We have a bit of a twist for you today here at Wholly Matrimony. Today we are featuring the awesome wedding reception, yea that’s right, I said reception, of Aubrey and Kaiao that was held at the Salt Creek Grille in Dana Point, California. Aubrey and Kaiao were married in their home state of Hawai’i but wanted to have a reception for family members in California that were unable to make the wedding. Their fantastic photography was by D. Park Photography.

How did the two of you meet?
We actually do not remember! It probably happened at our friend’s house while we were in college. A bunch of guys lived in a house at the top of the hill and I lived at the bottom. I was always baking and needed people to share it with, so I would bring cookies, etc up to the guys house for them to try. Kaiao was always hanging out up there and was the quiet, shy one. Finally one night I was talking about how I had gotten into cooking interesting dinners but had no one to share them with, and Kaiao volunteered to help me out! So I invited him over one night and we really hit it off. We ended up going surfing and studying together a few times before he finally asked me out on a real date. Our first date was really simple – stargazing at the beach. He brought his guitar and played me some songs and we talked for hours. It was super dreamy and our faces hurt from smiling so much!

Tell us about the proposal!
After I graduated from the University of Hawai’i, I went to culinary school in New York for two years. The long distance wasn’t easy, but God gave us the strength and patience we needed to make it through! About halfway through, I had a break and came to Hawai’i for a week to visit my love for our two-year dating anniversary. On my second day there, Kaiao said, “I want to make this the best day for you!” and I just thought it was because he had missed me so much. We went and saw the sunrise, went surfing, had a picnic lunch at the beach, I went paddling with some friends, he cooked me dinner, and then we had plans to go to the beach where we had our first date. This all seemed very normal to me and I had no idea of his plans to propose! It was a beautiful night – perfect weather, low tide, clear skies and a full moon. He brought his guitar and started playing it after we had settled in on the beach. He’d written me a song and said that there would be some audience participation at the end…After the beautiful song, he made me stand up and he told me all the things he loved about me, then got down on one knee, pulled out the ring and asked me to be his wife. I said “Yes!!” about twenty times while crying, hugging, and kissing him! It was too late to call anyone to tell them the news, so I had a hard time sleeping that night – I was so excited!

What made you choose to have a destination reception?
We got married in Hawai’i because that is where we both live now and it is beautiful here! But a lot of my family and friends from California couldn’t make the trip. So we decided to have an “at-home reception” a few weeks after the wedding. It was such a blast and I am glad we did that! Everyone was ready to celebrate. Plus what bride wouldn’t want to wear her dress twice? I had always wanted pictures of me in my wedding dress at my childhood home, so we decided to do a photoshoot before the reception. It was a lot of fun for both of us and our photographers did a fabulous job!

What was the most memorable moment about your reception?
I will always remember the love I felt from our guests when we walked in to our reception area. We felt totally “at home”. It was truly a celebration made possible by the ones we love! I will also never forget the incredibly fun dancing!!! Our party was supposed to be over at 4pm, but we didn’t leave until 6pm! My feet were definitely sore the next day, but it was worth it!

What was your favorite detail from your reception?
My shoes! Teal is my favorite color and I searched high and low for the perfect shoes. I stumbled across these accidentally at H&M in New York. I got so many compliments on them and they were really comfortable. I decided to dress them up with the cute shoe clips! Also instead of a guest book, we had a custom designed mailbox and used Orange County postcards for guests to write their well-wishes on. We loved reading them later and they are a fun keepsake.

What was the best part of having a destination reception?
Our at-home reception was definitely kept low-key and casual, and I really liked that. We didn’t have any formal wedding events to stick to. It made it very relaxed and allowed us plenty of time to visit with all of our guests (about 100) and have fun. We pretty much just had lunch, a few speeches, chatting and lots of dancing!

Did you honeymoon at your reception destination location, or go somewhere special after wards?
We did an eight day road trip up the coast of California, starting in Orange County. We wanted to do something that was a little different since we can lay out on the beach any day of the week at home in Hawai’i. We stayed at a different bed and breakfast every night, in places like Carmel-By-the-Sea, Half Moon Bay, Healdsburg, and Shasta. We also spent a few nights in Yosemite National Park, one of our favorite places! It was a fun trip and was very budget friendly. We must be meant for each other if we can spend eight days driving around in a car and still love each other madly!

