Dawn and Wes’s story started years ago. Friends in high school, they lost touch after his sophomore year but later reconnected and realized they lived on the same street!
After a year of dating, they got engaged during a family cruise vacation. A year later, they married at The Flower Farm.
Dawn felt “pure joy” on her wedding day, saying: “All I kept thinking was I’m really marrying the love of my life!”
Wes was “shocked that I was marrying my best friend and get to be with her for the rest of my life.”
Dawn wore old, her great-grandmother’s pearl necklace and her sister’s pearl earrings, as well as new, white high top Converse that she bedazzled with pink and iridescent rhinestones.
During the ceremony in front of 130 guests, the couple privately exchanged vows. What they didn’t know at the time? Dawn’s sister, the maid of honor, forgot Wes’s ring so another bridesmaid sneaked off in the middle of the ceremony to get it.
Their favorite funny wedding moment came during the ceremony. “When Wes was told, ‘You may kiss the bride,’ he stuck out his finger, like saying wait a minute,” says Dawn. “He leaned back to his best man, who sprayed breath spray into his mouth. Everyone was dying at that point and then cheering.”
While the wedding day included traditions like the first dance and bouquet toss, the couple did something different too. “I made a sign with a Bible verse saying that a cord of three strands is not easily broken,” explains Dawn. “Symbolizing that our relationship with one another and with God will keep us strong and unbreakable.”
Wes, whose advice for other grooms is “Happy Wife, Happy Life,” was surprised by how fast the wedding day went. Dawn agrees. “I don’t remember much about the ceremony other than seeing how happy Wes looked and realizing how happy I felt,” says Dawn, who surprised her husband with a watch he’d been wanting since the couple first started dating. “It was surreal to realize I was actually getting married.”
The celebration continued with the reception inside The Flower Farm’s barn, where guests ate BBQ tri-tip and chicken with macaroni and cheese—the bride’s favorite!
—Kristen Castillo
