The wedding day went fast for Essy and Luke but they made sure to take it all in, even if that meant sneaking away for a moment alone. Essy recalls, “escaping the ceremony, sitting on the edge of the platform we got married on, lights right above us, and me calling him my husband, and just realizing that we finally did it was a highlight.”
Essy and Luke met at Chipotle, where she was a server and Luke was a customer, and he quickly became a repeat customer. He was smitten and came back to the restaurant every other day to catch her at work. He complimented her and soon they were a couple.
They dated for four years, including during Luke’s deployment to Korea, before getting married in the bride’s grandparents’ back yard in Fiddletown. “There was so much love there, and it was just perfect,” says Essy, explaining how sentimental it was to celebrate in her grandmother’s garden with more than 60 guests.
The nuptials had a navy blue and wine color scheme. The bride credits her mother and grandmother with doing a lot of the planning. The theme was “Once Upon A Time,” as seen in vintage-looking details like the invitations created by Essy’s mother.
For her something old, Essy wore her first pair of boots, gifted to her eight years ago, along with her mother’s wedding veil. Her grandmother’s earrings were her borrowed item and her something blue was an anklet etched with the words “Dream Big.”
Luke felt both relieved and excited to see Essy, even if she kept him waiting. “I’d been standing at the altar for a little bit,” he says. “My dad and I were running out of little things to joke about and I was getting impatient. About then she strolled on over, fashionably late, to her own wedding.”
The ceremony was short and sweet. “Everyone walked down the aisle and the pastor, Luke’s dad, said some words,” says Essy. “We read our vows, kissed and jumped the broom!”
A reception on the property followed. On the menu? Tacos, the bride’s favorite food. The couple had two cakes: one for the bride that was white with sunflowers as décor, and a groom’s cake that surprised them both. “It was a Chipotle burrito surrounded by guac and chips,” she says. “My grandma, that sneaky devil, made it happen.”
“My favorite wedding day detail was the red wagon holding gifts,” says Essy. “We had it since I was a little girl in Louisiana, and it was the perfect reminder of my late great grandmother.”
—Kristen Castillo
