This wedding was one of those that at the end of the night every guest and vendor had the same thing to say, “What a FUN wedding!”  Every person in attendance was delighted to be there to celebrate the joining of these two beautiful people.  The bride and groom were so gracious and full of joy that this wedding had success written all over it from the very beginning.

Whitney started the day by getting ready with her close friends and bridesmaids in her hotel room at the Renaissance Hotel in Long Beach.  Once everyone was done up and ready to move, they made their way to Rancho Los Alamitos for first look and bridal party portraits.

Thanks to HOM Photography, the bride and groom had the chance to capture amazing photos at a few different locations throughout the day.  We all worked together to create a timeline that worked for everyone which is important when you have to factor in driving time, your photographers hour limit, and cushion time should anyone be running late.  A lesson to be learned – timelines are important – you don’t want your photographer to be finished before you’ve had a chance to cut the cake!

Aren’t these pre-ceremony pictures gorgeous?? The general excitement of everyone involved is contagious! And that lighting, forget about it! After those pretty park portraits (say that quickly three times), Whitney and Luke headed to St. Bartholomew Catholic Church to get married!!

While the guests made their way to the reception, Whitney and Luke snuck away to take some sunset pictures on a rooftop in Downtown Long Beach.  HOM photography captured the sunset and their newlywed bliss perfectly!

Guests arrived at the Loft on Pine for an elegant and fun-filled reception.  They were greeted by the bride, groom, and parents of the bride in a receiving line.  Receiving lines are one tradition that is not seen very often these days but it ended up being one of my favorite parts of the day.  I loved watching the guests anticipation as they waited to see the bride and groom and it was a great way for Whitney and Luke to spend a little time with each of their 200 guests.

As cocktail hour came to a close, guests moved upstairs to get the party started.  The night was filled with heartfelt speeches, a surprise musical toast, fresh mini-donuts, and lots of dancing!

Our very own lead party animal, Allie Shane, was lucky enough to be a guest at this wedding and in true PTC style, she showed everyone how it’s done.

Here are some thoughts from the bride and a few lessons learned:

I’m not the bride who fell from cloud nine the day after our wedding and wished that we could do it all again. In fact, if you told me that I could do it all over again, I’d say hell no. The way I see it, that day can never be relived or duplicated. We can’t ever say the same words, dance to the same songs, or hug those who walked along side us and have it mean what it did on that one incredible day. That’s what’s so amazing about a wedding. You capture all that love and joy in an 8(+) hour tornado of a day and (if you did it right) you spend the rest of your life looking back at it with warm memories and gratefulness. I can absolutely say that it was worth every minute of stress and every dollar we spent. We met so many amazing and talented vendors and learned so much. We are so grateful for all the help that the PTC team provided us. It wouldn’t have been half the event it was without your help. Thank you girls.