You may remember Laurel and Stephen from our quick engagement session back in October. I’m so excited to announce that the two have finally tied the knot in Clarksburg, CA! The ceremony took place at St. Joseph’s Church, followed by an energetic reception at the Old Sugar Mill. Much of the wedding was coordinated by the bride herself (kudos to you, Laurel)!  The wedding was perfect in every way–beautiful bride and groom, gorgeous venues, crafty DYI reception details, and lots of love and support from family and friends. I am especially honored to have been there to document one of the most important days of their lives. Congratulations to Laurel and Stephen!!

BIG thanks to my second shooter/assistant, Stephanie Mahinan, who was my right hand “wing-woman” throughout the entire event. 🙂

This beautiful teacup set were gifts to the bridesmaids, from the bride. I love how the color matches the bridesmaid’s dress!

This is the same pin worn by Lindy at her wedding–a 110 year old pin that has been passed down from generations on Stephen’s side. Beautiful, isn’t it?! Nancy (Stephen’s sister) had the honor of pinning this on Laurel.

Thank you, Stephanie for capturing these photos of the Stephen getting ready!

Ahh… I love the “first look” on Stephen when his bride made her grand entrance into the church… 🙂

The speeches at the wedding were incredible and filled with laughter and tears… Laurel’s father’s speech was especially touching…

Omg, I just love how the little girl stands right next to Laurel and Stephen while he’s searching for the garter! Hehe!

Go kiddies!!!

The folks at the wedding, TRULY had a joyous time!

Even the little ones… 🙂

From the Bride:

The theme I had envisioned for our wedding was classic, yet vintage; elegant, yet rustic; and infused with tradition. I fell in love with the town of Clarksburg (where our venues were located) upon my first visit. Stephen’s family of Dutch dairy farmers helped found the town after arriving here in the 1800s. Grapes turned out to be a better option for the location, so they switched to the wine industry. 

Our ceremony location was quaint, little St. Joseph’s Church, where our officiant, a dear friend of mine from Florida, celebrated the old Latin Mass after we said our vows. We love the beauty and sacredness of this ancient ceremony; it was a certainty for us. My brothers served the Mass — it was incredible to have them at the altar with us. A group of my friends from my college choir flew in from the East coast to sing polyphonic pieces for our Mass, including the hauntingly beautiful, 16th century “O Magnum Mysterium” Mass of Tomas Luis de Victoria. My mother created all the fantastic floral arrangements for the church. The Old Sugar Mill was a perfect spot for our reception. The center hall was able to accommodate our large party of 200+ guests, so we were able to be surrounded by all our close family and friends (our family members combined numbered about 100!). This was essential to us, as we both are very family-oriented and closely connected to our friends. Our bridal party is evidence of this — we had trouble narrowing it down to just 7 each! We both went to school out-of-state so friends flew in from all over the country to be a part of our special day. 

Our event was largely handmade. We dried out 15 dozen roses prior, and my amazing bridesmaids helped me create our fabulous table decorations of wine bottle vases. Stephen and I have a great love for literature so a book ‘pedestal’ was a vital element to our design. The cut-out paper hearts from old maps and French literature I found on Etsy were a perfect complement. A surprise awaited us as we entered the hall — the gentle scent of lavender wafted from the tables — the unintended consequence of our napkin flair. Placed in the center of each napkin was our favor, a tasting square of dark chocolate from Scharffen-Berger, to accompany our toast of port. Perfectly paired. Our dear friends and caterers had made this magic happen. 

We love good food and drink (being a food blogger, it was important, but we needed to do it cheap for such a large crowd) which we found in our wine selection provided by Carvalho Winery and delicious Italian dinner, prepared and served by TLC Catering. They were both a breeze to work with and certainly were a BIG part of what made the day run smoothly. My friend, Emma Kenney, flew all the way out from Texas to bake and create our gorgeous wedding cake. Her carrot cake was every bit delicious (a hit even amongst those who don’t normally like carrot cake) and her chocolate strawberry toppers were one of my favorite elements of the day. (I’m a HUGE fan of strawberries!) 

Our d.j., Anthony Smitha, spun a fantastic mix of songs from every era, causing the entire crowd to erupt in dancing from the moment the group dancing started. My brother, Jonathan, sang and played his guitar for us towards the end of the evening which happily continued on past its allotted time, into our exit, as the remaining crowd broke into an Irish tune to carry us on our way out the door.

And I saved one of the most important elements for last, as she was vital to our blissful day and the continuance of its memory. Jasmine Lee, our photographer, was phenomenal from start to finish. They say that one of the most important decisions you can make for your wedding is choosing a good photographer — Jasmine sort of fell into our laps and Stephen and I couldn’t have been happier! We met her at a photo shoot planned in San Francisco by Stephen’s sister-in-law and fell in love with her attitude, professionalism, and style. She questioned me at length before the big day to ensure she wouldn’t miss any big moments or important planned photo-ops, and to get all the details. She not only did a fabulous job shooting our wedding, but also brought an additional talented photographer, Stephanie, with her for back-up and came up early to shoot our rehearsal, rehearsal dinner and morning preparations! Being photographers ourselves, we understand the hard work that was put into it and we are so grateful!

Memorable moments from the bride and groom:

Laurel: The most memorable moments of the day were twofold for me: saying our vows to each other — it was such a heartfelt and intense moment — I couldn’t have been happier to make those promises to Stephen, and when we were dancing to our first song together. It felt like we were the only ones in the room, spinning and twirling together, looking each other deeply in the eyes, for the first time as a married couple.

Stephen: When Laurel came down the aisle of the old mission style church along the Sacramento Delta, she looked like an angel, and the only one in the room. The local priest afforded us the opportunity of being married there, when typically it’s only parishoners, was truly an honor.