The Couple: Lauren & Adam
Wedding Date: November 9, 2013
Photography by Bogdan Condor Photography
Tell us a little about you and your beloved:
We met through mutual friends in San Francisco. Adam’s college roommate and one of my high school best friends were dating when we all moved to San Francisco about 5 years ago.
They introduced the two of us and we’ve been together ever since. In fact, we’ve since moved to suburbia and live one mile from each other.
Adam proposed over lunch on a park bench in San Francisco on December 31, 2012. We celebrated that night by ringing in the New Year with all our friends. It was perfect!
What was the most amazing part of your day?
Adam: The most amazing part was spending the day with my best friends and, of course, seeing Lauren walk down the aisle.
Lauren: When I first walked out of the building to walk down the aisle, I remember shaking I was so nervous.
I said to my Dad, “Holy sh*t, all these people are here for us!” (225 looks a lot bigger in person than on a spreadsheet).
Then I saw Adam, the nerves were gone and I was all smiles.
Ceremony and Reception Site, and Caterer: The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe
Ceremony Musicians: Lake DJ
Officiant: Adam’s Aunt Bobbie (It meant a lot to us to have someone close to us do the ceremony.)
Photographer: Bogdan Condor Photography
Videographer: XOXO Video
Wedding Planner: We didn’t hire a separate wedding planner, but the day wouldn’t have gone as smoothly without Blanche Tabe, Director of Meetings and Special Events at The Ritz-Carlton. Blanche was there from start to finish.
Cake/Desserts: The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe
Flowers: Art in Bloom
Favors: DIY (To keep our guests warm we provided fleece throw blankets for the ladies and mini Makers Mark bottles for the men.)
Bridal Attire: Wine Country Bride
Bridesmaids’ Attire: Mia Bella Couture
Hair: The Ritz-Carlton Salon
Make-up: Claire Navarez Makeup Artistry
Invitations: Minted
Signage: Minted and DIY
DJ/Entertainment/Band and Photo Booth: Lake DJ
Lighting: The Ritz-Carlton and Lake DJ (Derek with Lake DJ decided to add red up-lighting right before the reception started. It looked incredible and I really can’t imagine the room without it.)
Décor Rentals: Art in Bloom
Furniture and Linen Rentals: The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe
Transportation: Tahoe Elite
Honeymoon Location: Belize
First Dance Song: “Give it all we got tonight” by George Straight
Any advice you’d give to our readers who are planning their weddings right now? Put full trust in your vendors to do what they do best and select vendors who are familiar with your venue. We gave all our vendors a general idea of what we were looking for and they all wowed us!
Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance? I would have pre-arranged to preserve my bouquet and Adam’s boutonniere after the wedding. I didn’t think flowers were going to be important to me. I knew they were necessary and that they’d be beautiful but I couldn’t have told you what type of flowers I wanted. When the bouquets arrived in the bridal suite, I almost lost it. They were perfect and I wish I had them preserved and framed.
Blog post by Real Weddings Magazine’s Social Media Maven, Aimee Carroll.
Photos courtesy of and copyright Bogdan Condor Photography.
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