Wedding Recap: Aaron and Rebecca

 

Get ready to swoon over this gorgeous, beach wedding porn. Beautiful couple, beautiful venue (the Annenberg Beach House is one of Pop the Champagne’s favorites) and beautiful details. But this post ain’t just about the pretty- a couple of behind the scenes wedding mishaps and some sage advice from the bride…

Thank you to Studio Imprints for the beautiful photos!

 

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The day started with a ceremony on the sand…the venue has different spots you can do the ceremony, but the beach is fair game if you get there early to save a spot and want to deal with the logistics- caterer Back to the Beach  was great to work with along with some helpful groomsmen!

The groom and his friend made the arch with some sticks they found in a park- looks so great right?!

 

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The couple and wedding party had a laid back, party vibe to them, which transfers into every other detail of the wedding. If you are relaxed- I can promise everyone else will be too!

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Cocktail hour was in the historical Marion Davies Guest House- so obsessed with this venue. Rarely do you get vintage and beachy at the same time, which makes the Annenberg unique.

 

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The party continued with a fun, laid back BBQ and lot’s of family involvement – the band was led by the bride’s cousin, and there were special performances by other family members- and a surprise performance of Home by the bride herself (yes, that’s a pink tambourine and yes, we all cried!)

 

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I think one of my favorite unique touches was the Brother/Sister dance they did in addition to the traditional parent dances. They started with their own siblings on the dance floor and then invited up all the other brothers and sisters to come up and dance- so adorable!

 

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As we talk about on this blog a lot- SOMETHING WILL GO WRONG AND IT WILL BE OK! In this case, that something was the cake. It fell over in the truck while being delivered and was messed up beyond what would have been presentable. They took it back to the bakery, fixed it but had to use a different flavor to make it work, and it made it back to the venue literally minutes before the cake cutting at the end of the reception. Was it there on display the whole time, like we would have wanted? No. Was it perfect? No. But did anyone notice? NO! Everyone got cake, the bakery was wonderful and comped the whole thing, the couple still got their cake cutting pic and all was well. Shit happens ya’ll.

 

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Gorgeous centerpieces and personal flowers from Enchanted Florist and how cute are the gold animals instead of table numbers?!

 

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Always my favorite part…Rebecca’s lessons learned (#3 is so good) :

1) Be confident in your wedding vision- There are SO many wedding influences these days, from friends, family, and pinterest, its easy to get swayed by others’ opinions. I sometimes had a hard time sticking to my guns when others had different ideas. Ultimately, the day was about me and my groom, and I often had to remind myself of that and be true to who we are as a couple. When people didn’t understand our “Brother-Sister” dance during the reception, it didn’t matter because we had a great time with it, and it made the day that much better.
2) Think about logistics- So this was one of the more boring aspects of planning my wedding so for that reason I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about it. We chose to get married in Santa Monica because of the venue there, which we loved. However, Santa Monica is a pretty crowded, busy city and was also about 1 hour from our house. This made it a little complicated since it wasn’t exactly a “destination wedding” but it also wasn’t in our own backyard. Just to add a little extra fun, we also used 2 different hotels. Moving guests, decor, and bridal party from points A, B, and C took some creativity, but in the end, all things were possible with help from friends and family. A little extra thought here early on may have made life easier for the wedding weekend.
3) Just be you- I think this was my most important lesson….The main issue I had in the last few weeks before the wedding was feeling overwhelmed by appointments for various things that I thought I needed to do as a “bride”. I had made appointments for manicures, gym sessions, spray tans, etc. Sure, every bride wants to look their best for the big day, but you also want to be yourself and have time to relax. My groom finally had to remind me that in the end, he knows how I look on my worst days in my pajamas, and we’re STILL getting married. While there is nothing wrong with pampering yourself and going over the top for that special day, remember what’s important to you personally and don’t feel pressure to do it all!

 

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Thank you Aaron and Rebecca!

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