Archive for the ‘Inspiration Boards’ Category

The Couple:  Lisa Alden and Ricardo Gutierrez

Wedding Date:  November 11, 2011

Photography by Diana Miller Photography

Tell us a little about you and your beloved:  We met nine years ago, we have two daughters together (ages 7 and 5) and we are expecting a new baby boy any day. We both love getting away, especially to the beach, where I love to surf and he loves to watch me surf!

What was the most amazing part of your day?  Playing on the beach after the ceremony with the kids.

What else would you like to share about your big day?  IT RAINED!

Ceremony Site:  New Brighton Beach in Santa Cruz

Reception Venue:  Harvey West Reception Hall

Photographer:  Diana Miller Photography 

Caterer:  Family

Cake:  Mellisa Grant Romero

Flowers:  DIY by the Bride

Favors:  DIY by the Bride

Wedding Dress:  David’s Bridal

Bridesmaid Dresses:  JC Penney’s

Hair & Makeup:  DIY by the Bride

Invitations:  DIY by Bride and Groom

DJ/Entertainment/Band:  Family

First Dance Song:  “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz

Any advice you’d give to our readers who are planning their weddings right now?  Delegation is important or you will drive yourself crazy.

Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance?  No.

Blog post by Real Weddings Magazine’s Social Media Maven, Aimee Carroll.

Photos courtesy of and copyright Diana Miller Photography.

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The Couple:  Cynthia Lucero-Obusan and Oliver Obusan

Wedding Date:  June 2, 2012

Photography by Fisher Photography

Tell us a little about you and your beloved:  Cynthia was born and raised in San Jose, CA. Oliver is from a small town called Talisay in the Philippines and moved to the U.S. in the fall of 2008. Oliver and Cynthia met in May 2010 at an Asian Pacific Heritage Event at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto where Cynthia works as a public health physician and Oliver as on occupational therapist. Although not of Filipino decent, Cynthia has been dancing as a semi-professional Filipino folk dancer for more than 15 years and after seeing Oliver perform at the event she approached him to join her dance company. Romance blossomed instead, although Oliver eventually ended up joining the dance company after finishing his master’s degree in 2012. In addition to dancing, the couple enjoys traveling, hiking, camping, tennis and their 18-month-old Siberian Husky, “Cyber.”

What was the most amazing part of your day?  The most special part of the day was our nuptial mass which incorporated the Filipino traditions of the veil, cord and coin ceremonies and was officiated by Cynthia’s cousin with music by members of Cynthia’s church choir. Other highlights were our beautiful reception venue, the amazing food and cake which our guests raved about, and special performances by the couple’s dance company, LIKHA-Pilipino Folk Ensemble, which included live string music during the cocktail hour and a dance presentation during the reception.

What else would you like to share about your big day?  The flowers were absolutely amazing…especially the bouquets which were gorgeous and incorporated our wedding theme of “poppies.” In fairness, all of the flowers were fabulous… better than we ever imagined! The DJ was great and the photo booth was the most popular place to be outside of the dance floor. After dinner, the groom changed into a Barong Tagalog (traditional Filipino dress shirt) and the bride into a dancing dress before unveiling a specially choreographed first dance. The rehearsal dinner was held the night before in the beautiful glass lobby of Oshman Family Jewish Community Center Cultural Arts Hall in Palo Alto and guests were treated to delicious Filipino cuisine from Tastebuds of San Bruno.

Ceremony Site:  St. Nicholas Catholic Church

Reception Venue & Caterer:  Fremont Hills Country Club

Photographer:  Fisher Photography

Videographer:  Slava Basovich Weddings

Wedding Planner:  The Test of Time Weddings

Cake:  Beverly’s Bakeshop

Flowers:  Petals & Posy

Favors:  Favor Bags by Paper Supply of Grace Graphics and Wildflower Photo Glass Coasters by The Knot Wedding Shop

Wedding Dress:  Brides Against Breast Cancer Tour of Gowns

Bridesmaid Dresses:  Elegant Lace Bridal

Hair:  Shaida Locascio from Krush Salon

Makeup:  Rebecca Duggan

Invitations:  Sincerely Yours Events, Inc. with Calligraphy by Lisa’s Lovely Calligraphy

DJ:  Cope Entertainment

Entertainment:  LIKHA-Pilipino Folk Ensemble

Band:  LIKHA Rondalla

Photo Booth:  Amaze Studios

Honeymoon location:  We took a five day mini-honeymoon to Oahu, Hawaii, and are currently planning a bigger dream honeymoon for later this fall.

