Happy Anniversary

It is an unbelievable thought that 365 days have passed since I walked down the wysteria lane aisle at Wolf Lakes Park and Zac and I vowed in front of all of our friends and family to spend the rest of our lives together. It was an amazing day. The weather was beautiful, the grounds were gorgeous, and we were surrounded by so much love and happiness.

The morning of the wedding, the girls and I were picked up by a Jaguar limo (read about finding the rental here) that took us to the venue.

We arrived early in the morning and had plenty of time to get our hair and makeup done, drink champagne, and chat.

I felt very calm as we were getting ready. It wasn't until ten minutes before we were supposed to start the wedding that I started to freak out. I got a little clammy and thought for sure that I was going to throw up.

Everyone got a good laugh at my nerves. It wasn't the idea of marrying Zac that had me feeling sick. I couldn't have been more ready to marry my love. I've been in a few weddings but this was different, because it was mine. There was no doubt that eyes were going to be on me and that definitely freaked me out. Thankfully I had my girls to keep me laughing.

Before we knew it the time had come for the girls to line up because the boys were arriving on the boat.

I was shaking at the top of the ramp that led down to the ceremony space until I caught a glimpse of the boys coming off of the boat and saw my Zac take his place. After that I was fine. I remembered what we were doing and while I appreciated all of the people who had come out to support us and celebrate our love, Zac was the only one that mattered at that moment.

Our ceremony was just perfect. I seriously forgot that there were a bunch of people sitting in an audience listening to us. Zac and I held hands and I felt like it was just the two of us, talking to one another.

As part of the ceremony, Zac and I wrote notes to one another in addition to taking vows. It was an opportunity for us to tell each other how much we loved and appreciated one another and express how we each felt about our relationship.

I was the first to share my note with Zac:

My sweet Zac,

Seven years ago we went on a spontaneous first date. After spending 24 somewhat adventurous hours with you, I knew that it was pretty special, but I had no idea that it was the beginning of something THIS special. For the last seven years you have been my best friend, my lover, the constant in my life, and my home. But most importantly, you make me feel happier and more loved than I ever imagined possible. I am honored today to become your wife, the future mother of your children, and always your partner in any adventure we encounter. Thank you for loving me.

Zac's letter came next. I've always known him to be sweet and eloquent and although I expected him to say something amazing, I was still blown away by his message:

When I started writing my note to you, I began it like I always do with "Hi Sparkles!". I've probably done hundreds of notes that began that way, with your nickname, without ever thinking about where that nickname came from. How, seven years ago, my car broken down, sitting on the side of the road, middle of the night, you came out with a friend to sit and wait with me. We sat there in a comfortable silence with our chins on our knees and as the cars would drive by the lights would reflect off the pavement, the paint, and your shoes. Your psychedelic, sequined, super sparkly shoes. I had only just learned that the girl I'd been texting all week, the girl that I had called "mystery texter" because she wouldn't give me her name, was you. And as I sat there, half blinded by the neon spangles, I thought that "Sparkles" was a better fit. Seven years, two cars, and 47 pairs of shoes later, you still bring the color and the light in my life and are still the most interesting thing in the room, the side of the road, or anywhere. Our relationship has been comfortable and natural, devoid of hard decisions. Even at the beginning, the questions like "Should I call her back?" or "Do you think she'll want to go out again tomorrow night?" or "Should we move in together?" were so easy and so obvious, I never even asked them. I don't decide to breathe or to love you, Sparkles. I just do.

I mean seriously! How could I not cry after that?!

After our notes to one another, we exchanged rings and vows and sealed the deal with a kiss. Then it was time to celebrate!

It's been an amazing year and I'm so grateful for the wonderful relationship that I have with my Zac. As he said in his note to me, our relationship has always been comfortable. There is no doubt that we love each other but equally important, we LIKE each other and have respect for one another. I can't imagine my life without him and I'm so excited that our family is expanding.

