Wedding

Our little story:

Darrin and I started our two-year relationship across the country from one another. We came from two different cultures, Darrin from Southwest Virginia and I came from Silicon Valley, California, but we both are very similar at heart. Darrin had only been on two flights before we started dating and after, he was on one every other month flying 2,700+miles away.

I'm a graphic designer and had a lot of fun designing our wedding invitation set. I wanted to show the journey about our long-distance dating. I got a lot of inspiration from diy blogs and one was for mason jar mugs. I tried to incorporate some southern elements into the day. As a place card, I printed our paper airplane logo on mugs and folded paper airplanes made from state maps and attached them to the handle. For our table numbers, I wrapped twine around recycled wine bottles and each one was topped with a different location we have visited together. My sister made cute distressed personalized wooden photo blocks throughout the venue and for a secret gift to Darrin, I collected all of our airline boarding tickets and framed them. He had no idea!

Our location was even a destination wedding for our California family and friends. Clear Lake, CA is my second home and my Dad has a ranch there now. My grandparents lived in a house on Mt. Konocti, the main volcanic mountain above Clear Lake, before they passed away. Our favorite photo is of us on the water with the mountain in back of us (above pic). I knew they they were looking down on us on our special day and I wore my Grandmother's beautiful rhinestone jewelry bracelet in her honor.

A moment that was memorable, was our first dance. Our song was from Zac Brown Band, "Free". It's about traveling across this land together, when nothing else matters and all you need is love. We danced to it on our first date in the kitchen and our first concert together was seeing them live. I broke down when we danced to it together and it felt like no one was watching us. Also, one of my best friends from childhood who was in my party, was eight and a half months pregnant and she still shook it on the dance floor! Two weeks later, she delivered. Crazy!

Our wedding was fun, tender, romantic, and a very quaint night to remember!   5 • 14 • 11

Photos by the lovely Kate Harrison

Here's a few engagement photos: