Archive for the ‘Lake Tahoe Wedding’ Category

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.

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The Couple:  Jessica Diaz and Kevan Litz

Wedding Date:  September 17, 2011

Photography by Meagan Lucy with Christopher Kight Photographers

Tell us a little about you and your beloved:  We met as children (in junior high school), started dating when we were 23 and married when we were 28. We love to be active together. Things WE love to do together are: camping, road trips, the water (oceans, lakes, rivers), the outdoors and, of course, sports (football, baseball, NASCAR)!

What was the most amazing part of your day?  The ceremony and being in Lake Tahoe!!! Also, the anticipation of getting married, the beautiful weather and enjoying the magnificent scenery with close friends and family.

Ceremony Site:  Sand Harbor Beach in Lake Tahoe

Reception Venue & Caterer:  The Chart House

Photographer:  Meagan Lucy with Christopher Kight Photographers

Cake:  Safeway

Flowers:  Enchanted Florist

Favors:  Wine with personalized labels from My Own Labels.

Wedding Dress:  De La Rosa’s Bridal & Tuxedo — loved them!!!!

Bridesmaid Dresses:  David’s Bridal

Hair:  Sarah Hornstein from A New You Salon

Makeup:  Alaina Foster from Bare Escentuals

Invitations:  DIY

Honeymoon location:  Cruised the coast of northern California, then headed to Kauai in August.

Any other of your wedding vendor(s) you’d like to call out?  Event Masters (PA system, tables and chairs). They were awesome to work with, very understanding and helpful!

First Dance Song:  “When You Got a Good Thing” by Lady Antebellum

Any advice you’d give to our readers who are planning their weddings right now?  Relax and enjoy every moment! It goes quickly. Most people attending will not remember the small details like you, just remember to do what’s most important for you and your fiance — you two are what matter the most!

Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance?  Start getting ready as early as possible to enjoy the day!!! Rushing is not enjoyable.

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

Photos courtesy of Meagan Lucy with Christopher Kight Photographers.

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

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The Couple:  Tami and Steven Casalegno

Wedding Date:  August 20, 2011

Photography by Jacqueline Photography

Tell us a little about you and your beloved:  Steven and I met when we were in high school and dated on and off. We reconnected after college and decided to give it another shot. We had a long distance relationship for years until I finally made the decision to move 500 miles to be with him. We have lived happily ever since.

What was the most amazing part of your day?  Spending quality time with each other and our closest family members.

What else would you like to share about your big day?  We only had 20 guests, so it was quite the intimate affair!

Ceremony Site & Reception Venue & Caterer:  The Party Boat. We cruised South Lake Tahoe and said our vows in Emerald Bay.

Photographer:  Jacqueline Photography

Cake:  The Cork & More

Flowers:  DIY

Favors:  Personalized mini jam jars filled with our favorite candies.

Wedding Dress:  BCBG

Invitations:  I am a graphic designer, so I made them!

DJ/Entertainment/Band:  iPod

Honeymoon location:  Positano, Rome and Turin, Italy

First Dance Song:  We are not very traditional, no first dance for us!

Any advice you’d give to our readers who are planning their weddings right now?  Plan the wedding of your dreams, no one elses! We didn’t want a big show and fancy things at our wedding, so we planned a day that we knew we would enjoy. Your wedding day should be about you and your soon-to-be spouse, enjoy every minute!

Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance?  Not one thing.

Photos courtesy of Jacqueline Photography.

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

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The Couple:  Justina and Pedro Vega

Wedding Date:  June 9, 2010

Photography by Jocelyn McGregor Photography

Tell us a little about you and your beloved:  Pedro and I met our junior year in high school. We had a few classes together and always got along great. After high school we had jobs that were just a few stores down from each other. He worked at a grocery store, I worked at a coffee shop. He would come in and get coffee for himself and the ladies he worked with. That fall, I was turning 18. My friend and I had plans to go to the city and spend the day… she invited him to join us. The day of my birthday her car mysteriously broke down. Pedro said that he was still up for going, and off we went. Ten years later we tied the knot.

What was the most amazing part of your day?  The entire day was amazing, but one moment that sticks out in my mind would be that first look. We arrived at the beach in separate cars an hour before the ceremony to take pictures. I took a few pictures by myself and with the flower girl, who was our daughter Isabella. He then came down and joined us for pictures. That first look of each other is something that I will never forget. We were lucky enough to have our amazing photographer right there to capture that moment.