Reception Venue: Salt Creek Grille
Photography: D. Park Photography
Florist: Lynn Moe (family friend)
Bride’s Dress: Allure Exclusives
Groom’s Attire: The Men’s Wearhouse
Stationery: Anna Griffin – The Wedding Studio (DIY from Michael’s)
DJ / Band: Mitch Devine (family friend)
Makeup Artist: Jamie Michelle
Hairstylist: Tiffany Loggins
Jewelry – Necklace and bracelet were the bride’s mom’s. Earrings came from Nordstrom.
Shoes: H&M
Any other vendors? Etsy goodies? Shoe clips and hair clip came from Etsy seller Mikiye Creations.

Related posts:

1. Newport Beach, California Destination Wedding – Nikki and James
2. South Hampton, Bermuda Destination Wedding – Janelle & Dana
3. Monterey, California Destination Wedding – Andrea & Joseph

What a great setting for a fun destination wedding! Ashley and Keahon chose the Disneyland Hotel, Rose Court Garden in Anaheim, California for their special day. Their beautiful photography was by Katie Keller photography.

How did the two of you meet?
We both worked for the same company

When I arrived, we met at the Walt and Mickey statue in the center of the park. Keahon said he needed to grab something from a store for his friend. He started heading towards the castle…away from where he said he needed to go. I kept telling him he was going the wrong way. He said he wanted to go this way because there were less people. Annoyed, I just kept telling him he was going the wrong way. He turned around and had a ring in his hand. It was all pretty much a blur from then. All I remember was he was shaking and said “oh yeah! I need to get down on my knee!”

How did you know your destination would be the perfect place to hold your wedding?
Disneyland is truly the happiest place on Earth! It’s such a special place to us and so why NOT have our wedding there!

What was the most memorable moment about your wedding day?
The Best Man and his family surprised us with a guest appearance from Mickey & Minnie. It was such a surprise and amazing gesture from them.

What was your favorite detail from your wedding day?
The food!!! I still have dreams about our meal! I wish I could eat it everyday!

Did you honeymoon at your wedding destination location, or go somewhere special afterwards?
DISNEY WORLD!!

Ring Bearer Pillow: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ORomeo

Storm Trooper Garter: http://www.etsy.com/listing/66839402/storm-trooper-garter-and-toss-combo

Storm Trooper Cufflinks: Made by Maid of Honor

We would like to thank Ashley and Keahon for sharing their wedding day with us! We’d also like to thank  Katie Keller photography for submitting this awesome wedding!

Related posts:

1. Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia Destination Wedding – Natalie & Claudio
2. Newport Beach, California Destination Wedding – Nikki and James
3. Barmouth, Wales Destination Wedding – Katrina & Paul

Nikki & James live in Provo, Utah and chose to head to Newport Beach, California for their wedding day. Nikki was kind enough to share their story with us! Their gorgeous photography is by Paige + Blake.

How did the two of you meet?
Okay… James and I have the best Mormon story EVER! It’s slightly embarrassing too.. We met at EFY. (That’s the embarrassing part). We were just friends there and continued to be friends for quite some time. Although we were in different states we saw each other a lot. Ironically my uncle owned a vacation home in James’ gated community; literally I could throw a rock at his house. James is a soccer player and played in Southern California leagues and we would hang out most times he came down. I hadn’t talked to him in a while and he texted me that he graduated early from high school to play soccer for BYU, and that I should give him a call whenever I got a chance. I called him and we talked for literally 5 hours. (We’re talkers!) I was expecting an “okay, talk to you in 6 months,” but instead he asked if he could call the next day. I said yes and he did. I know this sounds way weird, but we got really close long distance first. We talked every day for months. I made several trips to Utah and he made several to California (including my senior prom, how cool is that? ). Then starting in June 2007, we went to BYU together! When he got his mission call to Russia, we decided I was going to live my life and we would figure it out when he got home, but somehow it turned into me waiting for him. He came home in November. We were engaged in February and married in June. And couldn’t be happier!

