Real Wedding | Fall Wedding in the Bay Area With A Modern Look and Rustic Feel |Encarnacion Photography | Pretty Pear Bride

Real Wedding | Fall Wedding in the Bay Area With A Modern Look and Rustic Feel |Encarnacion Photography

Today’s real wedding took place in the fall and I love how the colors compliment the season so well. The couple wanted a modern look with a rustic feel and I think they nailed it! It really turned out to be the magical and fun event that they longed for.

Rosanne & Geromme

TELL US ABOUT YOUR WEDDING: GOWN – I was looking for an off-the-shoulder dress that was within a reasonable price and non-traditional. I was open to trying different styles. I started with Trudy’s in Campbell since many of my friends had purchased their wedding dresses at this location, but they were way out of my budget and they didn’t feel like “me” when I had tried them on. I then went to BoLee through another friend’s recommendation and I had only tried a few dresses until I put on the “one”: an off-the-shoulder, lace, slightly pink, A-line dress by Stella York. What had also made me choose this dress were the shoulder straps. They were removable by velcro and I could have an alternate look (and be more comfortable!) from the ceremony to the reception. The moment I stepped into the dress and saw myself in the mirror in this dress, I knew the search was over! GROOM’S ATTIRE – Geromme wore a burgundy Kenneth Cole slim-fitting suit that he had found on Amazon with a rose gold pocket square and Allen Edmonds shoes with a rose gold Nixon watch maintained by iwc service. He also wanted to wear something non-traditional and that had also paired well with our wedding colors.

LOCATION – Thomas Fogarty Winery in Woodside was our venue. We visited several places in the Bay Area and knew we wanted a local venue that incorporated our love for nature, but also for a place that none of our family or friends had heard of. What we loved about this winery was that it was very private and that we were able to celebrate our big day with an outdoor ceremony and a mix of an indoor/outdoor reception. It also happened to be down the street from our first apartment together. INSPIRATION – Since our wedding was going to be in the Fall, we wanted to use colors that would complement the season, as well as our love for nature. UNIQUE DETAILS – I placed a locket with my grandmother’s picture around my bouquet so that her spirit would be at the wedding.

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WEDDING COLORS: Our wedding colors were burgundy, champagne, plum, rose gold, and sage. We wanted a modern look with a touch of rustic.

HOW DID THE TWO OF YOU MEET? Geromme and I met in high school when we were 18 years old. I was friends with his younger brother first through our school’s dance team. The first day that I saw Geromme was at their house, I had mistaken him for their Dad because his back was towards me when I saw him lifting weights in their backyard. After visiting their house several times, we started to get to know each other better and became really good friends.

Geromme and I did not officially start dating until 3 years after high school. We liked each other, but we did not get into a serious relationship. After dating other people during college, we came back together when we were 21 and were together for 10 years until we tied the knot.

DESCRIBE YOUR ENGAGEMENT: Our first unofficial date was hiking at Rancho San Antonio Park in San Jose. I had never hiked in my life and one day, Geromme drove from San Jose to San Francisco to hangout with me and took me to this park to hike for four hours straight. I fell in love with hiking (and him!) and hiking became our new hobby together. On the day that Geromme proposed, we were living in Redwood City at the time, and he suggested going hiking on a random Saturday morning. It didn’t feel any different to hike early on a Saturday morning for us, but I should have known when he told me to “wear makeup because there will be great views to take pictures” lol. We have hiked Rancho San Antonio for the past 10 years and we never get sick of the views at the top. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and having trouble finding parking (it is a very popular park on a Saturday morning), we could not make it to the top and had to turn back. When we were walking back to the car and it was just the two of us on the trail, Geromme stopped us to take a quick photo, but he told me that I needed to take a landscape photo of the houses nearby first. I followed his request and when I finished taking the photo, Geromme was on his knee with a beautiful ring. He had brought his tripod with a 360 camera to “pretend” to take a picture, but he was really recording the entire moment! It was absolutely perfect and just the way I had imagined our proposal to be–nothing fancy, just the two of us.

