Oh how we love Real Weddings Wednesdays! Today, we present a chic and intimate wedding in Sacramento…Kelsey & Heath! Enjoy!
Tell us a little about you and your beloved: We met at CIP the summer of 2012. Both with our set of friends, and flirted from across the beer garden. We then hung out at Second Saturday the following night, and our first date was the State Fair the next week.
After dating and living together for nearly six years, he proposed at home, in bed, just us two with a beautiful self-written book about the journey of our love and (long story short), how he had a family heirloom ring of his grandmother’s since he was 12 that he lost the year before. He ended up finding that ring in a hidden clothing pocket the day after my engagement ring arrived. Yes, he proposed with TWO rings!
The family ring ended up becoming my something old, new, borrowed and blue, as his brother, our officiant, purchased a blue gemstone to be fitted into the band which was missing the original stone. That’s a ring we will continue to pass down to our family.
As for the wedding planning, we had already set the date before he proposed because we knew we wanted to start a family right away and there was no point in waiting. While we currently live in Southern California, we knew we wanted to have the wedding in Sacramento. We both grew up there, and most of our family and friends were still there. It felt right because it was home.
Without having a set budget, we looked around for affordable venues that didn’t come with extra fees and had nearly everything in one place—Cafeteria 15L and the courtyard at Antiquite Maison Privee were the perfect solutions for us.
What was the most amazing part of your day? The moments leading up to our first look. The anticipation was different than we’d both ever experienced.
What else would you like to share about your big day? All our vendors were amazing. Very accommodating and personable!
Ceremony Site: The Courtyard at Antiquite Maison Privee
Ceremony Musicians: Kelli Alissa (friend of bride)
Officiant: Brother of the Groom
Reception Venue and Caterer: Cafeteria 15L
Photographer: Mae Batista Photography
Flowers: Flowers by Jordan Marie
Bridal Attire: Posh Bridal
Bridesmaids’ Attire: Lulu’s
Hair and Makeup Artist: Lea Buehler BGorgeous (Bride & MOH/sister of bride)
Invitations: Basic Invite
DJ: DJ Benji
Honeymoon Location: France & Italy
First Dance Song: Everything I Do by Bryan Adams
Any advice you’d give to our readers who are planning their weddings right now? Keep it small if you can. It took a few weeks of research and communication to find the right location that suited our needs, but it ended up being perfect. Our guests loved our location, casual seating, having appetizers for dinner and playing corn hole (which also served as our guest ‘book’). We simplified things and in the end it was less stress and planning than the average wedding. Along with a big savings!
Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance? Make the day longer! As anyone will tell you, it goes by in the quickest of flashes, so we would have loved to dance and mingle with our guests more.
Photos courtesy of and copyright Mae Batista Photography, used with permission.
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