turtle girl: Wedding Day, Part 1 (non-professional pics)

On June 18th, I probably woke up about 6 or 7 times during the night because I couldn't believe that later that day I'd be walking down the aisle to marry the man of my dreams. At about 6:30 am I gave up even trying to sleep and bounced out of bed, hopped into the shower and got ready for my hair appointment. At 9am my mom and I were at the salon getting my hair done--a simple hair, half up (more like a quarter up) and the rest down in cascading curls. It only took about an hour to do, and then we left to go back home to get all the stuff I'd need for the day into the car and drive over to the Hidden Chateau.

We arrived at the Chateau at around 12:30 and a few minutes later our photographer, Michelle Chiu, arrived as well (I will post her professional pics online when I get them! She's awesome by the way. Check out her website at: michellechiu.net to see her blog and portfolio!). For the first half hour I just soaked it all in, looking around the garden, checking out my bouquet which was soaking in water, and admiring the decor put together by Annette and Roxy along with the catering staff and wedding staff at the Chateau. It seemed surreal yet at the same time it was exactly what I had imagined and hoped for.

Laurie, my mother-in-law, and Alicia, my aunt

Earlier that week, it had been cold (hard to believe in June, huh?!). But amazingly enough the weather was PICTURE PERFECT on Saturday the 18th. It wasn't too cold or too hot. It was in the 70s for most of the day and probably only dipped into the high 60s by the time the reception ended at 10pm (the ceremony and reception were both outdoors).

Cousin Greg and my sister's boyfriend, Jeremy

Ben and his mom

After soaking in the environment and reality of the day, I got my make-up done by the amazing make-up artist, Shannon French who just happens to be one of my best friends. She, unfortunately, was sick but she came anyways and did a beautiful job on my make-up even though she felt horribly ill the entire time (I felt so bad!). She even stayed all the way through dinner before finally allowing her boyfriend, Nick, to take her home. What a trouper!

Uncle Leo and Aunt Marilyn

One of my flower girls, Claire

Cadence, my other flower girl and my cousin's daughters

After make-up came dress time and that was the truly exciting part because that's when I saw everything come together for the first time and I actually looked like a bride. Before, when I had tried on the dress, my hair was always a mess and I had little to no make-up on, so I never was able to completely picture the final "product." It was definitely and emotional moment seeing it for the first time, because even though I was never one of those girls who dreamed about her wedding, I did always wonder what I'd look like as a bride, and now I knew. I could wait for Ben to see me!

My student, Alex, and my colleague, Kathy

Our ring bearers and nephews, Logan & Landon

After snapping some solo shots and shots with Shannon, Michelle set up our "first-look" pictures where Ben would get to see me for the first time before we had to get loads of pictures done with family and friends. I'd highly recommend doing this because instead of wasting hours of our own wedding reception taking pictures, we got to enjoy most of the time.

Then came the ceremony! It was so beautiful. My bridesmaids and groomsmen were terrific and our flower girls and ring bearers were show stealers because all four of them are freaking adorable (just wait till you see the professional pics of all of them!). My dad and I had our own long aisle which was so cool because it really dramatized that beautiful moment and while I walked down the aisle, one of my students, Alex Mansour (a true talent!) played classical guitar with my colleague, Kathy. Our officiant, Father Todd Scull, was a former teacher as well as former colleague of mine who works with my dad at Reseda Science Magnet. He did a beautiful job with the ceremony. My mom and Aunt Marilyn read Bible passages and my co-worker, Kathy Rohrs, sang a responsorial song while playing the guitar. Ben and I said our vows, exchanged rings (it was funny when I put Ben's on because it was so hard to get over his knuckle!), lit a unity candle, gave our moms roses, and ended with the kiss! Btw, during our rehearsal of the ceremony Ben was so cute because all he kept saying was, "When do I get to kiss her?" My mom thought that was adorable.

Best man, Paul, and Maid of Honor, Breanna

Groomsman, Erick, and bridesmaid, Melissa

My dad passing me over to Ben

After the ceremony, we whisked off for a few more pictures (but not too many since we had taken most before the ceremony). Our guests enjoyed the most amazing appetizers, wine, beer, and champagne...Bella Donna Special Events did an amazing job with this! We had mini beef wellingtons, guava and goat cheese quesadillas, and brushchetta (I can't spell any of these things!). After we were done with pictures it was nice to be able to relax with the wedding party and snack on these tasty treats before being introduced at 6pm! During this time, guests received their seating cards which were personalized bookmarks I had made each guest...it took a lot of time but I'm glad I did it because it was such a personal touch (as were the centerpieces which I made with Annette as well). Ben's personal touch to the wedding were his boutineer flies that he made. I can't wait to get the professional pictures to show you all of these things!

Right after our introduction Ben and I had our first dance which was "Swept Away" by the Avett Brothers. Following this came my dad's toast and salads were served. During salad time, a video made by my dad (I'll try to upload it to YouTube and include a link) was played which was so beautiful. It showed Ben and I when we were young, growing up, then when we first met, our engagement in the Bahamas, and our engagement pictures. After this came the full dinner.

Dinner was amazing even though I was too excited to eat much of it. We had mango-salsa chicken, wild rice pilaf, veggies, and rolls. My sister had made cake-pops for everyone and put them at their place settings. We also included business cards with requests for all photography to be uploaded to a shutterfly account we had made. That's how I got the pix I'm including in this post!

After dinner the dance floor opened and we had dancing and "hanging out" time. Our candy bar opened up...what a hit! People love candy bars, by the way. In fact, if you're planning a wedding, this is a simple and fairly inexpensive way of pleasing your guests. It gives them something fun to do as they pick out candies they'll enjoy and it also serves as a favor. Trust me, they'll love a candy bar a lot more than stupid flower seeds or bubbles or any other junk you plan on giving them that you know you'd throw in a drawer if you were the one receiving it (no offense to anyone who did this! haha).

The rest of the evening was filled with traditional wedding events including cutting the cake (which was gorgeous!!), tossing the bouquet (congrats Bianca!) and the garter (congrats Erick!), and hanging out with our guests while dancing and having yummy wine. We had a coffee and tea bar but sadly I never even got to it cuz I was so busy. Ben and I didn't get to the candy bar either, but we had candy saved for us which was nice!

Other nice touches that we tried to include were photographs of our engagement pictures throughout including a large canvas photo that is now hanging in our bedroom. The guest book, made by my sister and her boyfriend, Jeremy, was beautifully personalized and so us! The cover was made of wood. Annette also personalized the wedding party table by providing us the ladies with flip flops and all of us with gum, mints, and red bull! How sweet :)

We spent our first night as husband and wife at the Malibu Country Inn where we had our own patio complete with jaccuzi! I'd highly recommend...it's not fancy but it's comfy and there's a view of the ocean from the patio...the spa was a really nice touch!