Any other of your wedding vendor(s) you’d like to call out?  (1) HeirloomDVD: by Memory Gardener; (2) Rehearsal Dinner Venue: Oshman Family Jewish Community Center, Palo Alto; (3) Rehearsal Dinner Caterer: Tastebuds, San Bruno; (4) Engagement and Wedding rings: The Classic Rock, San Jose; (5) Scrabble Mr. & Mrs. Wedding Chair Signs: Purple Peony Couture; (6)Wedding Garter Set: Demure Allure; (7) Bridesmaids’ Jewelry: Luxe Adornments; (8) Satin bridal clutch and Rhinestone Hair Comb: Wearable Artz; (9) Hotel Accommodations: Cypress Hotel, Cupertino

First Dance Song:  “Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel” by Tavares

Any advice you’d give to our readers who are planning their weddings right now?  Weddings are expensive so try to find ways to put the money you’re spending to good use. We saved money and supported charities by purchasing my wedding gown from Brides Against Breast Cancer Tour of Gowns, my wedding day hair and makeup from a local school charity auction, and our invitations, photo montage DVD, photographer, DJ, and wedding coordinator services from the “Wish Upon a Wedding” charity auction which provides weddings for couples facing terminal illness or serious life-altering circumstances.

Be realistic about your time and talent when deciding what to DIY and ask for help if you can. I made our wedding programs and menus which was about all I could handle and I’m glad I didn’t attempt more. My mom made our silk flower pew decorations and my dad designed some fantastic handmade wooden signs to direct our guests to our venues. Rather than paying for special dance lessons a friend of Oliver’s choreographed our first dance and a co-worker volunteered to be DJ and MC for our rehearsal dinner.

Finally, one of my bridesmaids painted a “wedding tree” on a large canvas to which our guests added leaves with their fingerprints. It’s gorgeous and a beautiful piece of art hanging in our bedroom now. So utilize the talents of your family and friends!

Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance?  The groomsman’s tuxedos were a bit of a disaster and probably the most stress-inducing part of the wedding. We had a bad feeling pretty early on that there might be an issue and wish we would have followed our gut and gone with a different shop. Lesson: always listen to your gut!

After our wedding we’ve seen a couple friends who made photo books of their engagement pictures and had guests sign that in lieu of a traditional guest book…it’s a great idea and we wish we had done that.

Finally, we had planned in our timeline a chance for Oliver and I to take the mic to thank our family and wedding party and those people who helped with various wedding tasks. It got overlooked by the coordinator and DJ and by the time it crossed our minds the reception was nearly over and many of our guests had left. Be sure to let your vendors know what things in your timeline are most important to you and what you don’t mind skipping if time is short.

Blog post by Real Weddings Magazine’s Social Media Maven, Aimee Carroll.

Photos courtesy of and copyright Fisher Photography.

Check out the Real Weddings Contest Page! Great bridal loot for real Sacramento-area brides!

Subscribe to the Real Weddings Magazine Blog!

The Couple:  Sofia and Blake E. Lim

Wedding Date:  May 27, 2012

Photography by The Studio

Tell us a little about you and your beloved:  Blake and I started dating about six years ago. At the time we started dating, I had decided to go back to school to get my degree. I went back full time while maintaining my full-time job as well. For five years he picked me up at school and had dinner ready for me every night. He proposed the day of my graduation in front of my family. He is the most caring and nicest man I know.

What was the most amazing part of your day?  Walking down the aisle to my husband.

What else would you like to share about your big day?  It was the perfect weather. I’m from Peru and I only have two siblings here. I had many uncles and aunts that came from all over the world — Canada, Peru, Colombia, New York, Washington, Hawaii, etc. — to celebrate our happy day. Also, my wonderful grandma was able to come from Canada and my mom was here from Peru for the first time ever. Also, my in-laws gifted us with the wedding of our dreams. My husband’s grandpa who had been ill for a while made it to the wedding. He passed a couple of months after but we were so happy he made it to our wedding.

Ceremony Site, Reception Venue & Caterer:  Croatian American Cultural Center

Photographer:  The Studio

Cake:  Ettore’s European Bakery and Restaurant

Flowers:  Fresh Floral

Favors:  We did a candy bar.

Wedding Dress & Bridesmaid Dresses:  House of Fashion

Hair & Makeup:  I Make Beautiful/Makeup by Jenifer Haupt

Invitations:  Family Custom

DJ/Entertainment/Band:  Fretty’s Disc Jockey & Limousine Service. He was awesome!

Drummer:  Justin Barnes. This was a great way to make the wedding different.

String Quartet:  Camellia String Quartet

Photo Booth:  Perfect Pixel

Honeymoon location:  Costa Rica

Any other of your wedding vendor(s) you’d like to call out?  Rev. Bob Oshita from Sacramento Buddhist Church. My husband and I are not very religious, and Rev. Bob was perfect for us. He met with us four times prior to the wedding. He asked us to write letters to each other with specific indications. The day of the wedding he read excerpts from our letters — it was beautiful.

