that creates custom suits primarily for the LGBT community. Hai and Leon were able to design and execute a custom wedding suit that was exactly what Erin pictured. We lucked out and found a sexy body suit at Victoria’s Secret that completed the look.”
THE DETAILS
“Erin and I LOVE cake. Deciding on a flavor was basically impossible so I asked the amazing Lesley Bodwell of Frost It Cakery if it was possible to do a cake bar with all the different flavors and she nailed it. We had 6 or 6 different flavor and frosting combinations and it was amazing.
Since our venue was in a lemon orchard, my mom Vickie had the brilliant idea of making an Italian liquor called Limoncello. Both of our families are Italian and love to drink so it was the perfect take home gift. My amazing mother made gallons and gallons of Limoncello from scratch, aged it, bottled it and had my sister design labels.
DIY TOUCHES
“I wanted to have a memorable name card that guests could take home with them. I saw a blog about making marbled coasters from ready to bake clay. My mom, sister, and I bought our body weight in different colored clays and got to work. I decided that I wanted each coaster to be a hexagon so that the color and shape would stand out on our round white plates. My amazing friend Britney did all of the calligraphy for our wedding and painted each guests’ name in gold on the finished coasters.
I also bought slate tiles and broke them into different shapes and made our table numbers and signs using the stone. My dad, Bob, built cornholes and I painted them, for guests to play during our cocktail hour. He also built wooden frames and attached gold wire to each so we could display pictures from all the years Erin and I have been together. My neighbor Trisha designed a welcome sign and a sign that read ‘Grow old with me, the best is yet to be’ that we had guests sign the back of instead of a guest book. I spent a lot of time figuring out elements that we could make at home for decorations or functional use so that we could cut down on costs!”
FAVORITE MEMORIES
Erin: “Seeing Sarah for the first time during the first look. Seeing all of the hard work Sarah and her mom had put into making the day so beautiful, the final setup was amazing since I hadn’t seen all of the different projects completed. Beergaritas: our specialty drink of the night per my request! Looking at my incredibly beautiful wife for the entire night. Taking pictures at sunset with just Sarah & I, the ‘alone’ time was a much-needed break from the large crowds. It was a very special time that I will always remember. Dancing nonstop until I realized at 1 am that I didn’t have socks on and had blistered both feet beyond recognition!”
Sarah: “Drinking champagne with my mom and sister Katie while we were getting ready before the ceremony. Seeing Erin for the first time during our first look, she was so beautiful that I couldn’t control my ugly cry face! The unbelievable vows that Erin wrote for me. Having my sister, Katie, as our officiant… she had amazing jokes and such loving words. Our ceremony was perfect because of her! My best friend and best man Michael’s speech! Seeing all of our friends and family visiting, drinking, laughing, dancing and celebrating our love was a surreal feeling. Each and every person enjoyed the night and I could not have asked for more.”
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Photography: Anna Delores Photography // Planning: An Enlightened Event // Cakes: Frost It Cakery // Videography: Amari Productions // Rentals: Party Pleasers & Ventura Rentals // Floral: Rogue and Fox // Attire: BHLDN and Sharpe Suiting // Stationery: Invitation Design Studio // Hair & Makeup: Cheek to Cheek Artistry // Venue: Limoneria Ranch in California.