What else would you like to share about your big day?  The original plan was to have the girls drive up together in one car and the guys drive up in another and not see each other until the wedding. After I had my hair and make-up done we packed the car and headed up to Tahoe as planned. Once we got to the hotel we decided to not be so traditional. We opened up the adjoining rooms we had and spent the day with our friends and each other. It turned out to be an amazing all day event.

Once it was getting close to time we separated got dressed and headed to the beach for pictures. We had a wonderful and intimate ceremony with about 20 close family and friends. After the ceremony we headed to Friday’s Steak house on top of the Harrah’s casino and had a fabulous dinner. After dinner we headed to the casino with our guests for some gambling. We stayed two nights in Tahoe and continued to have an amazing time with our friends. We came home Saturday night and on Sunday evening we had our reception complete with just under 100 family and friends.

Ceremony Site:  Lake Side Beach in South Lake Tahoe. We chose this beach because it is the same beach my parents were married at 30 years before us.

Reception Venue:  House Kitchen & Bar.  It is right in the middle of the capitol mall area and served as a wonderful location. Half the building is glass windows which made for a beautifully lit reception. They had a wonderful bar set up in the restaurant, complete with televisions in which our photographer played a slide show of wedding ceremony pictures. The restaurant set up into a wall of booth and six long tables for sitting.

The service was wonderful and the staff went out of their way to cater to not only me and my husband but our guests as well. The food was amazing and we are still getting compliments on it. We started with an appetizer and cocktail hour followed by a sit down dinner. The salads were served plated and the rest of the meal was served family style which made for a much more interactive and intimate experience for everyone.

Photographer:  Jocelyn McGregor Photography

Caterer:  House Kitchen & Bar.  We had a cocktail and appetizer hour followed by a sit-down dinner served family style which the family style I highly recommend. It made the guests interact with one another and gave the dinner a more intimate feeling.

Cake:  Custom cakes by Lindsey.  Our cake was just as amazing to look at as it was to eat! It stood about two feet tall. The top layer was a carrot cake (my husband’s favorite) and the bottom layer was a champagne cake with whipped cream and fresh berries.

Our cake took a slide at the reception venue. The top tier was perfectly in tact and served as our cutting cake. The whole ordeal turned out to be perfect. My husband had joked with our friend who made the cake saying that he wanted cake in a bowl….well he got it. The manager at the restaurant salvaged the majority of the cake and used an ice cream scooper to put it in bowls and served it. It was perfect!

Flowers:  My bouquet was a gift from my sister in Kauai. She made it from Gardenias in her garden along with orchids and a yellow rose in memory of our mother. She shipped it to me the day of the wedding since she was unable to attend.

My Maid of Honor’s bouquet (made with roses and orchids), along with the boutonnieres (orchids) and the flower for the flower girl’s hair (gardenias) were done by Dixon Florist.

Favors:  My close friend Lindsey came up with a great idea of wine cork key chains.  We sat at her dining table one night and made them ourselves over great conversation and of course some wine.

Wedding Dress:  David’s Bridal. I fell in love with my dress the moment I put it on and before I had even seen it in the mirror. As soon as I slipped it on i knew it was the one. It fit perfect and was everything I dreamed about. It was a very light ivory lace fitted gown. It was strapless with a little bit of sparkle in the lace and had a champagne satin sash.

I found champagne sparkly flats from Steve Madden to match from Macy’s, they were perfect for the beach!

Bridesmaid Dresses:  The Maid of Honor’s dress was purchased at Macy’s.  The Flower Girl’s dress was purchased at Nordstrom.

Hair & Makeup: Done by Kara Robinson of Cynde’s Place Salon & Spa in Dixon. Kara has been doing my hair for over ten years and is an amazing hair stylist and makeup artist.

Invitations:  Instead of purchasing them, my close friend Lindsey and I decided to hand make the invitations ourselves. They turned out perfect and were much easier to make than I thought they would be. We found all of our supplies at Michael’s.

DJ/Entertainment/Band:  We decided to create play lists on an iPod. We picked our songs for the ceremony, the cocktail and appetizer hour of the reception and the dinner portion of the reception as well.

