Trina and Jason met on OkCupid with a 96 percent match of their profiles. “We talked for a little over two weeks from ‘good morning’ to ‘goodnight’ and finally had our first date in Santa Monica,” shares Trina.
According to Jason, “Trina had always told me she wanted to see ‘blue’ water. I had been to the Caribbean islands before and knew exactly what she meant,” he says. When it came time to propose, Jason used this to plan the perfect proposal, “We planned a week-long cruise vacation in April of 2017. I used her excitement and anticipation of her first big trip as a convenient distraction to pull off a proposal.”
The couple only had a few things that they put as priority for their big day. “The first was that I had to be barefoot on the beach,” says Trina. “Second, we wanted to do something to honor my parents who had passed.”
Choosing a destination wedding, Trina and Jason had the challenge of planning an event six hours away. Thankfully they hired a planner to ease the process. Says the bride, “It was a bit stressful not being there to see the fabric and the colors in person or even taste the cake, but we just had to trust that they would make the day what we wanted. I had to let go of a lot of expectations and just look forward to a beautiful day with our closest friends and family.”
The beautiful and personal ceremony took place on the beach near sunset. “We asked Jason’s brother to get ordained so he could marry us, since he was such a crucial part of our dating history and knew us so well,” says Trina. “He was comical but heartfelt and made everyone simultaneously laugh and cry with inside jokes, quotes from The Lord of The Rings and sentiment.” They also left a chair reserved in the front, and instead of being walked down the aisle, Trina walked by herself and sat a special bouquet of flowers down for her parents.
Guests moved inside the Monterey Beach House where they were greeted with an open bar and three handpicked signature cocktails. Trina danced with Jason’s dad for the father/daughter dance. “We had a lot of kids present so we had a bonfire with s’mores and hired a helper to watch them for a bit so the adults could enjoy the party.”
The couple especially enjoyed having some alone time through the day and evening. “We hadn’t seen each other in two months prior to the wedding and wound up having such a short trip out to get married due to my new job, so we opted for a first look,” says Trina. “This was perfect, and I am so happy we did it that way.”
—Darren Elms