Today we will be celebrating by cutting into the top tier of our wedding cake (wasn't it so pretty!) and enjoying a sparkling beverage in our toasting flutes. Though we have a bottle of almond champagne from our wedding chilling in our wine fridge, we'll be waiting to pop the cork until after our little one arrives. Some non alcoholic bubbly will have to do instead. We'll also be watching our wedding video. Thanks to Ahwahnee Films we have a wonderful record of our special day. (Check out how we came to find them here and hire them here.) We are so glad that we found such an amazing videographer to capture our day and couldn't be happier with the work that he did. To make it even better Aaron was fun to work with and we feel like we've made a new friend at the end of it. We highly recommend hiring a videographer. The end result was definitely worth the cost. Ahwahnee Films is based out of Orange County. If you're able to, you should check them out!

If you would like to check out the video and have 30 minutes to spare, just click on this link: Our Wedding Video (The video is private but we don't mind. You'll just need the password: enjoy)

If you would prefer to just check out the highlights from our wedding feel free to watch the ten minute version of the video in this post here. (No password needed.)

We hope you enjoy a glimpse into our day and I'll be sure to share more of our wedding details later. May your day be filled with as much love and happiness as ours is!

We Hired A Videographer

For months now Zac and I have been going back and forth about hiring a videographer. Though it was something that we both thought would be great to have for years to come, it came at a price we weren't sure that we could afford. We've gone over the budget numerous times, made sure that we had all of our major vendors covers, saved our pennies, researched videographers (again, and again...and again), and recently we realized that hiring a videographer was something we would be able to do.

During our research, we watched more videos than we could count, and contacted a few companies to check on their rates. You might recall from this post that the videographer who caught our attention the most was Ahwahnee Films. An ex co-worker of ours was in a wedding earlier this year that Ahwahnee Films captured. Here is the highlights film from John and Brooke's big day.

After seeing this video we contacted Aaron Mendez of Ahwahnee Films back in July to get an idea of his rates. We talked back and forth through email for a little while and he was very understanding when I told him that Zac and I had a few things to take care of (like our dj and cake order) before we could commit to hiring him to film our wedding. As soon as it seemed possible to hire a videographer, we contacted Aaron.

Zac and I met with Aaron last Friday. Aaron and his family live in Orange County, but they were going to be in Yosemite for a few days. Zac and I drove to Oakhurst to meet up with Aaron, talk details, and get to know one another over some Starbuck's. It was Aaron's suggestion that we meet up; he likes to get to know the couples he films before their wedding day. Zac and I thought this was a great idea. It was so nice talking with Aaron. We spent about an hour hanging out and chatting, only some of which was about the actual details of the day. We told Aaron about how we met and he told us about his cute little twin girls. We also learned that he and his wife are expecting again. *Congratulations to the growing Mendez family!*

Zac and I walked away from the experience feeling great about our decision to hire Aaron to film our wedding. He was such a nice guy, we felt comfortable around him (so spending our wedding day with him should be fun), and we love his work. In addition to filming our big day, Aaron will also be attending our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner the night before. We're excited to see the creative way Aaron decides to compile it.

158 more days to go!

*I love watching.....okay ....more like REwatching Aaron's work. The vows in this video always get me.....so sweet!*

Ahwahnee Films

A while back, Zac and I started discussing the idea of hiring a videographer to capture our wedding. (Read all about that here.) On our search for the right videographer we've seen a lot of good work. There are some really talented people out there who make some fantastic wedding videos.

Unfortunately, the cost of most of the videographers we have looked at is more than we are willing to pay and certainly more than our budget will allow. It makes sense that high quality videos would have a higher price tag, but some of these videographers have left us with a little bit of sticker shock. As much as we would love to have video of our ceremony and reception we don't want to go broke in the process. Taking such a huge chunk out of our budget to pay for a videographer would mean that we would have to give up some of the more fun guest related projects as well as decorations and that just doesn't make sense. So we've been on the hunt for a less expensive option.

Recently we've come across Ahwahnee Films, a production company based in Orange County. We learned about this company after an old friend and ex coworker of ours was in a wedding in which the bride and groom hired Ahwahnee Films to capture their big day on film. This is the sneak peek highlights clip from Brooke and John's wedding:

Brooke+John Highlights from Aaron Mendez (Ahwahnee Films) on Vimeo.