Honeymoon location:  South Lake Tahoe

Any other of your wedding vendor(s) you’d like to call out?  Regusci Winery.  My in-laws bought the wine for us (it is one of my favorite wines). We served their Merlot and Chardonnay at the reception.

Venetzia Fine Jewelry at the Palazzo in Las Vegas. We worked with a good friend of my sister’s, Traci Blackbird, who is the manager and she’s amazing. We bought both rings though her. My husband’s ring was a tungsten band with a white gold inlay. She and my husband designed my engagement ring and matching wedding band together, which then became the inspiration for the wedding itself — vintage.

Friday’s Station Steak and Seafood restaurant on top of Harrah’s casino in Lake Tahoe for providing an amazing and intimate after ceremony dinner for us and our guests.

Any advice you’d give to our readers who are planning their weddings right now?  Take a deep breath and enjoy it.. Your day will turn out just as it was meant to be…perfect.

Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance?  We did a very “loungy” reception which was very much so us — cocktail and appetizer hour with a full dinner to follow. Music from the era of Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra was playing the entire time and it was lovely. We didn’t do the full on reception complete with dancing and I think that the only thing I would go back and add was the dancing.

Photos courtesy of Jocelyn McGregor Photography.

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

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The Couple:  Cristina Buss and Eric Halverson

Wedding Date:  July 9, 2011

Photography by Kris Holland Photography

Tell us a little about you and your beloved:  Cristina and Eric met in the “nerd” dorm at UC Davis, and were friends for five years before dating for another five years, before finally getting engaged in Italy in June 2010. They are avid ultimate frisbee players and have spent many weekends traveling around the country (and world!) for tournaments — Eric is a current National and World Champion with his team, Revolver, and Cristina won the 2004 National Championship with her U.C. Davis college team.

What was the most amazing part of your day?  We wrote special vows to each other in the form of “I love you because _________,” followed by “Because I love you, __________.” Some were sincere, and some were funny, but all followed the pattern of loving something unique about the other and what we’ll “put up with” in exchange! Our friends and family really enjoyed hearing those.

What else would you like to share about your big day?  Our friends surprised us with an impromptu rap and a planned, choreographed dance to “Thriller” during the reception.

Ceremony Site, Reception Venue & Caterer:  Kirkwood Mountain Resort

Photographer:  Kris Holland Photography

Cake:  Laurie Hedden (Eric’s mother)

Flowers:  1) Bouquets: Gordon Hill Flower Shop

2) Kathlynn Angie-Buss (Cristina’s step-mother) arranged loose bulk flowers ordered through Gordon Hill Flower Shop to create our centerpieces.

Favors:  Fun-Size Skittles (bought at Target). Our programs challenged people to a game of guessing the Skittle’s color based on taste alone, a skill at which Eric proclaims to be an expert.

Wedding Dress:  House of Fashion

Bridesmaid Dresses:  David’s Bridal

Hair:  Carina Port (Cristina’s friend)

Makeup:  Lauren Soest with Mary Kay products (Cristina’s friend)

Invitations:  David’s Bridal

DJ/Entertainment/Band:  Playlists put together by Kevin Cissna (Eric and Cristina’s friend)

Photo Booth:  Photo booth with digital camera organized by Carina Port and Megan McKenzie; costumes from Lauren Krugman (Cristina’s friends)

Honeymoon location:  Albion River Inn in Albion, California

First Dance Song:  Lucky by Jason Mraz

Any advice you’d give to our readers who are planning their weddings right now?  After some contemplation about how to do our bar tab, we ended up hosting wine and beer but not liquor, and it worked out really well because most people could have the thing they wanted, and groups of friends started buying each other shots, etc., which was fun! And like you’ve heard already, keep it in perspective — it’s easy to panic during planning but it will end up being unforgettable. Get a good photographer, because that’s all you have afterward (besides each other). :)

Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance?  We had a basket for people to write us notes/marriage advice, and got some GREAT sincere and humorous comments from friends and family. In retrospect, I wish we had put the cards and pens at the tables during dinner, instead of just out during the reception, so more people would have seen and done this.

Photos courtesy of Kris Holland Photography.

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

Subscribe to the Real Weddings Magazine Blog!