And here it is ladies and gents…the day The Oceanside Bride got married.
The photo above is one of my favorite moments during our ceremony…praying together and just being in the presence of God.
As most brides, I too have branded as many moments from that ceremony that I could in my mind. Moments that I’ll cherish all my life. Walking out and seeing my handsome groom for the first time was magic. Our vows were crazy hard to get through without choking or tearing up. Our handwritten vows were actually “love letters” (well, emails) we had written to each other just a few short months after we started dating. Most lines started with “I love you because…” While facing the Sea of Cortez as the minister spoke, I remember being able to see and hear the waves crashing there behind us. It was absolutely breathtaking and this Oceanside Bride was a happy girl.
I love his “I’m not going to cry” face…
If you’ve been reading The Oceanside Bride for some time now then you know just how much our family and friends mean to us. They are our world. We realize that because these people supported us as individuals (and later as a couple), instilled values and faith in us, were there to cry with us and laugh with us, that it was those morals, past moments, and life lessons that made us the people we are today…and later into the spouses we would be for one another. And we thank each and everyone of them for it.
I love this collage of the faces of just a few of those who made our wedding week so incredible.
I get a kick out of the picture on the left of Mark’s dad (right) looking so darn cool! Haha. And the photo on the right of my gorgeous sisters and I is stunning if I do say so myself.
We’re so blessed to have FOUR sets of parents who love us dearly, encourage us always, and pray for us daily. Can you imagine how spoiled our future kiddos are gonna be?!
Well so with that I want to wish my love, my babe, my husband a very Happy 1 Year Anniversary! I CAN’T WAIT to see what our lifetime together holds for us! Muah!
My Creative Team Behind the Scenes: Wedding Day Photography: Fabian Espinosa / Cinematography: Steph & Robin Killip of bubblerock studios / Venue: Dreams Los Cabos in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico / Tequila Tasting Photography: bubblerock studios / Styling + Planning – The Bride + Jacin from Lovely Little Details / Flowers: Lovely Little Details / Officiant: Reverend Marco Arechiga / Wedding Dress: David’s Bridal / Groom’s Suit: Hugo Boss / Wedding Invitation Design: Such Sweet Tierney
Yup- you’ve seen that first pic up on the blog before. I just love it. I feel like it captures Cabo’s beauty and the gazebo we married in so beautifully. It was snapped by BubbleRock Studios and is the one I had blown up and hung in my office up until April (when I left my corporate job). But everyone who walked into my office would be mesmerized by the photo. Stuck in an interior office with no windows to the outside, one co-worker said it was liking having my own personal window overlooking paradise. I’d say he was right.
Our time spent in Cabo was really a dream come true and of course one we will never forget. I didn’t want to bore you all with too many “Getting Ready” pics but thought I’d share a few before tomorrow. I can’t believe it’s the eve of our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!
Photos below were taken by our local Cabo photographer, Fabian Espinosa.
Ta-ta until tomorrow!
Weddings are like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’re gonna get.
Of course we can assume that by the end of the day you’ll be married to the love of your life. And well…that is the most important thing!
But my bite off the infamous line from our good friend Forrest Gump, is still a nod to all that goes wrong during your engagement, wedding planning, and gasp….even on the big day. It’s true my friends, not everything ends up technically perfect.
See, a year ago today I was just two days away from marrying my prince charming. By now we had already spent a few days in Cabo San Lucas at the gorgeous Dreams Resort and Spa and had already welcomed most of our guests. Notice I said, welcomed. Not spending time with them. While everyone else was enjoying their third or fourth margarita from the all-inclusive pool side bar, yours truly was up in our wedding suite still painting picture frames, sewing fabric flowers, and tying twine and name tags on our CD wedding favors.
Why? Because I’m special. Haha! Well because I wanted everything perfect of course. What I forgot though, was all those details I cared so much about, no one would probably even notice or miss since they didn’t know what to expect anyway. I’d like to say I don’t have any regrets from my entire wedding planning experience, but if I had to put something on the list, I’d say barricading myself in our hotel room until everything was finished would probably get added.
Other things that weren’t technically perfect?
- The best man and father in law were still out sightseeing in town at the time we were scheduled to take group photos on the day of the wedding.
- The husband-to-be was in charge of the music playlist since we iPod it. He never finished it.
- My poor grandma ended up in the hospital for 2 days and missed the day of our wedding ceremony.
- The husband-to-be forgot his written vows in the hotel room (luckily he had time to run up and grab them before I walked in).
- The day started out super windy and ended super hot and humid.
- On the night we bused our guests to downtown Cabo for the nightlife, I got so drunk (because I didn’t eat much that day) that the the future hubby had to catch us a cab back to the hotel and we had to leave our guests behind. :/
- My dad’s side of the family was seated at a table farthest away from the head table. They should have been closer. Seems minor, but it was important.
