It’s not unusual for a bride and groom to be excited to say “I Do,” but for Taryn and Mike, the excitement was palpable. Taryn’s mother walked down the aisle and gave Mike a note from the bride that read, “Can’t wait to marry you.” Mike felt the same way about his bride, who walked down the aisle to “A Thousand Years” by Piano Guys. “My emotions were all over the place; it was the greatest feeling in the world,” he says. “I finally got to do this. It was the greatest day ever.”
The couple has been together since they met when Taryn’s best friend (who is married to Mike’s best friend) hosted a barbecue. The two chatted at the party and the next day made plans for a first date. Many dates followed and a year later—in the moonlight near the I Street Bridge—Michael proposed. During a nine-month engagement, they planned a courtyard ceremony and reception in front of 140 guests at Vizcaya Pavilion in Sacramento.
The couple’s color theme of blue, the groom’s favorite hue, was incorporated into many parts of the wedding—from the bride’s bouquet and the champagne glasses to the groom’s attire and up lighting. Their five-tier cake also had a royal blue ribbon design. For a bit of fun, they honored Mike’s love for the sport of rock crawling, which meant adding a 3D version of Mike’s Toyota truck rock crawler climbing up the side of the cake.
Taryn also used fleur-de-lis designs throughout the wedding, including custom fleur-de-lis on her ceremony and reception shoes. For favors, the couple gave guests fleur-de-lis-shaped bottle openers.
Seeing all of the wedding details came together really impressed Mike. “Talking about our vision and actually seeing it executed perfectly [amazed me] and [made me] so, so happy,” he says.
“It was amazing to finally see, after months and months of planning, our vision as I walked down the aisle.” ― Taryn
―Kristen Castillo