Tell us about the proposal!
Let me start with a little background… October 19, 2007 was the Friday before James left on his mission. I was, at that time, in my second semester at BYU. I drove down to Vegas with James’ brother Richard. It was a long 5 hour drive with someone I didn’t know very well. During the drive all I could think about were the fast approaching next several days, which would be difficult and I wasn’t looking forward to them, to say the least. James knew that, so he tried the best he could to make this weekend as easy as possible for me. Richard and I arrived late that night. Once we arrived, James told me he had a surprise for me. He packed a backpack full of “surprises” and we got into the car to transport us to a little park. James had secretly gone to that park before we had arrived and wrote messages with rocks and chalk on the sidewalk. This was really special to us and I guess you could call this “our place.” We don’t have anything like this in Provo or anywhere else.

Fast forward to February 13, 2010. James and I were in Las Vegas for the weekend. We had a fairly normal vacation Saturday with his family. We went out to lunch, went to a movie, had pizza with the whole family. Then later that night James and I went to the Bellagio. We watched the water show and went to the flower exhibit. Then we went to Golden Spoon (which was my only requirement while we were in Las Vegas). Then… you guessed it… we went to “our place.” I thought we were going to reminisce about our walk 2 1/2 years ago. We began our walk and he whips out a flashlight and shines it on a rock formation that says “happy b + v day” (Happy Birthday + Valentine’s Day)

I was in utter shock when I saw that. I WAS WITH HIM ALL DAY! Then it hit me… James works from 2am to 6 am 5 days a week, so he’s always tired. He “took a nap” earlier today, but in reality he snuck out of the house while I was in my room. I had no idea he would sneak out because naps for him are so normal. There were various other messages. Then I got to the last one. He handed me the flash light. I saw the last message – his written proposal! I wanted to hear it from him. I turned to him and he was on one knee. Then he asked me to marry him. Needless to say, I said yes.

What made you choose to have a destination wedding?
I am from California I have had TONS of friends get married at the Newport Beach temple, all with very different styles and photographers. I love the Newport Beach California Temple. Its my Temple.

How did you know your destination would be the perfect place to hold your wedding?
There’s the Newport Beach Temple, and there’s also the Dove Canyon Courtyard. It is down the street from my parent’s house. A family that lives in my ward owns it. It is gorgeous.

What was the most memorable moment about your wedding day?
The Sealing was amazing. The experience was so incredible and so surreal (that’s my word for the day). It was really special to have James’s grandpa be the sealer.

After our wedding, we had our Honeymoon in Palm Springs.

Ceremony Venue: Newport Beach, LDS Temple
Reception Venue: Dove Canyon Courtyard
Photography: Paige + Blake
Videographer: Dave Neeley
Florist, Cake, Caterer & DJ provided by Dove Canyon Courtyard
Makeup Artist / Hairstylist: Whitney Schoessow

Thank you Paige + Blake for the gorgeous photography and to Nikki and James for sharing their wedding day with us!

Related posts:

1. Trabuco Canyon, California Destination Wedding – Sara & Parker
2. Monterey, California Destination Wedding – Andrea & Joseph
3. California Wine Country Destination Wedding

After Joseph’s proposal at Lover’s Point in Monterey, California this Sacramento couple chose the same location for their beach-themed wedding. Andrea & Joseph’s beautiful wedding photography was done by Melinda Le’ Photography.

Andrea was so kind to share the details of her special day with us.

How did the two of you meet? I had moved to the bay area for work, not knowing anyone I decided to meet friends online. After chit chatting online for quite some time, Joe and I decided to meet up for coffee. What was supposed to be a coffee date turned into, coffee, movie, dinner and dancing. We hit it off from moment one.








Tell us about the proposal! Joe and I decided to take a little weekend trip to Monterey/Pacific Grove. We walked the beaches, went to dinner and then went to the beach at Lover’s Point. We watched the sea otters crack crabs on their chests for dinner and enjoyed all of the ocean life in the rocky area of the beach. It was getting late and I wanted to leave, as I was walking away Joe grabbed my hand and sat me down. He then got on one knee and asked me to marry him and of course I said, “yes”.

What made you choose to have a destination wedding? We both love the ocean and I fell in love with Monterey/Pacific Grove when we were there. Since that is where he asked to marry me, we thought it would be perfect to follow through with the “I-Do’s” at the same spot.










