Tahoe Wedding Inspiration: Let It Snow {Get To Know}

We met Kimberly through SPARKLE Bridal Couture, where she works as a bridal stylist. We knew she would be a perfect fit for our Let It Snow photo shoot by her laid-back and fun attitude, plus she took extra good care of the dresses she was wearing (which we love). She was a trooper through the snowfall and long drives to and from Truckee. Read on to hear about her “secret” relationship with her now fiancé, and her favorite part about the photo shoot!

What made you want to model for this photo shoot?

I heard about it at work. I work for Sparkle Bridal Couture, which provided the gowns for the shoot. I thought it would be a fun experience to explore outside of my usual routine in bridal. It was a lot of fun meeting a lot of the people who are behind the scenes to putting on such a wonderful and special day.

What was your favorite part of modeling? What was the most challenging part?

My favorite part was definitely getting all glammed up by my hair and makeup team. I haven’t done my hair or makeup trials yet, so it was fun to get an idea of what I could pull off. The hardest part was knowing how to pose. Since I have never modeled before, I had no idea if I should smile or how I should stand. The team was very helpful and guided me through it, but I still felt like I had no idea what I was doing.

What was your favorite part of this concept? Did you relate to the concept?

I loved the fun feel of the mountains for this concept. The pillow by Swoonable with the saying, “Love you to the mountains and back” was what sold it for me. Even though this wasn’t an idea I would use for my own special day, it was still adorable and I wish I could have taken the pillow home with me.

What do you do for a living?

I am a bridal stylist at Sparkle Bridal Couture. I love what I do and getting to be on the other side now as a bride has made it even more meaningful.

What do you do for fun?

For the most part, I am a huge homebody. I love being at home with my fiancée and just relaxing; watching Netflix or something. But every now and then, I love getting together with a bunch of friends or family and having a game night.

Tell us about your love story.

I met my fiancée, Kodiak, a few years ago while we were both working at a movie theater. I trained him when he first started and instantly thought he was special. At the time, I thought he was just a good worker and had common sense, which most new trainees lacked in the beginning. Looking back, I think I knew then that he was going to change my life forever, but I couldn’t accept it. For a few years we were just friends and then about two years ago we decided it was something more. We dated in secret for the first ten months since we were not allowed to date at work openly due to the theater’s employee policies. Around that time, we realized things were getting more serious and were tired of hiding it. We both decided to look for a new job and whoever found one first would leave the theater. I won.

I knew Kodiak was the one during a moment when I was at my weakest. I suffer from chronic depression and have had a very long up hill battle getting a handle on things. He understood this, but he never tried to push me into things when I was going through what I call an “episode.” He always tries to make me feel better and just holds me. He doesn’t say much, but then one day he just looked at me and told me he loved me. I won’t lie, I freaked out, but I knew in my heart I never wanted to lose that. He makes me want to be a better person, and helps me to do just that.

When our one-year anniversary came around we went to celebrate at Disneyland and on our very first ride, Peter Pan’s Flight, he proposed. He waited until my favorite scene where our ship is flying over London with the stars shining bright all around us to ask for my hand. I, of course, said yes. It was one of the happiest days of my life and I am so excited to live our happily ever after together.

Tell us about your own wedding.

I wanted our wedding to be different and represent what Kodiak and I are all about. We are not very serious people and like to have fun. We are even getting married on a Friday the 13th. Our wedding theme is fun and colorful. We have a rainbow palette, meaning everyone in our bridal party and the tablecloths are a different color of the rainbow. Instead of table numbers, we are doing our favorite characters. We have characters from video games, Disney, TV shows, movies and comic books. We just want to have a great time celebrating our special day with our friends and family.

If you could offer any advice to future brides, what would it be?

A lot of things take time and planning. So when it comes to checking things off the list, the sooner the better. When you wait till the last minute that is when the stress begins. For instance, I work with wedding gowns and those can take awhile to come in depending on where you get it. Plan things out and buy as you go. It will take some pressure off, and make planning a wedding much more enjoyable.

-Interviewed by Kelley Saia

Produced by Sandy Stringer—Strings & Champagne Events, Brandon Bowman—Morningside Florist, Emily Peter and Wendy Sipple—Real Weddings Magazine.

THE DETAILS

VENUE PJ’s at Gray’s Crossing / Tahoe Mountain Club | 530-550-5094 | tahoemountainclub.com

PHOTOGRAPHER Leilani Paular Photography | 916-541-8191 | leilanipaular.com

With Additional Images Provided by Justin Buettner Wedding Photography | 916-220-0159 | jbweddingphoto.com

DESIGN, STYLING, COORDINATION AND SELECT DECOR Strings & Champagne Events | 916-397-9346 | strings-champagne.com

STYLING AND FLORAL DESIGN Morningside Florist | 916-635-9891 | morningsideflorist.com

CAKES AND DESSERTS Something Sweet Bakery | 209-745-9000 | somethingsweetgalt.com

HAIR AND MAKEUP Lisa Harter Hair and Makeup Artist | Lisa Harter, Hair and Makeup | Rachel Baldwin, Beauty Assistant | 530-559-7292 | lisamharter.com

KIMBERLY’S GOWNS Sparkle Bridal Couture | 916-538-6615 | sparklebridalcouture.com

PENDELTON PLAID SHIRT The Clothes Mine | 209-267-0417 | theclothesmine.com

JEWELRY Style Avenue Studios | 916-812-1114 | styleavenuestudios.com

PAPERIE Paper n Peonies | 903-780-7772 | etsy.com/shop/papernpeonies

FLATWARE, GLASSWARE, CHAIRS, ADIRONDECK CHAIRS AND LINENS Camelot Party Rentals | 775-355-9004 | camelotpartyrentals.com

LOUNGE TABLES AND SELECT DECOR Botanica Specialty Rentals | 916-673-8650 | botanicaevents.com

CUSTOM SIGNAGE AND DECOR PILLOWS Swoonable | swoonable.net

VIDEOGRAPHER Justin Buettner Wedding Photography | 916-220-0159 | jbweddingphoto.com

Special thanks to our real bride model, Kimberly, and all of the professionals who contributed to this feature!

Blog post by Real Weddings Magazine’s Associate Editor Emily Peter.

Photos by Leilani Paular Photography with additional images provided by Justin Buettner Wedding Photography / copyright Real Weddings Magazine.

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