The Couple: Mary Jo & Paul
Wedding Date: October
Photography by Shoop’s Photography
Tell us a little about you and your beloved: We met on eHarmony and found we had a lot in common. We both were widowed after long marriages (20 and 30 years) so this was an Autumn romance literally and actually! Mary Jo evoked her inner designer and planned every detail of the wedding.
What was the most amazing part of your day? The whole day was amazing, but the sunset during dinner was special.
What else would you like to share about your big day? Wise Villa Winery did a fantastic job of executing our requests and created a magical space for our reception.
Ceremony Site: St. Joseph Marello Church
Ceremony Musicians: Mary and Pat Maguire (not generally available for weddings)
Officiant: Father Phil Massetti
Reception Venue and Caterer: Wise Villa Winery
Photographer: Shoop’s Photography
Cake/Desserts: Karen’s Bakery
Flowers: Bartlett’s Flowers and Gifts
Favors: Caramels from Nugget Grocery Store
Bridal and Bridesmaids’ Attire: House of Fashion (no longer in business)
Hair: Sara Jenkins from W Salon Suites
Make-up: DIY from Mac at Nordstrom
Invitations: Shine Wedding Invitations
Signage: Amazon and Fed Ex/Kinko’s
DJ/Entertainment/Band: Justin Curry
Décor: Williams Sonoma
Linen Rentals: Celebrations! Party Rentals & Tents
Honeymoon Location: Seal Cove Inn and Hyatt Carmel Highlands.
First Dance Song: “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Greene
Any advice you’d give to our readers who are planning their weddings right now? Be present! Every 15 minutes, stop and make a memory using all of your senses (it takes 3 minutes to do so) or the day may become a blur.
Plan it out, hand it off to someone and enjoy yourselves! I used a free PC app for Windows 10 called Project Studio (Windows Store) to lay out all of the tasks. First create the Groups and Milestones. Each task was assigned to a project Group like Flowers or Photography. On the day of the wedding we also assigned tasks to Milestones like Before Ceremony, After Ceremony, Before Reception, Dinner, etc. We used the task list as a weekly checklist and we gave the milestone tasks to the matron-of-honor who ensured that everything went smoothly on our big day. I bet you didn’t expect all that!
Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance? In our next lives we would like to come back as wedding planners.
Photography by Shoop’s Photography.
Blog post by Real Weddings Magazine’s Social Media Maven, Aimee Carroll.
