The Couple: Hayden and Michael Zenk
Wedding Date: May 26, 2012
Photography by Lexigraphics Photography
Tell us a little about you and your beloved: Michael and I dated for 7 1/2 years. We were high school sweethearts and met in marching band when I was a Junior and he was a Senior. He played the trumpet and I played percussion.
Currently, Michael is pursuing his Bachelor’s Degree in Construction Management and I am in my final year of my Master’s program in Speech Pathology and Audiology at California State University, Sacramento.
We are best friends and love spending time together. Some of our favorite things to do together are going camping, playing games with our family, cooking and baking, going to theme parks such as Disneyland, Disney World, and Six Flags, watching our favorite TV shows snuggled up on the couch together, and, since we are both college students, just simply doing our homework next to each other!
What was the most amazing part of your day? When our wedding officiant pronounced us husband and wife. I let out a squeal of excitement and joy and I grabbed Michael’s face and gave him a huge kiss! I had been waiting for this moment for 7 1/2 years!
What else would you like to share about your big day? Our wedding was definitely a DIY wedding. We made almost everything ourselves. I knew I wanted the wedding theme to be sparkles, bling, and swirls. I also wanted it to be completely original and classy. So, with the help of my sister-in-law, Anna Zenk, we came up with a prefect design that included everything I wanted.
Then the DIY-ing began. I purchased vases and decided on two designs. Half of the vases were painted with a greyish-blue paint then topped with blue and silver glitter, which reflected a rich glow from the candles surrounding them. The other half of the vases were wrapped with a band of blue ribbon that had flat back crystals hand glued to it. I also used the same ribbon and flat backs on our Unity candle. We then made hundreds of hanging crystals to hang from two large manzanita trees that were on either side of us during the ceremony (the DJ provided up lighting on them which made the crystals really sparkle) and a third, smaller tree next to the guest book table. Finding the prefect manzanita trees was a daunting task in and of itself, not to mention the time and effort it took to de-leaf and paint them silver.
Another project we created was a stunning statement piece for behind the cake table. Using the swirl pattern from the invitations Anna created, she projected the image onto three plain white doors and traced them. Then Michael and I went back and painted each line and added flat back crystals. After the wedding they became our head board for our bed!
Lastly, I bought yards of thin metal wire and hand twisted 100 to make tiny swirls which hung tiny hand made crystal strands off of them. These were placed in my bouquet and in my vases for my center pieces. I had “diamond confetti” on the tables and large diamonds EVERYWHERE. My wedding turned out exactly how I wanted and I could not be happier!
Ceremony and Reception Site, and Caterer: Lake Natoma Inn
Photographer: Lexigraphics Photography
Videographer: Dwynne Zenk
Cake: Kaylene’s Specialty Cakes
Flowers: Esther’s Floral Designs
Favors: Cupcakes from Pretty Sweet
Bridal Attire: House of Fashion
Bridesmaids’ Attire: David’s Bridal
Hair: Impressions Salon
Makeup: Makeup by Mariko
Invitations: Mine Lolly by Anna Zenk
DJ/Entertainment/Band: JukeBox Music
Honeymoon location: Disney World
Any other of your wedding vendor(s) you’d like to call out? Yes, my wedding dress seamstress, Chris Launier and my esthetician, Dawn Marie with Dawn Marie’s Advanced Technology Skin Care. I took my dress to Chris to be hemmed and bustled. While I was there, I decided that I really wanted a crystal sash on my dress. By using a pin-on applique that my dress came with, she cut off all of the crystals and hand placed and hand sewed each piece in place to create my stunning sash. She was an absolute pleasure to work with and her level of expertise was above and beyond what I could have ever expected! Dawn Marie was amazing as well. Her waxings and relaxing facials helped my skin look smooth and flawless on the big day!
First Dance Song: “You are mine” by Mute Math
Any advice you’d give to our readers who are planning their weddings right now? Cherish every moment because the day goes by SO fast! Also, spend a little time looking at every wedding detail that you have been planning for months and months. Be sure to take it all in. I don’t feel like I got to really look at all of my table centerpieces, bouquet, or my cake long enough.
Another piece of advice is for brides who plan to have a morning wedding. We had our wedding at 11:00 am. I loved having a morning wedding, but I didn’t really think about how early I would have to get up to get my hair and make up done! My bridesmaids and I were up before 5:00 am and both my sweet sister-in-law who was our videographer and my make-up artist were in our room before 5:30 a.m.!! So if you have a morning wedding, make sure you are prepared to wake up really early and that your vendors are willing to come at the crack of dawn. However, there were some great things about getting married early in the day! One thing is that since we served a delicious custom brunch, which allowed us to stay in our budget. Another thing is that since the wedding was in the morning, we were able to have the majority of the room decorated the night before. In addition, a morning wedding means that if your reception is immediately following, then the whole wedding is over by 4:00 pm, allowing you and your brand new husband have the WHOLE evening to yourselves!
Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance? Something that I would have changed is the room my bridesmaids and I got ready in. We had a standard hotel room at Lake Natoma Inn and our room became really crowded once the make-up artist, hair stylist, photographer, videographer, and my mom were in there. I would definitely recommend the hotel’s suite. They are very large and spacious with plenty of room for all the hustle and bustle that is bound to take place. Also, Michael and his groomsman decided not to get a room at the hotel, so the morning of the wedding all of the men were getting ready in the hotel lobby bathroom!!! While it makes for a funny story and we did get some great “getting ready” photos, I would recommend having a room for the men to get ready in.
Blog post by Real Weddings Magazine’s Social Media Maven, Aimee Carroll.
Photos courtesy of and copyright Lexigraphics Photography.
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