We loved the quality of the video and were definitely interested in learning more about Ahwahnee Films. After looking through their website and coming across a price listing, Zac and I were surprised to see that the listed cost of filming a wedding was about $2000 less than a few of the other companys we've looked at. We've emailed the company to get some more information. In the meantime we're continuing to look around and compare prices. It's good to know that there is at least one less expensive option out there.

Here are a few more wedding highlight videos done by Ahwahnee Films:

Christy+Michael Wedding Highlights from Aaron Mendez (Ahwahnee Films) on Vimeo.

Sarah+Chris Wedding Highlights from Aaron Mendez (Ahwahnee Films) on Vimeo.

Erica+Jason Highlights from Aaron Mendez (Ahwahnee Films) on Vimeo.

Fiore Films

Looking through wedding videographer websites, I've stumbled upon some amazing videos from Fiore Films. Fiore Films is based in New Jersey, so clearly we would never use them for our own wedding, but I still really enjoyed their work and thought that I would share it with all of you.

The first video I saw from Fiore was this clip of Sara and Rob's wedding. The clip was featured on a blog post for Lovely Little Details (a fun bridal blog). It was such a touching video. The groom is hearing impaired and the bride is an ASL interpreter. To read all the details check out the bride's blog First Comes Love.....Then Comes Marriage....Then Comes Life. But first check out their super sweet wedding trailer.


Sara & Rob Emotional Teaser from Fiore Films on Vimeo.

The next video that caught my eye was from Susan and Todd's wedding. The music is what pulled me in, and the emotional vows and their obvious love for one another kept me tuned in. The video was paired with the song "Falling Slowly" from the movie Once. (Which, if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend that you do! It's amazing...but that's a whole other blog post.) This couple also had an amazing story that you can read here. Enjoy the video!


Susan and Todd Teaser from Fiore Films on Vimeo.

Aren't these videos amazing? I'm definitely having fun looking at all of these wedding videos. There are some really talented people out there and some really sweet couples. :)

If a picture is worth a thousand words.....how many words is a video worth?

This is me and my Papa (my mom's dad) on Christmas day back in 1993. My mom's whole family was together for the holiday, which was a rare occasion, and called for some dressing up. :)

Two years ago, my grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. To celebrate, they renewed their vows in a second church ceremony with their grandchildren playing the part of the bridal party. It was really special to see my grandparents so happy and so in love. Funny enough my grandparents wedding anniversary and the anniversary of my first date with Zac fall on the same date, June 27. Kind of crazy, huh? Zac and I celebrated our 4th dating anniversary and watched my grandparents recommit themselves to each other after 50 years of marriage. It really was something special.

Since Wolf Lakes is hosting a prom on the first Saturday in May, our wedding is going to take place on a Friday. Unfortunately, I learned later that this promotes a problem for my grandfather. My grandparents live in San Diego so their travel time to make it in town for the wedding would be 6+ hours. As they are a little older, driving into town will not likely be a good option for them, so the trip will likely be more stressful since they will need to ride a train or book a flight.

The issue of travel becomes a little more complicated when we factor in my grandfather's dialysis. My grandfather has weekly trips to the hospital for his dialysis treatment. These appointments last for hours and he's usually pretty wiped out when he gets out of them. Unfortunately, his appointments are on Fridays which presents some problems when it comes to the wedding. Coming into town for the wedding would mean that my grandparents would have to make arrangements and find a clinic that they trust to take my grandfather to for his appointment. Even if they were able to find a location and make sure that he got his treatment, my poor grandfather would not likely have the energy to make it through the wedding day and enjoy himself. My mom has told me that although he would like to make it, it doesn't seem like it will be possible.

It breaks my heart to think that my grandfather won't be able to be there the day that Zac and I get married. I completely understand the circumstances, and I would never want to create a situation that would stress him out or make him uncomfortable. It just makes me sad that he won't be there, because I love him so much.