First Dance Song:  “Lucky” by Jason Mraz

Any advice you’d give to our readers who are planning their weddings right now?  Relax and enjoy the day. All that matters are the good memories you create surrounded by your love ones.

Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance?  I wish I would have asked my photographer to go around the table and take pictures with the guests.

I would like to mention that I was very lucky. All of my vendors were excellent. My DJ was so funny and kept the dance floor full the whole time. The Studio was very patient and nice and took beautiful pictures. Everybody still talks about how talented my drummer was. I can’t believe he did not have the music list prior to the wedding but he was able to play to the beat of the music. I Make Beautiful/Makeup by Jenifer Haupt was great! She even let my bridesmaid use her products. The venue was spectacular. It was ready to go at 11:00 a.m. and my wedding wasn’t until 5 p.m. Everyone said that my photo booth people were very friendly and nice. My cake was delicious. The Camellia String Quartet was beautiful. Everyone was excellent! It was the most fun wedding I’ve ever been to!

Blog post by Real Weddings Magazine’s Social Media Maven, Aimee Carroll.

Photos courtesy of and copyright The Studio.

Check out the Real Weddings Contest Page! Great bridal loot for real Sacramento-area brides!

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The Couple:  Cecilia Jimenez and Matthew Carroll

Wedding Date:  October 21, 2011

Photography by Emily Heizer Photography

Tell us a little about you and your beloved:  Matt owns the largest Sacramento private patrol security company, Paladin, to where he takes his Police-trained K9, Scar, almost every day. I am working my way up into a SCUBA Diver Instructor’s career. We are a very adventurous and active couple, spending most weekends camping near our favorite dive spots in Monterey, Carmel, San Diego and, of course, Lake Tahoe. While completing our Rescue Diver Course in Lake Tahoe we decided it would be the perfect place near the water to get married.

What was the most amazing part of your day?  The most amazing part of my wedding day was seeing all of our guests tear up as I walked down the pier, knowing that so many of my closest friends and family could plainly see the magic in our relationship like I did, supporting us there on the day we chose to become one…was simply overwhelming, and confirming.

What else would you like to share about your big day?  My husband’s business partner was gracious enough to donate his Tahoe time-share home so that along with the entire wedding party, their families could stay there too. It was like Christmas, hanging out with the entire family the night before the wedding, the uncles drinking and playing blackjack, and my aunt and bridesmaids painstakingly making the bouquets by hand.

Ceremony Site:  Timbercove Pier

Reception Venue & Caterer:  Tep’s Villa Roma

Photographer:  Emily Heizer Photography

Videographer:  Edward Black – Imagination Harbor Media Group

Wedding Planner:  Donna Lieb

Cake:  As a couple, we don’t really eat cake. So we just decided to forgo the whole tradition and it didn’t interfere with the reception at all!

Flowers:  Orange Roses, bought from Costco on the way into Tahoe, if you can believe that!

Favors:  Tin boxes with jelly beans in our wedding colors embellished with ribbons and sea shells by Donna Lieb.

Wedding Dress:  De La Rosa’s Bridal & Tuxedo

Bridesmaid Dresses:  I didn’t want the drama of finding the dresses and fighting the bridesmaids to wear them. I told them to just all wear a Navy Blue dress! And they all looked great, it was very assorted and fun.

Hair & Makeup:  Amanda Clymer from AJF Salon

Invitations:  Etsy

DJ/Entertainment/Band:  Dan with Teps Villa Roma

Honeymoon location:  Key West, Florida

First Dance Song:  “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers (It was my mother-in-law’s first dance song, too!)

Any advice you’d give to our readers who are planning their weddings right now?  Don’t be afraid to (kindly) tell those well-meaning, meddling family members to back off. It’s YOUR day! Do it however YOU want.

Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance?  I would have had a longer reception. By the time I got around to thanking everyone and the dances, it felt like it was over. It was quite a whirlwind, and I wish it had been a little bit longer so I could have enjoyed it myself a bit more.

Blog post by Real Weddings Magazine’s Social Media Maven, Aimee Carroll.

Photos courtesy of and copyright Emily Heizer Photography.

Check out the Real Weddings Contest Page! Great bridal loot for real Sacramento-area brides!

Subscribe to the Real Weddings Magazine Blog!

The Couple:  Usha Mishra and Shannon John Clark

Wedding Date:  November 26, 2011

Photography by Lexigraphics Photography

Tell us a little about you and your beloved:  Like many couples today, we met on an online dating site and realized that we had a handful of mutual friends. Shortly after “meeting” online and exchanging a few emails, we met for our first date over coffee, and tried to figure out if we had met before given that we had friends in common. We had such a great conversation (we were both smiling the entire time over coffee) and before we parted ways, we made plans for a second date the following week.

