How did you meet?
Jared and I met at church in 2019. Jared and my cousin (who also attended the same church) became friends, and I soon was introduced to Jared by my cousin one day at church. I began to see Jared more and more at friend group activities, etc… We were friends for about a year, and we started dating after he asked me out while we were on a hiking date.
When did you get engaged, and how?
We were engaged in October 2022. Jared had tried his best to keep it a surprise, so to my knowledge, we were going to go on a family day-trip to Yosemite on that day. We took a significant detour, and ended up in Pacifica, CA. We went to a cute coffee shop in the area called Soul Grind, and then took a walk along the beach. We reached a quiet place, which is where Jared proposed! Needless to say, when we detoured from our route to Yosemite, I suspected that he may propose, but wasn’t quite sure. I was still a bit surprised (and so excited) when he popped the question!
WeddingGoals#
We knew that we wanted a traditional church ceremony, and we knew ahead of time that we wanted to use Garuda Blue for our live band. Also, I had a specific wedding dress style in mind (lace sleeves and a turtleneck), which is why I knew I found “the one” when I tried on my wedding gown at Miosa’s. I also wanted to incorporate green into the wedding as much as I could, (since that was the theme) and I loved how the bridesmaid dresses from Lulu’s turned out, as well as the green wedding shoes and the bridal bouquet which was created using green roses!
How did the planning go?
Wedding planning had its ups and downs. We made a lot of the larger decisions earlier on in the process, which made us feel like we weren’t accomplishing a lot in the couple of months leading up to the wedding. Thankfully, our florist/wedding coordinator (Dry Creek Blossoms/Erica Gravel) was so instrumental in keeping us on track. She assisted us so much in choosing decor rentals, overall design, and timeline details. Our parents were also very involved and helpful in the process. We are very thankful for all of the help and support we received through the planning process from our family, bridal party, and wonderful vendors. Our favorite time while planning the wedding was probably the week of the wedding. It really is a hectic week, but the excitement keeps you going, and the various appointments, ceremony rehearsal, and rehearsal dinner all add to the fun of the wedding week.
How would you describe the ceremony? Was there anything specific that made it unique to you as a couple?
Our wedding ceremony was a traditional setting. We had the ceremony in our local church, our pastor officiated, and our church organist accompanied the ceremony. We very much appreciated the ceremony message that our pastor gave, which was based on Ephesians 5. The message spoke of the covenant of marriage and the husband and wife’s complimentary roles. For music, we chose “Wedding Processional” from Sound of Music as the bridal processional song choice, and as our recessional song choice, we chose Rondo in G, which was a fun, classic organ piece that we loved! We lit a unity candle during the ceremony as well, which we thought was a special symbolic moment for us!
#VendorRaves
All of our vendors were terrific. We were absolutely amazed with Erica from Dry Creek Blossoms on her skill and the amount of effort that she put into our wedding décor and floral arrangements. She made all of the ceremony and reception decor come to life, and gave the wedding a magical feel. We were thrilled with our photographer, Karissa from Karissa Wright Photography. She and Gavin were great at making us feel comfortable during our engagement session and on our wedding day, and delivered a high quality product in a timely manner.
Stephanie’s Favorite Part of the Day
Walking down the aisle after being pronounced husband and wife! Jared and I drove to the reception location directly after the ceremony had ended, and we had a few moments of alone time before the celebration began. It was special to spend those few moments alone together and come to the realization that we had just become husband and wife! It was a feeling that cannot be recreated, but looking back on it makes me remember how special that feeling was.
Memorable Moments
We enjoyed greeting everyone in the receiving line at the beginning of our ceremony! We enjoyed listening to all of our toasts from the best man, maid of honor, bride’s father, and groom’s father. Each speech was very special to us in their own way. We loved the traditional moments such as the cake cutting, toasts, first dance, and father/daughter & mother/son dances.
What do you think your guests will remember most about your wedding?
I think that our guests will remember the reception details the most. All of our vendors’ work came together beautifully to make it an enjoyable experience. The Spring Creek staff had excellent service and food. They were very organized and were timely serving all our guests. Dry Creek Blossoms decorated the reception area beautifully with raised table centerpieces, candles, and smilax greenery hanging from the ceiling beams, plus much more. Garuda Blue played background jazz music during dinner completed the full experience.
Advice from the couple:
So many people told us that the wedding day would fly by, and they were right! Hiring a photographer and videographer to capture your moments of the day were a must for us, and we’ve loved looking back on wedding photos and video footage so that we can relive our wedding day.
