Romantic Wedding at the Waterfront Hilton Resort // ©2018 Sun & Sparrow Huntington Beach & Southern California wedding photographers
••• TELLING STORIES, SHARING LOVE •••
Fairytale engagement at Irvine Regional Park // ©2018 Sun & Sparrow Orange County engagement and wedding photographers
Ok so Richard and I had just flown home from Philadelphia where he had an interview for Physician Assistant graduate school. We spent a week there and made a vacation of it. We had one of the best times together exploring the city, traveling to neighboring states, dining out and just each other’s company. When we got home, he said he had to go to his uncle’s house to pick up his new laptop he had ordered for school. (All of which I knew about, so didn’t think anything of it.) Apparently he went to his dads house to pick up the ring, and then he went to my parents house. When he pulled up to their house, he asked my dad who was outside doing yard work to come inside the house with my mom. He told them that he would like to request their permission to marry me and showed them the ring. My mom cried and hugged him and my dad had the biggest smile on his face and shook his hand. They both accepted. He came back home where I was unpacking and relaxing and said we had a long day of flying and I don’t want to have to cook so let’s go to dinner. So I got dressed, and he drove me to the Crab Pot where we ate dinner and relaxed from our trip. He said he wanted to go walk out to the water and watch the sunset so we left our food and walked out to the bay where he said, “I brought you here because this place has memories of where I used to come with my family to dinner before my mom passed away. I had the best trip with you and you’ve been the biggest support for me going through this journey to PA school and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He got down on one knee and asked if I would marry him. I cried and said, “yes of course!” It was the most beautiful sunset overlooking Alamitos Bay and the perfect end to the perfect trip.
See more engagements HERE
Romantic Muckenthaler Mansion wedding // ©2017 Sun & Sparrow wedding photographers
Elegant Greek inspired Pasadena wedding // ©2017 Sun & Sparrow Pasadena wedding photographers
Describe your experience at your wedding in 1 paragraph, everything you remember.
The church ceremony was everything we could have asked for and more. We were blessed to have such an intimate ceremony, and standing by each others side was such an empowering feeling. We felt the support of our families behind us, the love of our friends around us, and God above us. However, we were not so fortunate with the weather. It was a scorcher. But you know once you hit that dance floor, rain or shine, it’s a great feeling. That first dance with your parent is this defining moment of all the love involved in your life growing up and it’s this magical way of showcasing that love to the world. I’ve always felt that, and for us it certainly felt so. When we did our couples dance we could somehow feel the love throughout the room, and for that we are forever humbled and thankful. We danced late into the night, and we both wish right now we could go back to that moment.
What was your favorite moment from your wedding day? Did you have any special moments/story with friends or family that stand out to you?
In the morning, my favorite part was when I was getting my hair done. It was quiet, I was surprisingly calm and relaxed, my mom and grandma came upstairs and sang Greek village songs to me. They also had another Greek relative on speaker that sang to me as well, while my aunt captured the moments. We all had tears of joy and it was so beautiful and special. That moment was unreal because days before, my grandmother had showed up (from Greece) in our driveway.
Later in the evening, I think we both agree that the dancing, especially the greek dancing, was our favorite part. We loved seeing people who didn’t know the steps still get out on the floor and live it up. At the end of the night when the crowd was a little more intimate, we had so much fun just being around loved ones.
What inspired you while planning your wedding & decor? Was there any special element that made your decor come together for you, personally?
I’ve always associated closely with the olive tree. The olive is for my ancestors our livelihood. Having that element sprinkled throughout the wedding – bouquets, wedding favors, we even had an olive tree that we used for guests to hang wishes which is now planted in our front yard! This made the wedding close to home.
Do you have any advice for brides/grooms who are currently planning their weddings?
The amount of wedding ideas out there are mind-boggling. Pinterest, magazines, expos…- it’s endless. The best advice I can give is to make it personal. Find inspiration from your parents weddings and families culture. Don’t be cookie cutter! Make something! We made signs that said “Welcome” and we’ll always have them as usable souvenirs. We got these big goofy headshots of us for the photo booth, and now we have them around the house as a funny reminder of our wedding. Basically, at the end of the wedding all the decor and event items will be hauled off, so its nice to have something beyond the dress to remember your special day.
Planning a wedding is hard. Harder than you can imagine until you actually do it. You will get scared, you will run out of time, you will cry, but at the end of the day it’s going to be ok, and you will be One.
Colony House wedding in Anaheim // ©2016 Sun & Sparrow Orange County & Anaheim wedding photographers
FROM THE BRIDE // For those that know me, I’m not a girly girl. I’m a no make up, tshirt, jeans and sneakers girl. However I do have a design background and my husband (now!) is an engineer so with both of our powers combined, we create some pretty cool things. And so for our wedding, it was our very own DIY project. From the invitations to centerpieces, we wanted everything to be made by us because we wanted our family and friends to see that we did this for them. For Carlos and I, the wedding was never about us. The wedding was about our diverse families coming together. He had family coming from Guatemala and I had family coming from Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand. And a lot of these families (from both sides) we very rarely see. So it was an amazing night to see all these people that very never get to see each other, come together in one room and have a good time. So all our design in the décor was meant to represent the love from our family and friends that have supported us through the years and also supported us together. Without them shaping us into the people we are, we would never have met and been so compatible. For future brides and grooms, remember that you’re not only marrying each other, you’re joining two different families together. And that, is a beautiful thing.