Jennifer and Jay met in high school, she in the color guard and he in the band. They shared the same group of friends but admit to not talking that much. “Jay had a crush on me but I never knew it,” shares Jennifer. “I always thought he was the funny, confident older guy.” They went to a couple of dances and have photos standing next to each other (in group shots), but that’s where it ended—in high school at least.

The two reconnected in 2009 on Facebook, both congratulating a mutual friend expecting a baby. “We became ‘friends’ and eventually Jay asked me out to coffee,” she says. “From that point on we were inseparable.”

The couple took the next step on a hike to Mt. Tallac near Lake Tahoe in August 2011. During the two-hour trek up, Jay seemed nervous, giving Jennifer an idea what he had up his sleeve. “I started to doubt my intuition when we got to the top and ate lunch,” she remembers. “We sat around for a while before Jay asked if I wanted to climb up onto an overlook. Once we started walking I noticed he had something in his side pocket…a ring box!”

The duo looked forward to a relaxed wedding day, one that reflected them as individuals and more importantly as a couple. “We wanted the day to be very intimate and small so that we could visit with each of our guests and really savor each moment without being rushed,” she says. “We also knew we wanted to be able to eat the food!”

Minus a marathon sewing night making handkerchiefs out of 20 yards of fabric, the bride and groom can proudly say the planning went off without a hitch. She recalls, “Our favorite time was planning the bigger details: the location and the overall feeling for the day. Those details allowed us to translate the spirit of our relationship into physical elements.”

The serene and intimate ceremony featured hilltop views and a breeze, making the natural environment around them one of the main decorations. The officiant had a very special relationship to the couple, with Jay having performed the ceremony for her and her husband’s wedding a few years prior.

“We love thinking back to the moment after my mom walked me down the aisle and gave me away,” she shares. “When Jay and I greeted each other we almost kissed. We realized at the last possible moment that we should probably save that kiss for the end of the ceremony.”

Guests gathered for a reception at the Bayley House Barn. The decorations made the barn sparkle and ooze personality. “We wanted the guests to feel that great care and attention was taken with every detail and for them to feel very special,” says the bride. But her favorite moment came when Jay began singing Josh Turner’s “Your Man.” “It was a complete surprise to me…and him!” she says. “The DJ sprung that one on him.”