When we met, we both had very flexible schedules, so it was a lot of fun getting to know each other while doing everyday things like running errands, going for long walks in the various neighborhoods of San Francisco, cooking meals together, and hanging out with each others friends. We soon became inseparable and quickly became each others best friend, and never did figure out whether we had met previously!

What was the most amazing part of your day?  Seeing all of our family and friends gathered in one place to celebrate us was elating.

What else would you like to share about your big day?  We carefully weighed the pros and cons about getting married over Thanksgiving weekend. We decided to go for it, since Thanksgiving is one of our most favorite holidays – we love gathering with family and friends, sharing a meal together, and being reflective of what we’re thankful for. To be able to celebrate our anniversary during that particular time of year will help us develop our own combined family tradition.

The long weekend also helped us extend the time we got to spend with our guests who came in from out-of-town. We modified the Indian tradition of having a Mehndi party (where the bride and her close female friends have decorative henna applied on their hands) and invited our out-of-town guests and some close friends for dinner at a restaurant the night before the wedding, and had a brunch on the morning after the wedding for relatives. Because many people were spending one or two nights at the hotel near the wedding, we made welcome bags with a few items inside, and a 2-page guide to things to do in San Francisco.

We also created our own ceremony, combining our multicultural traditions and writing our own vows. Family is extremely important to us, so we each had both of our parents walk us down the aisle, had our barely-walking nephew as our ring-bearer (escorted by his dad, brother of the bride) and our 2-year-old niece was our flower girl. Bridesmaids were sisters of the bride, and our rings were designed and handmade by the groom’s sister.

Ceremony Site & Reception Venue:  Bently Reserve

Photographer:  Lexigraphics Photography

Videographer:  Legacy Films

Day of Event Coordinator:  Rolando Mafnas

Caterer:  Betty Zlatchin Catering. In addition to their amazing food, they helped us with all of the lighting, draping, flowers and table settings for our day.

Cake:  Beaux Gateaux

Flowers:  Hunt Littlefield

Favors:  Boxes and tags were handmade by the bride, inserts by C.J. Olson Cherries.

Wedding Dress:  Sari Palace

Bridesmaid Dresses:  Sagar Exclusive

Hair:  Donnelle Malnik

Makeup:  Sheila Patel

Invitations:  eInvite with calligraphy by friend of the bride and groom

Ceremony & Cocktail Reception Entertainment:  String trio from San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Dinner & Dancing DJ:  DJ Jeremy Productions

Honeymoon location:  Las Vegas, South Beach Miami, Caribbean (Seabourn Cruise)

Any other of your wedding vendor(s) you’d like to call out?  Mehndi (henna) by Neeta Sharma. Indian sweets by Amber India. Rings from Hannah Clark Jewelry.

First Dance Song:  ”Happy Together” the Mel Torme Version

Any advice you’d give to our readers who are planning their weddings right now?  A few tidbits of advice:

It doesn’t matter how long your engagement is, you will have a flurry of activity as the wedding approaches. I (the bride) wanted to have a longer engagement to work on all the details, but he (the groom) kept saying that there’s no point in drawing out the stress and frenzy. Wow – he was right! It all fell into place and we had a perfect wedding, and only a 5-month engagement.

After you announce your engagement, everyone will offer to help. If it seems overwhelming, accept gracefully by saying, “Thank you! I can’t think of anything I need help with right now, but I know I’ll probably need some help in a couple of months. Can I reach out to you for some help then?” And make sure you keep track of people who offered to help! You can go back to your list (we kept it in a spreadsheet) when you need something specific, just be sure to give your friends plenty of notice for what you need. And don’t forget to write a thank you note!

Figure out which elements of your wedding are the most important to you. Yes, you want everything to be perfect, but what really matters? For us, we love to cook and wanted our wedding to feel like the ultimate dinner party that we would never be able to pull off by ourselves. So, we found an excellent caterer who was aligned with our style of food and made sure we found a venue that would accept outside catering. We also wanted a warm, festive feeling with personal touches that our guests would remember, so we hand-made our favors, left a note on each table explaining why they were seated at that particular table name (we used names instead of numbers), and I also made our escort cards and the ring pillow.

Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance?  I would have practiced moving and walking around a while in my wedding dress before my wedding day. I had never tried dancing in anything like that before my wedding!

Blog post by Real Weddings Magazine’s Social Media Maven, Aimee Carroll.

Photos courtesy of and copyright Lexigraphics Photography.

Check out the Real Weddings Contest Page! Great bridal loot for real Sacramento-area brides!

Subscribe to the Real Weddings Magazine Blog!