- Photographer didn’t have time to take detail shots! So we had no professional pics of our signature drink, stripped straws, CD favors, fabric flowers, picture frames, adorable signage, cake toppers, and cake. Those are the most important photos of the day you know! Grrr…lol.
- Cake wasn’t all that great.
But despite all the things that went technically wrong, at the end of our wedding day all was still right in our world. We were happily married and surrounded by the most amazing circle of family and friends, we couldn’t have asked for anything more.
So why start with the “wedding bloopers” on such a celebratory week? Well I simply wanted to get them out of the way so I can move on to the good stuff! Since I’ve actually never shared our professional wedding photos or post-wedding details with you all before, I thought what better time to share them than our 1 year anniversary week!
I can’t wait to share our day with you! Our wedding and time spent in Cabo was imperfectly perfect and it was absolutely the BEST. WEEK. EVER.
Images: Chocolate (Friends Camera); Group Photo (Fabian Espinosa)
Image and Art by ProjectType
It’s been a while since I last gave a “Mel’s Monday” update so as I go into what may seem like a spring/summer hibernation, I’d just like to give everyone notice that I’m still alive and well. I know you were worried. Haha. ;)
Some major things are happening over here in Oceanside Bride land…for starters, I gave my full time job notice a few weeks ago!
Yup- I’m officially counting down to being self-employed, working beside my husband to help make our other baby, a start up e-commerce business, grow. He’s been trying to manage things for almost three years alone (and has seriously done a marvelous job!), but what can I say, he needs his girl’s help. Hehe…no (although I’d like to think that), we both decided it was time for the both of us to dive in and get business moving again. We knew this day would come one day, we just didn’t know it would be now. With our time dedicated to our shared business, I’m also excited I’ll have time to re-brand my Etsy shop, Oceanside Designs, and put more effort into making this blog even better!
Ying and Yang.
Should be a piece of cake right? Well…let’s just say I’ve always been more the “conservative” worker. You know- the one who thought I’d work for one company all my life through retirement. Oh but then I went and fell in love with an entrepreneur…a man who is so far opposite on the work spectrum from me. We laugh (I somewhat nervously) about the fact that when it comes to past employment, my husband can’t count anymore using both his hands and feet, how many jobs or businesses he’s started in the past 10 years. I, on the other hand, can still count on one hand…and really like using only 3 fingers. He’s the type who, at age 16, would rent out a skating rink, post and hand out flyers, sell tickets to his entire high school, and then go on to profit big time from his events. I would have been the girl who bought a ticket and went to the party.
When it comes to work we’re ying and yang. He comes up with the grand ideas, I bring him down to earth when I think they’re a little “out there.” I admit over the past few weeks there have been times I’ve thought, “Can we really do this?” It’s been scary to think about breaking out of my little bubble and taking the risk. But I’ve come to realize that with faith and God directing my steps, I (we) can do anything. My husband and I will celebrate being together for 5 years this May, and I can also thank him for his encouragement, for sharing his big crazy dreams with me, and for motiviating me and inspiring me to live out my own.
Fo Shizzle.
Lately I’ve heard a lot about having audacious faith- praying big bold prayers. Since we’re making some seriously bold moves right now, the saying in the image above was perfect for this post. I’d like to say I’ve always been a dreamer, but I can see now that my dreams weren’t always quite big enough. They didn’t scare me. Most were attainable – based on my own direction, taking my own steps. Just for the record- this one scares the shizzle out of me. Haha!
I’m a worry wart. My mother has told me that for as long as I can remember, even as a little girl. So things like this can really frazzle my brain! But worrying will only kill my faith. So last week I decided to quit thinking and worrying about leaving my great salary, benefits, relocating, when to start a family, blah, blah, blah and reminded myself to just rely on God to guide us through the plans my hubs and I are making right now.
Quiet.
I mentioned relocating. I’ll share more details on the who, what, when, and where in the coming weeks. But for now, I apologize ahead of time that things may occasionally go “quiet” around here, likewise with my Twitter and Facebook pages. I do have real wedding features planned twice a week with the occasional Mel’s Monday through the month of May. But as wonderful as real wedding features are, I know general inspiration is important for all you bride-to-be’s. It’s been lacking around here, so I’ll do my best to sprinkle some of it in here and there when I can.
Overall, I will have to prioritize. With our move, we’ll actually be in limbo and on the road for almost 2 months before actually settling into our new place. So because of this, I’ve also decided to not take any new orders from Oceanside Designs (Etsy shop) until June 1st. *Sigh* It’s all for the better though right?!
Thanks to everyone for sticking this out with me! Your never ending support always means so much.
xo,
Mel
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