Wedding Blog

Today’s real wedding submission comes to us from across the country in gorgeous Palos Verdes Estates, California. Cara and Craig exchanged their vows this past August with a breathtaking seascape as their backdrop.

Complete with magnificent photos from Gabriel Ryan and Carlie Davis (www.gabrielryan.net), here is what Cara and Craig wanted to share with us about their wedding experience:

“How we met: In January 2007, Craig and I were introduced through mutual friends at a party in Las Vegas where we both live. We knew about each other before the ’set-up’ but hadn’t met yet. After talking for a while, Craig asked for my number and then left the party to go play poker! BUT he called the next day to ask me to dinner, and we’ve been together ever since.

How he proposed: In October 2008 - After dinner at our favorite restaurant, Craig drove us out to Lake Las Vegas where he said we were meeting friends of his for drinks after dinner. We arrived to the Ritz-Carlton only to discover that Craig had booked a gorgeous suite overlooking the lake. As we entered the room, the balcony doors were open, and outside a bottle of champagne was on ice, directly next to the most beautiful bouquet of long-stemmed red roses I have ever seen. Before I knew it he was on one knee with a gorgeous ring he designed for me in his hand and asked me to marry him! I screamed and said “yes” on the spot!

Ceremony description: Both ceremony and reception took place at the Palos Verdes Beach Club, a private swim club located directly on the beach in the Palos Verdes peninsula and only a few minutes away from [my] parents’ home. As guests arrived, they were treated to Sofia Mini Blanc de Blancs and mini Power C Vitamin Water.

Guests were seated in gold Chiavari chairs facing a chuppah draped in white chiffon and garnished with blush colored roses and peonies; the Pacific Ocean lay as a backdrop. The aisle was lined with tall glass hurricane candles and light pink rose petals. The ceremony included Christian and Jewish traditions to honor both family religions.

Favorite detail: The gold Chiavari chairs rented for the ceremony and reception were by far my most favorite detail. Chairs were the one thing I insisted on ’splurging’ on - they had to be comfortable and beautiful and I wanted them to be my accent/statement piece for the wedding, which they most definitely were, since there were over 200 guests. Gold brought out the best colors in my pink floral centerpieces, accented with ivory satin lamour table cloths and crushed gold napkins.

Reception description: Dinner was served as the sun was setting, a spectacular back-drop for any outdoor event. Our caterer brought in a huge grill and served up BBQ tri-tip, chicken, and salmon, also including so many side dishes for our guests to enjoy such as sweet mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus and spicy peanut slaw. Champagne was flowing all night long. The wedding cake was round tiered for 3 different flavors of cake (chocolate, red velvet and lemon) with butter cream frosting and finished with white chocolate ganache, it was simply decadent. The reception started with toasts and at the end of dinner, guests were asked to get the party started on the dance floor with ‘Hava Nagila’ - which set the tone for a night of non-stop dancing under the stars.”

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Your partner in perfect planning,
Susan