Sabrina and Nicholas met on Match.com. They were friends first, then dated for two years before getting engaged in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland. Eight months later, they married at Rough & Ready Vineyard and Guesthouse.

The groom loved the first look. “It gave a very intimate moment,” says Nicholas. “A beautiful day that goes by almost too fast.” He was wowed when he first saw Sabrina: “I felt like the luckiest man in world.”

The ceremony in front of 100 guests including their 12-member wedding party, incorporated “some geeky quotes and nerd flair,” says Sabrina, explaining she and her groom love comic book conventions, renaissance fairs and Scottish festivals.

The guys walked into the wedding to a string quartet version of the theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Their officiant spontaneously quoted The Princess Bride and friends read “nerdy” quotes throughout the ceremony.

“We wanted audience participation so we came up with a unique idea of placing a colorful string on the ground and weaving it through the audience,” says Sabrina. “The rings were placed on the string and passed along, from one guest to the next, all the way to the front.”

Sabrina was surprised by “how not-nervous I was.” She says, “I always thought that walking down the aisle would be me ugly-crying and embarrassing—it wasn’t. I was really happy that day. I got to marry my best friend.”

She loved the view right before she walked down the aisle. “Seeing all my friends and Nicholas waiting at the altar was beautiful,” she says.

The bright and colorful wedding also incorporated a travel theme. They hired an artist to design a colorful map of the world, and the couple used that logo as invitation seals. Fitting with their travel them, they served a “global assortment of foods.”

A fun wedding moment turned into a lasting impression. “Instead of having our guests sign a guest book we had them sign giant Jenga blocks,” says Nicholas. “I thought everyone was going to just sign the blocks; however, almost all of the guests drew wonderful pictures on them, leaving us with one of my most prized wedding mementos.”

Nicholas, who was surprised by how fast the day went, advises other couples, “Make sure to pause, breathe, take a moment to slow down…and kiss the one you married, a lot.” 

—Kristen Castillo