When we first got engaged and needed to determine our budget, Zac and I were discussing what things we would like to have at our wedding and what other fun things (aside from the games) that we would like to include in the reception. We've made lists of ideas and started narrowing down the list. (Realistically it would be far too expensive to include everything on our list, and having too many elements will begin to make the wedding feel more like a circus that a celebration.) In the end we told ourselves that when all is said and done all we will have from the day is our memories. For us, the most important thing will be capturing these memories so that we have them forever. Photography will be our most important element. We'll consider everything else to be a happy bonus.

Thankfully, we've already booked our photographer and, having seen their previous work and experiencing their professionalism and work style in two other weddings, we are confident that we will have some incredible images from the wedding day. We also briefly considered hiring someone to do video for the wedding. It would be amazing to be able to watch the wedding in the future and remember the wonderful day. Plus it would be great to have something beyond photos to show our kiddos one day. :) After going through our budget and pricing a few videographers, we pushed the idea aside. As wonderful as it would be to have this footage, we thought that it would probably be better to put this money towards other things.

Now that it's been a few months, we've revisited the idea of having a videographer capture the important moments of the day. It means a lot to me that my grandfather be at the wedding, but if it isn't possible I would really like for him to at least be able to watch the wedding later. Whether we give a few guests cameras to capture moments from the audience or hire someone to capture the moments for us, having video is going to be just as important as getting still images.

The expense of hiring a professional videographer certainly hasn't gone down but we're beginning to look at the expense a little differently. After seeing some examples of professional wedding videos (I'm including a few of our faves below), Zac has said that he wouldn't mind forgoing a few things this year (like saving for a couch for our large, empty living room) to be able to have video done on the day of the wedding. I'm in agreeance. Yes, it would be nice to fill up the living room with furniture but we can always get this furniture after the wedding. So, we've started to research videographers, look at examples, compare prices, etc., to see if we can find the right videographer for us. Wish us luck in our search :)

I saw this video while browsing through posts on The Sweetest Occasion (one of my favorite blogs), and I fell in love. It is such a sweet video done by Ambient Sky, a video production company based in Portland, Oregon. This is an example of a "same day edit" video. The videographers capture moments before and during the ceremony, compile and edit the images the same day and often show the final product during the reception. Sounds insane to me that this type of amazing work can be put together so quickly. It definitely made me fall in love with the idea of having video taken on the big day.

Alla & Flavius' Same Day Edit, Oregon Golf Club, West Linn, Oregon from Ambient Sky on Vimeo.

This video was done by Cana Video Productions. I came across their advertisement in a wedding magazine that I picked up while wine tasting in Paso Robles with Amy back in December. The ad had such a unique look. Their videos really make you feel like you know the couple. The messages from bride to groom and from groom to bride allow you to have a little insider look at their relationship together. It's so sweet to see the couple's excitement for the day and their love for each other. Cana Video Productions certainly has a way of capturing the uniqueness of each couple they work with.

Wedding Preview: Joel & Morgan 3.20.10 from Ben Potter & Drew Barefoot on Vimeo.

This video, done by Rain Studios, was actually shot at Wolf Lakes. Although this couple got married on the Garden Side and we will be saying I do on the Lakeside, it was nice to be able to see what the videographers were able to do in this space. Zac and i liked the inclusion of the vows in the mini wedding "trailer" that Rain Studios puts together. It emphasizes the importance of the day and why we've asked everyone to gather together. :)

Leann + Dustin ~ Wolf Lakes ~ 5.1.10 from Rain Studios on Vimeo.

* If anyone has ideas, thoughts, suggestions, experiences, etc., to share about hiring a videographer, we would greatly appreciate the feedback. *

Flash Mob Wedding

While browsing through posts on Lovely Little Details I stumbled upon this video of a flash mob wedding in Boston. I don't know about you, but I love flash mobs. It would be awesome to see one in person sometime but timing is everything....

Anyways, check out his amazing video:

Isn't that so great? It totally gave me chills. It reminded me of another amazing video that Zac showed me years ago of a guy proposing to his girlfriend on Main Street at Disneyland. I was blown away by the video. I told Zac that he made a mistake showing me the video. (Best not to get a girl all hyped up)  :P Whether the video is real or not, it's incredible!