How did you meet?
We met in early 2017! I was working at a local bar in town and Jake had just moved back home from college. His best friend was my coworker at the time and Jake would come in to hang out with him. I will say the very first day after we met he left the bar and I told his friend Kevin, my coworker, that I was gonna marry him. Kevin laughed and said “Please don’t make it weird and date my friends”! Finally, in October 2017, a few months of back and forth, Jake finally asked me on a date to see John Mulaney (our favorite comedian!) and we’ve been inseparable ever since.
#WeddingGoals
We knew we wanted our wedding in Lake Tahoe, a place where we have been coming to for all of our relationship, and also where Jake came a lot with his family when he was a child. In addition, we knew we wanted an outdoor ceremony with an indoor reception, and a venue that was in a central location to make it easy for guests to enjoy the Lake Tahoe area.
How did the planning go?
Wedding planning was the best time of my life! I seriously had never had more fun! My favorite times were getting to create the vision and getting to connect with all my vendors. They really do become like family throughout the whole process.
Biggest Challenge
The biggest challenge was sticking to the budget. We wanted this wedding to feel like us so it was really important to choose the right vendor team even if that meant going with the more expensive option or route.
How did COVID-19 affect your wedding?
We had a vaccinated only wedding due to my now husband’s father having health issues. I have a really large family mostly on the east coast and because of our vaccinated rule half of them were unable to attend. We really missed having everyone there, but were so grateful to those who came and celebrated with us.
How would you describe the ceremony?
Our ceremony was the perfect mix of silly, sweet and intentional. The woods is such a gorgeous area to have a ceremony and we really just wanted the space to shine! We kept the aisle decor pretty minimal and opted for an illusion arch instead of a regular one. We had our best friend and old roommate, Brad, officiate the ceremony which was so special for Jake and I. He had the crowd laughing and in tears at the same time. Our guests thought he was an actual pastor! We ended up saying our vows privately during our first look but said generic ones during the ceremony. I even ended up placing Jake’s ring on his right hand because I was so nervous up there! Instead of a flower girl, we had one of our best friends walk down with beers and hard seltzers and hand them out to guests! This was a hit and we suggest everyone do this if it fits your style and vibe. We included our dog in the ceremony (Twist Florals even made her a dog collar) and she stole the show. Since we were unable to do a sparkler send off at the end of the night, I really wanted to do something fun for our ceremony, so we did a bubble exit! We placed bubbles on our guests seats and had two bubble machines as well. At the end of our ceremony we had everyone blow bubbles as we walked back down the aisle and it turned out to be one of our favorite parts of the day.
Jake’s Favorite Detail
The cufflinks Emily got for me. She had them made with my mom’s ashes in them, as way to carry her with me throughout the day. It was really thoughtful and special, and I was completely surprised by them.
Emily’s Favorite Detail
The florals. Other than the photos, they were the most important part of the day. I was going for a moody forest vibe and wanted to feel like we brought the outside into the ballroom. We chose really dark reds and burgundy contrasted with soft whites. The deep reds went so well with the green bridesmaids’ dresses and Jake’s green suit. The arch had some of the biggest dahlias I had ever seen and our floral designer, Shelayne, even added some fresh jasmine into my bouquet—it smelled so good! I can’t even put into words how much we loved our head table. It was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. Working with
Shelayne was a dream!
Memorable Moment
Our reception was so fun! Starting off with a bang – Jake and I entered to the Succession theme song and our guest LOVED it! Followed by Jake’s dance with his sisters. Unfortunately, his mom passed away seven years ago, but he chose to dance with his sisters to her favorite song. It was a really sweet way to honor her and his sisters. Our photo booth was also a blast! all of our guests loved it and Cody, the attendant from Epik, was so awesome! He got everyone hyped up about the booth. Epik even gave us a book filled with all the pictures to take home that night too. It was such a sweet surprise! We used After the Tone as our guestbook and it was such an awesome alternative to the usual guest books! We got our voicemails back and it is such an amazing memento of the day. We can tell our guests really had fun with it. Now we have something to listening to every anniversary! Lastly the dance floor! We LOVE a wedding dance floor! We truly danced all night even when guests were taking a break you could always find us on the dance floor. At one point, “Sugar We’re Going Down” by Fallout Boy came on and the room erupted! Everyone 40 and under was on the dance floor, we even had two mosh pits and a circle pit going! We were all screaming our lungs out and we will remember that forever. The last song of the night was “First Date” by Blink 182! Our wedding party actually walked down the aisle to an instrumental version of this song for the ceremony so this was such a great way to tie in the ceremony to the reception! Also who doesn’t wanna go feral with all their buds to Blink?!
Unexpected Moment
Emily ended up eating buttered noodles (per my own request) because there was a mix up with her Risotto for dinner. We did get a free meal and two free bottles of champagne for compensation and drank them both during dinner and the toast hour.
What do you think guests will remember most about your wedding?
We think they will remember being in Tahoe for the weekend as well as all the love. For lots of people, it was their first time visiting California let alone Lake Tahoe, so we wanted to make sure everyone had a great weekend and got to see a little bit of everything. There was also so much love in the room it was palpable. Our family and friends all meshed so well it was great to see my cousins dancing with Jake’s cousins or my childhood best friend talking with Jake’s college buddies.
Advice from the couple:
Stay true to who you and your partner are! This is day about the two of you and your love and your day should be a reflection of that! Try to not let family, friends, or social media have a big impact or heavily influence your decision making for the big day! Wear a colorful dress, have that dream arch you’ve always wanted, don’t invite your third cousin twice removed! Whatever it may be, just remember this day is for you two!
