Date and Location of wedding August 7, 2010 Camarillo, CA

* List of Vendors

Venue : McCormick Home Ranch

Photographer: Weston Neuschafer

Videographer: Ray Maxwell – Family Friend

Florist: Elizabeth Minarik @ Van Nuys Flowers

Caterer: Willie @ Mona Lisa Catering

Music/DJ: Quaye Kennerly- DJ Unik

Bride’s dress, shoes, and accessories

Dress & Vail: Cruz’s Bridal http://www.cruzsbridal.com/

Shoes: David’s Bridal

Jewelry: Sam’s Club Jewelry http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/category.jsp?categoryId=1628

Bridesmaid’s dresses & Shoes: David’s Bridal

Jewelry: Macy’s Jewelry

Groom’s and Groomsmen’s suits: Friar Tux Shop

Invitations: Hand Printed with a template from Target.

Wedding favors: cd’s made by the bride and homemade pomegranate jelly canned by a family member and then decorated by the bride.

Signature cocktail: Margaritas

Table Runners: Hand sewn by the mother of the Groom!

What wedding traditions did you include in your special day and why?

It was very important to us that our wedding stayed true to who we are as a couple as well as individuals. It was pretty non-traditional to say the least. However, there were a few traditions we followed. It was very important to me that my dad walked me down the aisle, even though he was terrified to do it. We also did a traditional father daughter dance along with a mother and son dance. These were a couple of traditions we really liked so decided to include them.

Did you tweak any wedding traditions and make them your own?

One tradition that was bit tweaked was having my brother be my “maid of honor”. Although we referred to him as the ”man of honor.” I wanted him to stand by my side. It was also important to us to make the ceremony about our friendship and love rather than something witnessed under god. I wrote our entire ceremony from beginning to end (with the exception of the grooms vows). We also wanted someone close to us to marry us, so the Groom’s aunt went out and was deputized to marry us for the day.

What was the most memorable part of the day?

It’s very hard to choose just one moment. There are two that really stick out for me, the bride. The first is the vows that my hubby wrote to me. They were so sweet and genuine and so him. I absolutely loved them! In fact, I loved hem so much that, I am having them framed and hung in my house. The second most memorable part of the day for me was when my brother made his “man of honor” speech. He had been in an accident just four weeks prior to the wedding and was in ICU for a week. I wasn’t even sure he was going to able to make it to the wedding. As he began to recover, I told him not to worry about a speech. For one, he had just been in a major life threatening accident at work, and for two, I knew he was stressing about the speech. I told him to just focus on getting himself well enough to stand up by my side on that day. As far as I knew, he was not going to speak. I even asked my cousin that was a bridesmaid to make a speech in his place. When she stood up to give her speech she handed him the microphone and he said some of the sweetest words I have ever heard come from his mouth. They had it all planned and I was so surprised. I was already floating on cloud night, but this sent me over the edge.

Advice for our brides-to-be?

Hmm, advice for brides to be… I would say enjoy your engagement time. I feel like once people get engaged they are so rushed to get married and they miss out on a really fun time…Being a FIANCE!!!! It only happens once and it should be a memorable time. So take your time and have fun with it!!! Other than that just remember it’s only one day out of your entire life. This can mean two things. First, make it a memorable one, and second, don’t sweat the small stuff. After all, no one’s going remember what you served or what kind of flowers you had, but more so than anything, the love that they witnessed on your special day. Take moments throughout the day and literally stop to take it all in. The day goes by so fast and you miss so much. Take time to really appreciate all the effort that was put into your special day!!!!

 

McCormick Home Ranch Wedding Photography