Sacramento Weddings

 

Lora and Peter like to break the rules. It’s their mutual love of being spontaneous that has kept their relationship exciting. “We both love to give gifts to each other, so we surprise each other all the time with our favorite candies or beers,” she says.

The couple also shares a big passion for music, regularly attending concerts together. They had plans to see Kings of Leon in San Jose, and Peter thought that the weekend away would be a perfect time to propose.

On their way back to Auburn, he wanted to take the scenic route, driving from San Jose through San Francisco and then home. “I told her it had been a while since I had driven over the Golden Gate Bridge,” he says. “She kept prying and asking me why it was so important, especially since it was cloudy and raining outside, but I persisted!” Lora was still hesitant to drive the extra distance. “I was really annoyed,” she remembers. “He was acting kind of weird and when we stepped out of the car, the thought went through my mind, ‘Is he going to propose?’”

They parked the car and walked to a lookout point. Lora looked at Peter, who was down on one knee. “I had a two-year rule that we wouldn’t get engaged until we had been dating two years,” she says. “Well, we broke it! We were shy by three months.”

They both agreed to a longer engagement, so they could have more time to find ways to cut costs and stick to their budget, which included many DIY projects—from the invitations to custom beer. “My big wedding project was brewing beer with my buddy Jack,” Peter says. “We got together every weekend for about three months [and] made four batches of different beers—all with a wedding theme. We came up with names like ’Til Death Do Us Porter and I. Do P.A. Another good friend of mine, Poor Jeff, is a tattoo artist in Auburn. He spent his free time creating the labels we used on the bottles. It was a blast getting to spend time with these guys and create something together.”

And though it was the most perfect day for Lora and Peter, she couldn’t help but think about the one person who wasn’t there—her dad, who had passed away about nine months before she started dating Peter. “We were so close and it felt strange to not have him be part of the day,” she says. “On the actual wedding day, my brother really helped. He told me how proud he was of me and that Dad would love Peter if he had met him. He then started humming the song I was walking down the aside to, which helped lighten the mood. We were both laughing and smiling as he walked me down the aisle.”

With all her emotions, Lora remembered one thing—she was marrying the love of her life. “Our day turned out to be beautiful—it couldn’t have gone any better. It was everything we hoped for.”

—Kourtney Jason