Intimate Elopement in the Channel Islands // Sean & Ellie @ 2020 Sun & Sparrow // Fine Art Destination Wedding Photographers
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Etherial destination wedding in Paso Robles // ©2016 Sun & Sparrow Southern California wedding photographers
FROM THE BRIDE & GROOM // We could not have asked for a more perfect day or location to get married. We got married at the beautiful Calipaso Winery in Paso Robles. It was the most beautiful and etherial destination wedding in Paso Robles, ever. On our day, the sun was shining and the temperature was a perfect 78 degrees. Our wedding party stayed with us at Calipaso Winery & Villa. My girls came over to our “Winemakers Suite” to get all dolled up and more importantly, to spend quality time with me drinking bubbly in our matching robes while the boys relaxed by the pool. The hours before the wedding turned out to be better than I could have imagined. Knowing I would likely be anxious, Nick surprised me with little notes, cards and meaningful gifts throughout the morning. We both finalized our vows and prepared for a moment we had both dreamt about for our whole lives— the first look.
Even ‘Mother Nature’ was excited during our “first look” moment as gusts of wind swept through the property as I approached my husband-to-be. Although both my veil and hair we a bit unruly due to the wind, it made the moment even more memorable. My heart was racing from both nerves and excitement. Despite instructions to tap him on the shoulder, I was too eager to his smiling face and decided instead to run and hug him. One of the most incredible moments was when we took a moment to look around to see our vision come to life. After a few romantic photos, we went to our staging areas before the start of the ceremony. It was surreal walking down the aisle to see all our friends and family sitting there, dressed to the nines, to support us on our special day.
Our flower girl was adorable, our ring bearer waved to the crowd while cruising down the aisle in his red Radio Flyer Wagon and our dog, Nala, stole the show when she came down the aisle in in her white doggy wedding dress to the “The Circle of Life” song from the Lion King. Our best friend presided over the wedding and knocked it out of the park. Listening to the beautiful vows we wrote to each other for the first time was the highlight of the ceremony. Before we knew it, we were kissing as husband and wife and heading off to party. The appetizers, the food, the specialty cocktails were perfect…even better than we imagined. Another special moment was when we got to sit together at our sweetheart table, alone, looking around at all of our closest friends and family, together at once, to celebrate with us. It was magical. After beautiful toasts from our siblings, cake, and an amazing donut bar we all danced the rest of the night away. The entire day was a dream from beginning to end. In fact, everyone had so much fun they have asked us to get married every year.
If I could say I had one favorite moment from our day was our first dance. Neither of us is the best dancers and only got to practice a few times before the wedding. But when our song came on, we forgot everything we practiced and just had fun with it. We sang the words to the song to each other and just danced as if nobody was watching. We even did the “Dirty Dancing” lift at the end.
The theme of our wedding was lemon and lavender. Calipaso is a beautiful Tuscan inspired yellow villa surrounded with vineyards and lavender. Being that my mother’s side of the family is from Italy, and lemons are plentiful in Italian decor, it was a fitting theme. Our cocktails, food, cake, invitations, decor etc. all drew upon our lemon-lavender theme. It all came together so beautifully. The best part about wedding planning was spending a year planning every detail of a wedding together brought us so much closer. Often times, we thought to ourselves, “if we can plan all of this together, we will be able to do anything together. We were there for each other every step of the way. Nick even helped with the arts and crafts!!!
I would love to offer a little advice to upcoming brides planning their weddings. Organization is critical…especially if you are not going to have a full-time coordinator. We created spread sheets to track invitations, guests, budgets and we also created a very detailed itinerary and style board to help our vendors understand our vision. Most importantly, although it is no doubt stressful, try to enjoy it all. It truly is the most exciting time of your lives. If it gets overwhelming, step away and share a bottle of wine or go on a great date with your fiancé…it will help to remind what all the hard work is for.
MY VENDORS:
Wedding Venue: Calipaso Winery
Photography: Sun & Sparrow www.sunandsparrow.com
Dessert: The Cakery www.slocakery.com
Event Coordinating: Kramer Events www.kramerevents.com
Transportation: Slo Safe Ride Transportation www.slosaferide.com
Hair & Makeup: Twist Hair Salon and Spa www.twistway.com
Donuts: Slo Donut Company www.slodoco.com
Justin and Kristen’s Destination Wedding at Mandalay Beach Resort was dreamy and magical and left us feeling warm and fuzzy.
FROM THE BRIDE // Our wedding day was so perfect and exactly how we had imagined. We knew from the start we wanted a destination beach wedding. We were lucky to have found an awesome resort and vendors that were so helpful along the way. We were so happy to have all of our family there to be part of the celebration. The day of wedding seemed to go by so quickly and we were both filled with so much joy. Saying our vows in front of the ocean is something we both will never forget. It felt so surreal that the day we had been waiting for had finally come. We were so excited to get married and start our journey in life together.
We got a lot of decor inspiration by looking at beach weddings on Pinterest. Knowing that our wedding would be held on the beach, we wanted everything to have a soft/romantic look.
-Kristen
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Our Favorite Moment of the Wedding Day
Kristen: My favorite moment of our wedding day was the ceremony as a whole. When the sun came out and blue skies appeared it was such an incredible experience. We were both filled with such excitement and couldn’t wait for our first kiss as husband and wife.
Justin: It’s hard to pick just one favorite moment, everything was so great. But if I had to pick one moment it would be when I got to see Kristen for the first time. She just took my breath away in that dress. It’s a moment I’ll never forget.
Kristen and Justin’s Wedding Vendors:
Venue: Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Resort
Photographer: Sun & Sparrow
Videographer : Sun & Sparrow
Wedding planner: Michelle Hirrel
Florist: Shells Petals
Makeup/hair: Brides by Diana
Wedding Dress: Marie Gabriel Couture
Barefoot sandals: Etsy: ByVivienn
Earrings: Givenchy
Groom shoes: Aldo
Grooms suit: BarIII
Groom tie: Michael Kors
Officiant : Kimber Wilkes
Bakery: Siblings bakery
Kristen and Justin’s Destination Wedding at Mandalay Beach Resort Gallery:
Inquire today to book your Destination wedding at Mandalay Beach Resort
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Hi, I’m Ellie, a dreamer, and lover of romantic moments and unrelenting connections. In over 15 years of photographing weddings, my interest in photography has grown from simply making pretty pictures -to creating the most wonderful and powerful moments for kind and loving people, all the while capturing those permanent memories. Creating awe-inspiring imagery to match those unforgettable moments is my dream come true and I hope that by creating your wedding imagery together, we can make your wedding dreams come true too.
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