Sonora_Wedding_Jackie & Chad_0602

The Couple:  Jackie & Chad

Wedding Date: September 14, 2013

Photography by Briggs Photography

Tell us a little about you and your beloved: Chad and I met through our mutual friend, Justin.  I  have been friends with Justin since high school and Chad worked with him.  Chad would come into town to visit Justin on the weekends and the three of us would always hangout together.  After months of us being friends we ended up realizing we wanted to date and have been together ever since!

Chad took me sailing for my birthday in Monterey aboard Bella on the Bay and that was my favorite date we had up to that point.  He decided he was going to take me sailing again when we were back in California visiting my family.  So on the same date as our first kiss he took me back to Monterey to go sailing on the Bella proposed to me while we were sailing and then took me to the same restaurant we had our first date.

Planning the wedding was difficult because we were living in TN and getting married in CA.  We shipped so many boxes and had to have a lot of trust with our vendors. We were so lucky to have our vendors they all did exactly what they said they would and then some!

What was the most amazing part of your day?  That I was able to get down the aisle to marry my husband.  The key word able might sound strange to some people.  I was not nervous at all but got a horrible 24 stomach flu the morning of the wedding.  So being able to hold it together long enough to say a huge “I Do” was the best part of the day.

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Ceremony and Reception Site: Union Hill Inn

Ceremony Musicians: Elite Entertainment

Officiant: Justin Nielsen

Photographer: Briggs Photography

Caterer: Fagundes

Cake/Desserts: My Sweet Spot

Flowers: My Country Flower Hutch

Favors: I made mason wine glasses.  Amazing what a candle stick, E6400 Glue and a mason jar can do!

Bridal and Bridesmaids’ Attire: Mira’s Bridal Couture

Hair: Sassy Salon

Make-up: DIY

Invitations: DIY

Signage: DIY and Union Hill Inn

DJ/Entertainment/Band: Elite Entertainment

Lighting: Union Hill Inn & Elite Entertainment

Décor Rentals: The Union Hill Inn had 3 storage rooms of decorations we could go through and use.  I used a couple things to place around our venue.

Furniture Rentals: Sonora Party Rentals

Linen Rentals: Table linens were provided by Union Hill Inn and I bought vintage napkins for each guest to use.

Honeymoon Location: Hawaii

Any other of your wedding vendor(s) you’d like to call out that we missed in the above questions? We didn’t miss these vendors but I want to thank Briggs Photography and Elite Entertainment.  With me being sick everything had to be on the fly.  My photographers had to capture moments very quickly before I had to lay down again.  They were so flexible and really worked with me to get the shots we needed.

Our DJ Chris from Elite Entertainment was truly amazing.  Elite did the music for our ceremony and reception.  We made so many last minute changes from cutting the toasts short, skipping the first dances but no one would have known it.  He made seamless transitions and really set the fun mood I was hoping for.  He suggested us doing an “Anniversary Dance” since we didn’t do our first dance.  I was so thankful for that because from that dance I got my only photo of me in my wedding dress dancing with my husband. Plus that dance got all my guest on the dance floor with us and an easy escape for me so I could sneak out and sleep without anyone noticing.  I’ve heard having great entertainment can make or break your wedding. Let me say Elite Entertainment and their DJ Chris saved my day.  I still hear from my guests how fun the reception was and for that I will always be grateful.

First Dance Song: “Its Real Love” by The Beatles

Any advice you’d give to our readers who are planning their weddings right now? Be sure to pick a theme for your wedding that reflects not only you but also your spouse.  Remember it is his wedding too.  For our wedding I loved soft colors, rustic and vintage charm.  My husband loves to read and likes old books.  So I made sure my table centerpieces had a mixture of both. Luckily for me what he likes blended really well with what I wanted.

Also don’t over complicate things.  You want to enjoy the process and your wedding day.  Not stress if the flowers aren’t perfect or the wrong shade of pink.  What matters is you are about to marry the person you have been waiting for your whole life in front of your family and friends.  Hey look at my day I was sick, couldn’t eat, skipped my first dance, my dance with my dad and slept through most of the reception.  But at the end of the day I married Chad and that’s all that mattered to me.  Plus, my guests all said they had a fantastic time!  I do recommend getting a spray tan if I didn’t I would have been so pale from being sick but with a good tan and a smile its really hard to tell I was under the weather.

Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance? I don’t think I would have done anything different. Maybe taken more vitamins closer to the wedding day so I didn’t get sick.

Photos courtesy of  Briggs Photography.

Blog post by Real Weddings Magazine’s Social Media Maven, Aimee Carroll.

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