Tag archives for outdoor weddings

Married November 12, 2013

Planning a wedding involves months (sometimes years) of endless details, pressing deadlines, family drama and—far too often—enough stress to make you just want to elope. Not for Alicia and Lena. Following an 8 year courtship, Alicia and Lena decided on 11-12-13, giving them just eight days to plan their nuptials.
Lena easily recalls sitting at lunch on November 4th and begging Alicia to elope, tossing her destination ideas, locations, painting extravagant pictures of what their honeymoon would look like if they just “bagged the whole wedding ordeal.” No matter what she said, she could not convince Alicia to buy into her intricate vision. Alicia could not carry out such an important moment without her friends and family. Lena’s strong spontaneous streak and an irresistible impulsive nature, alongside her obsession with unique number combinations, made the date 11-12-13 an obvious choice and Lena declared to Alicia that this had to be the date. A compromise was reached and with the generous help of a close circle of friends the wedding date set and preparations put in motion.
Planning for Alicia was difficult because she had a full work schedule during the week of all the decisions being made.  Lena took care of all the details and made every difficult decision. Concetta was Lena’s very first stop, as nothing is more important to the couple than food and wine.   They were thrilled that Paul Tremayne agreed to host the reception at Concetta, as it is their absolute favorite spot to dine in Modesto.  Their close friend Tiffani helped Alicia pick out her dress and had it altered 4 days before the wedding.
“My hair and makeup were done that morning and all I had left to do was slip into my dress and show up,” explained Alicia.  More of their close-knit friends, Julie, Marci, and Scott, arranged the set-up of the ceremony site, complete with a champagne station while Shannon, Diane, and Rachel arranged flowers in antique milk bottles, strung white lights, and hung pennants at Concetta.Lena arrived as everyone would have expected, a few minutes late and riding across Kewin Park on her cruiser bike with their two dogs, Porter and Pippa, trotting by her side.  Friends and family immediately burst out in cheers as she took her place adjacent to their friend and Minister, Kate Trompetter.As Alicia made her way down the long staircase escorted by her parents, the group circled around the altar and joined Lena in drying tears of joy.  “My bride, Alicia, was beyond breathtaking and our nuptials unfolded exactly how I hoped they would.”  Lena looks back at the eight-day planning process and references the 1991 American comedy “Father of the Bride.”  “At one point or another, I identified with each character in the film but mostly, I identified with George Banks.  I did my fair share of complaining about the mounting cost of everything and wasted a lot of time wondering why in the heck we couldn’t just elope.”Lena shares her thoughts for other newly engaged couples going through the motions of planning their special day. “Get married.  Get married in the company of your family members who may or may not be around next year.  Get married and gather your friends around you.  Their presence will strengthen your union and deepen your bond.  They will rally around you and do things that make you wonder what amount of good you ever did in this life to be so incredibly lucky.”

Resources

Photography::Alison Yin Photography

Ceremony Location::Kewin Park, Modesto, CA

Reception Location::Concetta, Modesto, CA

Bridal Gown::Alfred Angelo

Rings::Platinum Diamond Band by Ivan Gems
Vintage Signet Ring by Fluer de Lis

Florist::Janet’s Flower ‘s

Catering::Paul Tremayne of Concetta

Sounds System::Russell Irwin

Cinematography::El Nido Cinematography

Wedding Cupcakes::Frost