This lovely couple was sent to us by Holly of Cakes & Kisses. Read about this joyous event in Emily’s own words below!
Marcy and I got married June 2, 2012 on a beautiful day in Balboa Park, San Diego. Before the ceremony, we did a “first look” since neither of us knew what the other would be wearing. Seeing Marcy in her wedding dress for the first time was incredible; it’s a moment I’ll never forget. The ceremony took place in a butterfly garden tucked down in an alcove full of natural beauty. We worked with our officiant to design a ceremony that was truly ours; we picked out everything because it was meaningful to us, including a handfasting ceremony where we literally “tied the knot”. The idea of community is very important to us and therefore we chose to have a beautiful marriage certificate designed (a hybrid between a quaker marriage certificate and a ketubah) that everyone at the ceremony signed. We really couldn’t have done it without the support and help of our friends and family. They really made the day come together. In addition, we took a group picture of all the wedding guests after the ceremony concluded, all 63 of us!
The reception was in the Museum of Photographic Arts, and it was spectacular. We got to use the photobooth; which was a ton of fun. We had everyone put a photo strip into our guestbook so we will have crazy pictures from all of our friends and family to remember forever. The exhibition that was up during our wedding was a fun and upbeat display about Jazz music that just happened to match our colors perfectly. Everything went smoothly and it was a truly perfect day. Everyone told us that our wedding was the most fun they had ever had at a wedding. We had one surprise up our sleeves and that was our first dance. We had been taking dance lessons in the months before the wedding and had choreographed our first dance to “Brighter Than Sunshine” by Aqualung. We did it flawlessly (for the first time in our dresses!) and blew everyone away. It was exhilarating! We mingled and danced the night away until it was time to go. It’s true what everyone says, it’s gone in a flash, but our wedding day was filled with so many moments that I will never forget.
Emily- My favorite moment was seeing Marcy for the first time before the ceremony. I had no idea what to expect because we had picked out everything that we would each be wearing separately. She was so beautiful; it was a perfect moment where we got so caught up in each other that we forgot other people were there.
Marcy – The first look was out of this world and remains one of my favorite moments out of a whole day of wonderful memories. Overall, I was just so impressed how the many moving pieces came together to make one seamless (to us, at any rate) event. Right when we got engaged, I remember reading wedding blogs where the brides talk about how their one friend is a DJ and the other is a seamstress and so on and I thought “I am a scientist, my friends are scientists, we don’t do weddings” but it turns out that our friends have hidden talents and honored us by contributing so many personal touches to our wedding. My aunt and cousin designed and put together the centerpieces and it was just phenomenal.
I remember being nervous early in the day while getting ready, but after stepping in my wedding dress and then seeing Emily so beautiful in hers, the stress melted away and I felt that I was exactly where I was supposed to be andwas able to relax and enjoy it. 
Wedding Photography: Holly from Cakes and Kisses Wedding Photography
and Katie from Katie Gardner Photography
Ceremony: Zoro Garden, Balboa Park
Reception: Museum of Photographic Arts, Balboa Park
Wedding Day of Coordinator, Flowers: Ria Del Rosario, Historie Papers
Catering: Behind the Scenes Catering and Events
Cake: Friend of brides
Emily’s Dress: Watters from Here Comes The Bride
Marcy’s Dress: Mon Amie Bridal Exclusive
Makeup: Smashbox makeup counter at Nordstroms
Ceremony Music: Friends of the brides
DJ: DJ Abel from Scratch Weddings
Invitations: http://www.weddingpaperdivas.
Emily’s Hair Accessories: Veil from LoveTheBride
Marcy’s Hair Accessories: Lo Boheme
Dance Lessons: Champion Ballroom Academy
Wedding Rings: Tiffany & Co.
Officiant: Alice King, associated with Unitarian Universalist.
