Ashley and Chris attended the same high school, and for Chris, it was love at first sight. Fearing that Ashley was out of his league, however, kept him from doing anything more than asking to borrow a pen. After graduation and years later, Chris still found himself thinking about her from time to time. As fate would have it, on his 21st birthday, Ashley and Chris bumped into each other at the same grocery store. This time, feeling lucky and brave (or perhaps it was the celebratory birthday drinks), Chris worked up the nerve to approach Ashley and invite her out for his birthday. The connection was immediately strong for both of them. They laugh that it was their mutual passion for history and being the only people in their twenties who enjoy watching California’s Gold with Huell Howser that brought them together.
After a few years of dating, Chris told Ashley he was taking her out for a surprise. Although the signs of a proposal were all there—Chris was acting strange, secretive and was even looking green—Ashley still had no idea that Chris had planned on proposing at Hidden Falls in Auburn that day. They hiked to the perfect clearing where they enjoyed a romantic picnic, sipped on drinks and listened to music. Soon their song began to play and that was Chris’s cue to pop the question. He grabbed Ashley by the hand, looked her in the eyes as he took a knee and proclaimed his love. Ashley was so excited and shocked that she did not even hear him ask, “Will you marry me?” He had to ask twice! With the answer he was looking for, she only had to say “Yes!” once.
They enjoyed a two-year engagement and began planning their big day at the beginning of the second year. Most of the wedding planning was easy, except for deciding on a date. After learning that their favorite venue, Park Winters, was available on August 13, they took it as a sign. Thirteen is Ashley’s lucky number and eight is the symbol of eternal love. Once the date was set, the rest easily fell into place. Details were important to both of them, and their unique historical theme “1900s Gold Rush” helped navigate some truly special touches. The couple worked as a team to create and build many of the details including a copper pipe arbor with gorgeous chiffon fabric. Each table was marked by real minerals, which were placed at each setting with a description of its holistic properties.
Boththe bride and groom were filled with nerves on the big day, but their decision to do a first look prior to the ceremony proved not only special, but also helpful in calming both of their nerves. Feelings of nervousness quickly faded to utter happiness by exchanging personal vows and partying the night away with their guests.
—Kelley Saia
First Dance Song
“I’ll Try Anything Once (acoustic version)” by the Strokes
Father/Daughter Dance Song
“Moon River (Cover)” by Jemma Johnson
Mother/Son Dance Song
“White Wedding (Cover)” by Lexie Scherr
Cake Cutting Song
“(Girl We Got A) Good Thing” by Weezer
Details about the cake
We chose to have a small simple three-tier gluten free cake for display and for the cake cutting, it was chocolate with white buttercream frosting and a strawberry mousse filling. Our cake was a geode cake and had a beautiful real geode inside of the bottom tier. For our guests we ordered two full vanilla funfetti sheet cakes with vanilla buttercream frosting. This ended up being a more cost effective option for us.
Details about the flowers
Organic with olive branchs, seeded eucalyptus, rosemary, with florals of dahlias, garden roses, poppies, ranunculus, lisianthus. Ivory, green, pops of mustard yellow with craspedia. Accented with dusty miller and piers japonica. Lots of textures, draping style, yet soft and lush florals.
Details about the favors
We gave our guests enamel camping style mugs with our wedding logo on them!
Anything else you’d like to share about your wedding?
We used Alluring Events & Design for our Wedding Planner & Designer, and our appointed planner/coordinator was Sarah Bayer! We chose full service and that was the best decision that we made for our whole wedding planning process… Sarah handled all the technical details such as suggesting vendors/ services/ helping with design process/ communicating with all the vendors before and on the wedding day. She was amazing!….I suffered with terrible anxiety months before our wedding and Sarah was always reassuring me and making sure everything was as stress- free as possible! Not to mention all of the Alluring events team has great style and is very current and up to date with all wedding trends!
Kayleigh Jean, also from Alluring Events, was our Wedding Designer. She was amazing as well and totally took our out of the box ideas, and tied them all together for a cohesive polished look and feel. She also came with Sarah and I to meet with prop vendors and helped pick out the linens.
It was very difficult to find a bakery to make a gluten free wedding cake. Christie Apodaca of Cake Couture, did a great job! Not to mention she did an amazing job working with us to make a “geode cake” – yes there was a real gem in our cake! Plus she made sure the cake fit perfectly onto the antique cake pedestal that we wanted to use…it was a process.
Any tips you’d give brides and grooms planning their wedding today?
Don’t be discouraged when you start to plan because the first decisions are the hardest; it gets easier from there!
Also, don’t forget what the day is really about. It’s easy to get distracted in the party and design aspects that not enough thought is put into the commitment portion. You’re planning this celebration because you found the person that you want to grow and share a life with!
What would you have done differently if you had the chance?
As far as our wedding itself, we would not have changed one single detail! Everything was so beautiful! I would say for brides like myself who analyze every single detail, to just relax and not worry about them because your guests will never know if something wasn’t quite set up how you wanted it and your wedding planner will take care of those details!
One other thing that I would have changed would have been not to assign my husband with so many tasks the morning of the wedding. He was in charge of filling giant round balloons with helium, picking up the donuts for the donut wall, and bringing a great deal of wedding décor and setting it up the morning of. He was running around like a mad man the whole day. I wish that he didn’t have to work so hard, but that’s one of the reasons I admire him so much…he’s my hero!
Vendors
Ceremony Site:
Park Winters Officiant:
Angie Hensley, Bride's aunt Ceremony Music:
SJ' Disc Jockey Photographer:
Katie White Photography Wedding Planner:
Alluring Events & Design Wedding Designer:
Alluring Events & Design Reception Site:
Park Winters Bridal Hair:
Eyliana Gibson Bridal Make-up:
Kabra Steinberg at Maple + Moss Bridal Attire:
Bride to Be Couture Bridal Veil:
Found on Etsy Bridesmaids' Attire:
Purchased at various retailers Groom’s Attire:
R. Douglas Custom Clothier Groomsmen's Attire:
Macy's Bride's Rings Jeweler:
Kenny G & Company Groom's Rings Jeweler:
Kenny G & Company Save the Date Cards:
Pigment & Parchment Invitations:
Pigment & Parchment Place Cards:
DIY Menu Cards:
Pigment & Parchment Thank You Cards:
DIY with Shutterfly Wedding Party Flowers:
Bloomers Floral & Event Design Ceremony Flowers:
Bloomers Floral & Event Design Reception Flowers:
Bloomers Floral & Event Design Cake:
Cake Couture Desserts:
Krispy Kreme Donuts DJ/Entertainment:
SJ's Disc Jockey Favors:
DIY Decor Rentals:
Botanica Specialty Rentals Decor Signage:
DIY Table Rentals:
Celebrations! Party Rentals & Tents Chair Rentals:
Celebrations! Party Rentals & Tents Rentals:
La Tavola Fine Linen Rentals (linens)