The Wedding

Just Married

The Wedding: April 20-21

Where do I begin? I asked Shawna to marry me on July 21^st 2012. I found a jeweler that took stones from estate jewelry and put them into new settings. I selected a beautiful ring that looked like a rose, it was the first ring that I had seen, after looking at what seemed like thousands, that spoke to me. Shawna didn’t know that I had bought it and I had such a hard time not telling her for the week that it took to get resized. I got down on one knee in the backyard after she had worked all day. She thought I was looking at the stars when I asked her to come out into the yard with me. One thing that I remember specifically was that she didn’t even look at the ring before saying yes! I had to remind her to look at it after kisses and tears.

First Dance

After long months of planning our big day was finally here. We had decided we wanted a beach wedding and since Shawna’s parents had so many connections in San Diego and we loved it so much, we decided to have it there.

In the Ocean

I don’t remember anything from the ceremony. I remember seeing Shawna walking down the aisle toward me, and then she is in front of me crying and the next thing I know we have kissed and are walking back down the aisle. The whole ceremony was so beautiful and simple, just the way we had wanted it. The reception was on the patio of the Surfer hotel and was designed by Shawna. She personally made all the table centerpieces, designed the layout, etc. The lights overhead reminded me of a starlit night, as did the flashes of cameras as we danced our first dance together.

Kiss

Dinner was informal, a self serve taco stand, that paired nicely with the latin acoustic guitars playing in the background. Such an outpouring of love from our family and friends, we felt almost overwhelmed. We must thank a few people by name; Mark and Cindee, we could not have done this without you! Dida and Pat, thank you so much for your love and support! Ronnie, you really helped us so much, transporting, setting up, tearing down, when you didn’t have to! Sarah and Joel, you both came such a long way and helped us so much!

The Next Day

After packing up the next day, there were a few friends left to help us recover. We walked along the beach with Brian and Karen and Katie, stopping at random shops and photographing the underbelly of Crystal Pier. Kristen and Pat brought baby Parker with them and took us to a lovely dinner at Isabel’s Cantina, a fusion of Mexican and Asian. After this amazing celebration, we look forward to our life together, starting with our honeymoon, a road trip up the coast to Seattle and back down through Montana, Yellowstone, and Utah. I will try to write down these amazing adventures so that I can share them with you and also so I can remember them in the years to come.