PERSONAL OR HANDMADE DETAILS: We made the chalkboard signs at our ceremony (turning off cell phones reminder, reception location, and ring bearer’s sign), ceremony fans with the day’s schedule, seating arrangement sign, wooden board signs and sign-in canvas board at check-in table, table numbers, cookie party favors (we personalized our favorite cookies from Anthony’s cookies for each guest), cake topper of our nickname “GeRosie”, and bridal party gifts. I have a Cricut and I definitely put that machine to work during our wedding!

DESCRIBE YOUR FLOWERS: Flowers were a big part of my vision – we had a huge floral ceremony arch installation and lots of lush arrangements. For our centerpieces, we had alternating free-flowing floral arrangements and lantern floral arrangements. The florals created a magical, fairytale feel in our elegant settings with a touch of rustic.

MEMORIES AND STORIES ABOUT THE DAY: Getting ready with our bridal party. Taking photos and watching them opening our gifts was fun. Everyone was super helpful preparing for the day in some way.

Watching Geromme’s best friend Nate be nervous while officiating our wedding. Side note, Geromme officiated his wedding back in 2015.

Sitting at our table during the reception and soaking in our hard work, as well as seeing our families and friends having a good time together.

Listening and laughing during the thoughtful speeches at the reception.

Dancing with our Moms / Mom’s brother (surprised the dance with my Uncle who is like a father figure to me).

The sparklers exit was so much fun!

YOUR FIRST DANCE SONG: “Kiss Me” by Ed Sheeran

THE THING THAT WE WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY IS? Make a more adamant instruction about our ceremony being unplugged! We made a cell phone reminder sign for ceremony. Almost everyone had their phones out and didn’t pay attention to the sign haha!

YOUR ADVICE FOR OTHER PLUS SIZE BRIDES: Enjoy the process, no matter how you plan it. Be realistic with what you can afford. Decide financial situations ahead of time, whether you plan to pay the wedding yourselves or have families chip in. Choose reliable bridal party members. Hiring a day-of coordinator really makes a huge difference in how smooth a wedding can be. Remember to have fun! No weddings are completely perfect.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE THE DAY: Magical, fun, emotional

WHAT HAS SURPRISED YOU MOST DURING THE FIRST FEW MONTHS OF MARRIAGE? No major surprises since we’ve been together for so long but we did enjoy our honeymoon to Italy!

PHOTOGRAPHER: Encarnacion Photography | VENUE: Thomas Fogarty Winery | WEDDING/EVENT PLANNER: Two Perfect Events | BRIDAL ATTIRE: Stella York from BoLee Bridal Couture | BRIDESMAID ATTIRE: TJMaxx | GROOM ATTIRE: Kenneth Cole | GROOMSMEN ATTIRE: Generation Tux | FLOWERS: Amy Burke Designs | WEDDING STATIONERY: Basic Invite | WEDDING FAVORS: Anthony’s Cookies | HAIR STYLIST: Linda Lealao | MAKEUP ARTIST: Adrianne Artistry | RENTALS and LINENS: Standard Party Rentals | CATERER: Michi Catering | TRANSPORTATION: Corinthian Transportation | JEWELRY: Charles and Colvard | BAKERY: Studio Cake | BRIDE’S SHOES: Badgley Mischka | GROOM’S SHOES: Allen Edmonds | GROOMSMEN ACCESSORIES: Nixon Watches | GROOMSMEN SHOES: Ben Sherman | ACCOMODATIONS: Garden Court Hotel| VIDEOGRAPHER: 3L Films | DJ: Big FUN DJs |PHOTO BOOTH: High Fidelity Productions |

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Kate is a wedding blogger, writing for blogs like The Big Fat Indian Wedding and formerly United With Love. Kate is a regular freelance writer for many other publications including Brides Magazine’s digital department, the Washington Diplomat and a local DC yoga studio. As a plus-sized woman herself, Kate was eager to work for Shafonne and contribute to Pretty Pear Bride as she loves the message of self-confidence throughout the blog.
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