Newlyweds Katrina and Daryl have a romantic engagement story—and because Daryl broadcasted it on Facebook Live, many of Katrina’s friends were also able to share in the romance, too! “I’m immediately bombarded by tons of texts, messages, and calls,” says the bride. “Till this day people tell me stories of where they were and what they were doing when they tuned in.” Katrina thought the two were just going for a walk on the beach, only to have Daryl propose on the shore. After she said yes, her parents, along with Daryl’s mother, stepped out from behind a rock to share in the special moment.
The duo met during a birthday dinner for a friend in college and dated for a decade before getting hitched. The celebration was held at the Fitz Place, in Santa Clara’s wine country. The venue was a recommendation from a friend in Katrina’s bridal party, and it was love at first site for the bride. “During our first tour I could tell in Katrina’s face that she was completely in love with everything about this venue,” he says. “I couldn’t deny Katrina the venue of her dreams.”
The laid back, Bohemian-themed ceremony was held under an old oak tree and included a guest appearance from Ellie, the couple’s maltipoo, and Brady, Katrina’s sister’s dog. They were both dressed to the nines in custom outfits handmade by Katrina’s mother.
It wasn’t just the pups that got special treatment in the ceremony, however. Daryl and Katrina’s officiant, Matt, asked them each to answer questions about their relationship prior to the ceremony and worked their responses into his speech on their wedding day. “Matt focused on us as a couple and was able to truly express our love for each other in words we couldn’t find ourselves during the ceremony,” Katrina says.
The reception was held in the same location and included Mediterranean food, as well as tacos as the late-night bite. They skipped the cake and opted for not one but two dessert offerings to satisfy their collective sweet tooth: churros, picked by Daryl, and bibingka, a Filipino coconut-rice pastry from Binka Bites, a bakery in San Francisco that Katrina loves.
Interestingly enough, Katrina’s first look wasn’t quite the same as Daryl’s. Katrina says that Daryl had bought a digital camera on the day they first met in college and took photos of everyone at the party that day. “He seemed to have captured three still shots of me walking up to the table right before we first introduced ourselves,” says Katrina. “We ended up framing one of the photos in the walkway before our ceremony with the words ‘Daryl’s first look.’” While Katrina jokingly describes it as “creepy,” Daryl has a different spin on it. “Those snapshots are what remind me that love can find you when you least expect it. How many people can say they have pictures of their future wife from the night they first met?”
—Suzie Dundas