Tell us a little about yourselves!
Tyler and I actually started dating junior year of high school! It's crazy to think that we've spent so much of our lives together. We dated for 6 years before getting engaged in June of 2019 so we often joke about how many chances we had to avoid having our wedding put on hold by a pandemic. We live in Costa Mesa, California with our cat, Benji and at the time of writing this we are coming up on our first year of marriage. Crazy how time flies!
Why did you decide to get married where you did?
Honestly it was pure luck (and quite a long story!). We were originally going to get married in June of 2020. We had a venue, vendors and every single detail booked and planned. Obviously that didn’t happen and after countless attempts at rescheduling and moving our ceremony three times we decided to have a smaller wedding with our family and bridal party.
We went back to square one and planned a super simple, super intimate wedding, and with the help of friends and family we essentially did everything ourselves. The only vendor we kept was our amazing photographer, Hannah Shea. We had one major issue though: we couldn't find a place to get married. Most of the areas we were thinking required permit, but none were accepting applications at that time due to the pandemic. After hitting a lot of dead ends a family friend connected us to their parents' property and they graciously offered their house to us. To our surprise their house was located in the city over from where we lived growing up and was off a road we would drive all the time. It was serendipitous to say the least!
How many guests did you have?
We had 40 guests: our bridal party and immediate family members that lived locally.
Tell us about your outfits.
I wanted something simple and timeless (don’t we all haha!). Forgoing our original large/traditional wedding for a smaller last-minute elopement style wedding, I had a short timeline to find a dress (at the time we had still planned to have a reception at our old venue that I was saving my original wedding gown for). I wanted something more casual than my original dress and when I found this Anine Bing silk bias cut dress I thought it was perfect! I loved that the length showed my shoes, too. It felt very me and I hope my future kids will think so too!
Tyler, had less thoughts about his suit, but he just wanted something clean and simple. He did care about his shoes though! He probably got his Church's derby shoes a month after we got engaged. I think once he put those on he didn't care what else he wore!
What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?
What’s funny is we had so many things planned for the original wedding, yet when we decided to have a smaller ceremony, very few of the original ideas came with us. We downsized and simplified all our ideas because after a year of postponements we just wanted to finally be married. So, at the risk of sounding too cheesy I guess the most important aspect was each other. After all, isn’t that all that really matters on your wedding day anyways?
Our smaller wedding ending up being so perfect to us that we decided to cancel our larger post-pandemic wedding. We just felt like nothing could compare to our day.
Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?
I think the same principle as above applies! We just wanted it to feel like us, and we had all our guests tell us how special the ceremony was and how the whole thing just felt so us. I don't think it matters what you do or do not incorporate so long as every element has the couple's fingerprint on it!
Any tips for couples getting married, particularly during the pandemic?
Be fluid and flexible! You have to be able to adapt to whatever craziness happens. If you push back your date, or have to downsize your wedding, or whatever else may come your way, be each other’s support and know that you at least have your soon-to be spouse by your side.
And if you have to let go of some original ideas, no matter how much time, love and planning went into it, then know that it’s totally worth it. Some things may be harder to let go, (I’m talking to you, Savannah Miller gown that’s hanging in my closet!) but looking back on our wedding we honestly can’t picture it any other way.
Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?
We had so many original vendors who were nothing but supportive throughout the whole process (huge shoutout to our original DJ’s Dart Collective, Makeup By Julian and Loho Bride, my original bridal shop to name a few!), but no one was as supportive as our photographer Hannah Shea. She was so encouraging, empathetic and positive throughout our almost 2 year long engagement saga. She was so much more than a vendor to us; she has truly become an amazing friend.
Photographer : Hannah Shea Photography @hannahsheaphoto | Videographer : Justin Segura
Ceremony + Reception Location : Family Friend’s House in Brea, California | Celebrant : Adam Knowles @ajordancompany | Flora : Chelsea Heller (Bride's cousin) | Catering + Beverages : Petra’s Tacos, the couple's family taco cart | Cake : By family friend, made it to look like Bride's parents wedding cake | Umbrellas : Business and Pleasure Co. @businessandpleasure_co | Slip Dress : Anine Bing @aninebingofficial | Cardigan : Aritzia @aritzia | Veil : Bhldn @bhldn | Suit : Calvin Klein @calvinklein | Engagement Ring : Custom | Wedding Rings : Cartier @cartier (Bride) + Mejuri @mejuri (Groom) | Shoes : Manolo Blahnik @manoloblahnik (Bride) + Church's @churchs (Groom) | Pinky Ring + Earrings : XIV Karats @xivkarats | Heart Locket : Catbird NYC @catbirdnyc | Bar Bracelet : Vrai @vraiofficial