Our wedding was all about having fun and celebrating. In all aspects we tried to remove any pomp and circumstance since we viewed our wedding as chance to thank all of the people that have made an impact in our lives, and helped foster our relationship over the years. In the process of planning it, having a wedding seemed overwhelming, and at times we both looked at each other and pondered the idea of cancelling it and using the money to do something lavish. However, at the end of the day it was an amazing experience that teaches you not only about yourselves and your relationship, but also reminds you to be thankful for all the wonderful people you have in your life.
Our favorite part about planning the wedding was finding the location. I am not sure if it is this way for everyone but we had a really hard time choosing where to get married, and then find a location that both fit our style, our budget, and our personalities. It seemed like we would never find a place, but once we did, everything just seemed to happen. All the decisions that we had been trying to make for months just seem to fall into place. And that was a huge sigh of relief.
Also, don’t be afraid to be yourselves and let that shine through. I think a lot of people have a hard time planning a gay wedding in fear that it becomes “too gay”. By no means were we hanging rainbow flags at our wedding, but we did take liberties to add in a little flair here and there.
When legal gay marriage was passed in California we were able to head over to city hall in San Francisco and get hitched with six friends watching, which was a wonderful experience. However, I will never forget when our San Diego ceremony ended and the rush of emotion I felt when Marc and I turn to face the entirety of our family and friend. In that moment I understood how much love surrounded our relationship and how important it was to have our families witness the formality of our commitment to each other.
Because we had already done a civil ceremony in San Francisco, we did not feel the need to stick to a ceremony that felt so formal and legal. So we asked one of our best friends to be the officiant and told her to do anything she wanted. This obviously could be disastrous, but in our case it was the best decision we ever made. She literally made the ceremony more special than we could have ever imagined by polling all of our guests prior to the ceremony and including very personal into her speech. It was also great to have a bit of a surprise thrown into everything as we had no idea what she was going to say until we were standing at the altar.
We were all over the place when we first started the wedding planning process, and could not for the life of us make any real decisions until we settled on a theme. Once you pick a theme everything else pretty much falls into place. Ours was “Spanish Mission”, and as you can see by the pictures we stuck to that from the location, to the flowers and the food.
· Planner:
To cut costs we did not have a planner. However, if there is one thing we highly recommend it is having a day of coordinator. You don’t want to be answering questions and making decisions about your wedding 20 minutes before it starts. Trust us…
· Photographer: Feather Love Photography
· Venue: Rancho Bernardo Courtyard
· Florist: All About Flowers (Robin Whitecotton & Suzy Carter) – (760) 840-0325 – Formerly Marcie’s Flowers, these could be the two best floral designers in all of San Diego.
· Caterer: Paella Valenciana, Juan Pomares, jpomares@paellavalenciana.com – The food delicious, and the presentation is beautiful. It is also very affordable for those of you on a budget.
· Suit/Accessories: Banana Republic and Converse
DJ: Agency DJ’s in Los Angeles
Beautiful! I laughed out loud when I saw the garter over the suit pants– how cute! Many long years of happiness to the two of you.
Awesome! Looks like a beautiful day!!
What a beautiful, intimate day! You look so in love! My partner and I also got married in the courthouse and are now planning a wedding so we can personalize everything and invite all of our family and friends. I love that you asked a good friend to be the officiant because we just did the same thing! I’m so excited to see what he comes up with!
[...] and Matt’s Boy meets Boy wedding invitations 1 JunKelly Prizel Bio | PostsSo you already saw Matt and Marc’s wedding. Now you get to see their wedding invitations designed by their friend, Brenden Mendoza. Share [...]
Oh-la fun couple, love the chucks !