When Nina told a mutual friend that she thought Joe was cute, she didn’t think it would lead to anything. Much to her surprise, just a month later, Joe sent a text asking her out.
It didn’t take long for either one of them to know this was it.
“I remember being at a get-together with a bunch of my friends and thinking to myself, ‘I’d rather be with Nina right now.’ That’s how I knew,” he says.
For Nina, it was all the little things Joe did that made her realize he was right for her.
“I knew Joe was the one after about six months of dating,” she says. “I don’t think there was one thing in particular that made me go, ‘Oh, wow, he’s it!’ It was more a culmination of things—how we were together, how kind and caring he was, and how wonderful he was to my family. It just all clicked and everything meshed so well together. I knew I wanted to spend forever with him.”
Joe surprised Nina with a proposal over a home-cooked breakfast. “I had no clue he would be proposing—I mean, I was still in my jammies!” she says. “I was totally caught off guard. But it was amazing and as soon as he proposed, I had to call my family. Of course, they all already knew. It was a magical day and something I will always cherish!”
The couple jumped right into planning mode, eager to secure a venue.
“A lot of the venues we were looking at were already pretty booked,” she says. “We only looked at about four and the second place we looked at turned out to be the one!”
Within those first six months of being engaged, they had most major items booked. “We had the DJ, the florist, the venue and all that comes with that, a preliminary guest list and so much more—and we still had nine months until the wedding,” she says.
They had one hiccup with their originally booked florist backing out three months before the wedding due to medical issues, but in doing so, they also received a recommendation for a replacement. They hired Shannon with Flourish, who immediately got the couple’s vision. And it all came together exactly as they had hoped.
“I had this idea of the colors, the tables and the flowers, and literally everyone made it happen. It was amazing! I thought, ‘Oh, for sure, something will not turn out right or something would not be done in time.’ And well, nope, the opposite happened. It turned out better than I could have hoped for,” she says.
—Kourtney Jason
First Dance Song
“What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong
Father/Daughter Dance Song
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland
Mother/Son Dance Song
“Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson
Cake Cutting Song
“Ho Hey” by the Lumineers
Bouquet Toss Song
“Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” by Beyonce
Last Dance Song
“Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey
Details about the cake
We had a traditional yellow cake with a fudge chocolate filling with a buttercream frosting.
Details about the flowers
We did not have a specific flower we really wanted, but we were looking for the right colors (burgundy, blush, whites, greens) and that is how we (with our amazing florist) created our vision.
Details about the favors
We had little white and gold boxes that said, “With Love & Thanks” and had an assortment of gold wrapped candies inside the box (Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Rolos and Hershey’s Kisses). We got all the items to make the favors off Amazon and we did them ourselves with the help of some family members!
Anything else you’d like to share about your wedding?
I would say overall, we had a wonderful time even with it being 110 degrees that day! All our vendors did such an amazing job at being calm and collected which made us calm and collected. As much as I would like to highlight one vendor, honestly, they all ROCKED! If I had to do a do over, I would choose all the same wonderful people and their amazing businesses all over again. I can’t express how awesome everyone was from Shannon with Flourish to Mike Regan & Mike Jones at Mr. DJ to Courtney at Scott’s Seafood; everyone truly was the definition of professional and so very helpful!
Any tips you’d give brides and grooms planning their wedding today?
The number one tip I would suggest is try not to stress! As much as we all try to make sure everything goes according to plan, it won’t! Something won’t work out and that is okay; recover and move on. We learned this the hard way when our original florist had to back out with three months left until the wedding! Luckily, we found Shannon at Flourish (she’s amazing!) – there was nothing we could do but move on. I think we get so wrapped up sometimes that we forget this is supposed to be a joyous occasion, and of course there will be stress, it comes with the territory; but if you can minimize the stress as much as possible, you will be so much happier!
What would you have done differently if you had the chance?
When we look back on our wedding day, we would not have done anything differently (besides hiring a videographer). We had so much fun, our guests had so much fun, and we wouldn’t trade our experiences and what transpired on that day for anything else!
Vendors
Ceremony Site:
Scott's Seafood on the River at The Westin Sacramento Officiant:
Kirk Harry, Groom's uncle Ceremony Music:
Mr. DJ Event Services Photographer:
Carrie Ayn Reception Site:
Scott's Seafood on the River at Reception Site:
The Westin Sacramento Bridal Hair:
Andrea Newberry Jones at Bridal Hair:
Tre Salon Spa Bridal Make-up:
Andrea Newberry Jones at Bridal Make-up:
Tre Salon Spa Bridal Attire:
David's Bridal Bridal Veil:
David's Bridal Bridesmaids' Attire:
Alfred Angelo Flowergirl Attire:
Amazon Groom’s Attire:
JoS A. Bank Clothiers Groomsmen's Attire:
JoS A. Bank Clothiers Ringbearer Attire:
Target (suit); JoS A. Bank Clothiers (shoes) Bride's Rings Jeweler:
Shane Co. Groom's Rings Jeweler:
Shane Co. Save the Date Cards:
Wedding Paper Divas Invitations:
Wedding Paper Divas Place Cards:
Amazon Menu Cards:
Amazon Thank You Cards:
Wedding Paper Divas Wedding Party Flowers:
Flourish Ceremony Flowers:
Flourish Reception Flowers:
Flourish Caterer:
Scott's Seafood on the River at Caterer:
The Westin Sacramento Bar Service:
Scott's Seafood on the River at Bar Service:
The Westin Sacramento Cake:
Freeport Bakery DJ/Entertainment:
Mr. DJ Event Services Favors:
DIY Photo Booth:
DIY by the Bride & Groom Decor Rentals:
DIY