The Couple:   Jenny and Eric
Wedding Date:  November 20, 2010
Photography by D. Elaine Photography
Tell us a little about you and your beloved:  Eric and I live in Sacramento, California. We met about three years ago on the Internet! We love the outdoors and visit Mendocino often. We love the outdoors so much we decided to have our wedding on the coast in Mendocino. It seemed very appropriate for our personalities. We found having a small wedding on the coast was more reasonable and more magical than anything we could plan locally.
What was the most amazing part of your day?   The most amazing part of our day was getting married by one of our close friends, outdoor, overlooking the ocean in front of our closest friends and family, even if it was in the rain! It is a dream come true and could not have been more perfect. Eric and I were able to spend time together prior to the wedding which helped put my nerves at ease. The food in Mendocino was fantastic, as was the view in every direction. Our room at the Brewery Gulch Inn was lovely to get ready for the ceremony and to take pre-photographs. Our photographer Diana was amazing!
What else would you like to share about your big day?  Our guests seemed to get a huge kick out of us getting married on the beach in the rain in a cypress, grove away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Everyone treated it as an adventure and had a wonderful time. Eric and I were so happy to have a small ceremony with our closest family and friends. We were really happy to be able to provide them with a mini vacation. In doing so, it made our wedding perfect!
 







Ceremony Site:  Cypress Grove near Mendocino Village
Reception Venue:  955 Ukiah Street Restaurant. The reception was perfect. We closed down a gorgeous little restaurant just for our party. Peggy and Jamie were awesome, and we look forward to visiting every time we are in Mendocino for many years to come.
Photographer:   D. Elaine Photography. Diana is a wonderful person will a lovely spirit and gorgeous soul. Her photographs are artistic, and she makes you feel like family. She managed to make all of the photos look gorgeous even if they were in the rain!
Caterer:  955 Ukiah Street Restaurant
Cake:  Sharon Robinson
Flowers:  My good friend Leena Brown
Favors: We bought wine keys for everyone and had personalized chap sticks including our names and wedding date!
Wedding Dress:  Diamond Bridal Gallery
Bridesmaid Dresses:  We decided against having a wedding party. We encouraged our friends and family to wear whatever made them comfortable and happy.
Hair:  Mendocino Beauty
Makeup:Amy Wall with Mendocino Beauty
Invitations:  Wedding Paper Divas
DJ/Entertainment/Band:  My trusty iPod. (I chose a mix of music Eric and I love and listen to often. I also mixed in some favorite songs of my friends and family to personalize the music experience for my guests.) Even the catering staff was rocking out to our eclectic mix of music while cooking in the back!
Photo Booth:  D. Elaine Photography
Honeymoon location:  Mendocino was practically a honeymoon location! We have a trip to France and Spain scheduled for later in the year! We can’t wait.
Any other of your wedding vendor(s) you’d like to call out? Cafe Beaujolais was the location for our pre-wedding dinner the night before. The staff was wonderful and the food was amazing.
The Hill House Inn in Mendocino Village is where we reserved rooms for all of our guests. The staff could not have been more accommodating.
First Dance Song:  We ended up not having a first dance and are just choosing to dance through life instead.
Any advice you’d give to our readers who are planning their weddings right now?  I could not recommend Mendocino any higher as a wedding location. It was a wonderful and magical place to get married full of nice people, phenomenally beautiful spots everywhere you look, and fantastic high qualify food. It was a wonderful destination wedding that did not feel far away. It was effortless to plan, even remotely. Eric and I chose to have a short engagement which meant an abbreviated planning period which was stressful at times. However, I would not have done it differently. We were able to make decisions quickly and move forward with planning. It was perfect for us and the planning was fun.
Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance?  I would have bribed Mother Nature into holding off the rain!
Photos courtesy of D. Elaine Photography.

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