What was the most memorable moment about your wedding day? The most memorable moment the day of was Joe forgetting my ring at the hotel they were staying in. I arrived in the limo and was waiting for at least 20 mins, wondering why people weren’t lining up and the music starting. No one wanted to tell me what was going on, finally my flower girl’s mother let it slip.   Now looking back the most memorable moments were Joe and I able to spend our special day with our fathers. Joe and I both lost our fathers one month apart, in November and December after our July wedding. My dance with my father, was the most precious memory I have with him. Joe’s father was from Florida, so being able to spend the month prior to our wedding with him was very special to Joe. A special thanks to our photographer, Melinda, that got amazing pictures of the both them!!

What was your favorite detail from your wedding day? I loved everything about the wedding and reception, but I must say that walking into the 10th floor of the Marriott was breath taking. The room is all windows and you can see the entire Monterey Bay, it is absolutely gorgeous, especially since we had a brunch wedding.

What was the best part of having a destination wedding? The best part was that everyone that attended got a little vacation of their own! That and Joe and I got an pre-honeymoon before the wedding by staying the week prior to in Monterey.





Did you honeymoon at your wedding destination location, or go somewhere special afterwards? After the wedding Joe and I stayed in the honeymoon suite of the Marriott for the night, before our bon voyage to Nuevo Vallarta Dreams Resort in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. The resort was amazing along with all of the excursions we did. We swam with the dophins, went snorkeling and the Marietta Island and deep sea fishing.

Reception Venue: Marriott Monterey
Photography: Melinda Le’ Photography
Florist: Isabells Garden
Cake: Allycakes – allycakes@gmail.com

A big thanks to Andrea for sharing her wedding with us and also to Melinda for submitting these fantastic photos!

Related posts:

1. Cabo San Lucas – Dan & MacKensie’s Real Destination Wedding
2. Trabuco Canyon, California Destination Wedding – Sara & Parker
3. Lea & Brian’s Costa Rica Destination Wedding

Sara and Parker, high-school sweethearts, chose Trabuco Canyon, California for their beautiful destination wedding and followed it with a honeymoon to Cancun, Mexico. The ceremony was held at the Newport Beach LDS Temple and the reception was at the Dove Canyon Courtyard. Photography by Paige + Blake Green.

I love the tulle decorations! They add such a light, airy feel and look fantastic under the bright blue sky.

Tell us about the proposal! We were in NYC the day after Christmas just walking in Central Park. It started to get late, so Sara wanted to leave. On their way out of the park, Parker stopped and got down on his knee.

What made you choose to have a destination wedding? We were living in Utah, but wanted to get married in our hometown in CA. Everything’s better in California, right?

How did you know your destination would be the perfect place to hold your wedding? Our ceremony was at the Newport Beach Temple. Not only is the temple the perfect place to be married, but it’s beautiful as well. The  Newport Beach temple is special to both of us, so it was only right we be married there.

What was the most memorable moment about your wedding day? Relaxing in between our sealing and the reception. Just hanging out as newlyweds, enjoying some in-n-out.

What was the best part of having a destination wedding? Being home with friends and family.

Related posts:

1. Austin, Texas Destination Wedding – Emily & Lee
2. Lea & Brian’s Costa Rica Destination Wedding
3. Cabo San Lucas – Dan & MacKensie’s Real Destination Wedding

When I came across Cameron Ingalls photos of this amazing destination wedding in the California Wine Country, I immediately asked him if I could share them here. His work is just gorgeous – but more importantly? It made me smile, laugh, and wish that I had been there.

Stephen & Tara live in Los Angeles, so they made the decision to have their wedding be a chance for family & friends to celebrate the whole weekend in Paso Robles at the Villa Toscana.

Cameron shared that, “When I first talked to Tara on the phone she expressed that they are not the traditional wedding couple. She claimed they were sci-fi junkies (thus the Millennium Falcon cake) and she expressed a love for Holga cameras.” Inspired by that, Cameron went out right away and purchased one of the much loved Holgas right away! This isn’t your regular camera – it is a cheapest plastic medium format camera out there – and it is beloved by many for its light leaks, its moody vignettes, and even its accidental double exposures. You never know what you’re going to get with a Holga, so it is a fun addition to the regular equipment that Cameron normally uses.

These are a few of Cameron’s Holga shots:

A sci-fi junkie’s dream cake? The Millenium Falcon cake hand crafted by Cassie’s Custom Cakes, complete with accompanying Death Star.

Thank you again to Cameron for sharing his beautiful photographs of Stephen & Tara’s wedding!

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