Chic San Diego Wedding

Get ready to see two of the prettiest brides you ever did see, thanks to these images from The Melideos. Brides Alanna and Felicity married in a backyard ceremony where their bridal party consisted of a “Brother of Honor” and “Sister of Honor” in lieu of the traditional groomsmen and bridesmaids. If you’re planning a wedding now, be sure to read the brides’ advice for maintaining your calm!

From bride Alanna: We envisioned a wedding weekend that would be classic, romantic, emotional, personal, and intimate. We began with the concept of an intimate ceremony, and family-style dinner at Felicity’s mom’s home, and went from there. The rest of the pieces for our vision just seemed to fall in to place. We had both our ceremony and reception in Felicity’s mom’s backyard. This was probably the easiest decision for us other than the food. We met in college in Ohio, but have built a life together in San Diego. We both have family and friends in Ohio and knew they’d have to travel, but we feel like this is our home, and having it all at Kerry’s made it even more special.

We didn’t have a traditional wedding party. Felicity had her only brother Reilly stand with her as her “Brother of Honor” and Aislinn, “Sister of Honor,” stood with Alanna. Aislinn wore an adorable black cocktail dress from Mia Bella Couture in Del Mar. Reilly wore a classic tuxedo from A Better Deal Tuxedo in Bird Rock.

What are some adjectives that best describe the look of your wedding? Timeless, elegant, warm, and magical. We didn’t have a specific color scheme, but did want to keep it clean and minimal, letting the colors of the landscape, flowers, and the house shine through. We worked with shades of white and neutral, with a little blush here and there. We joked that our colors were “blush and bashful,” so anyone who has watched Steel Magnolias will appreciate that. Home weddings are DIY for months leading up to the wedding day. The most visible DIY projects were the cones that held rose petals for guests to toss, the table seating on the wall, and welcome bags for out-of–town guests. We really incorporated a lot of personal touches throughout. We attached scottie dogs to the handle of the cones as a tribute to our sorority mascot, where we met. The wands that everyone waved when we entered cocktail hour had jingle bells on them as a tribute to Felicity’s aunt that passed away who always gave her a jingle bell on Christmas. There were a lot of those little details that were really meaningful.

What did you serve for dessert? We opted for Tiramisu (from Piatti’s) in lieu of traditional wedding cake. Since we weren’t doing the traditional cutting of the cake, we had the dessert delivered with sparklers to each table. That was fun! We also had a dessert table with pizzelles, biscotti, and Italian wedding cookies that Felicity’s mom and family friends pitched in to make – they vanished in no time.

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Any advice for brides planning their weddings now? Stay organized, be proactive, ask for help, and stick with your original plan and idea that you have from the beginning. Time flies by much faster than you would think. Do things as early as possible to avoid stress later. Whatever is most important to you, write it down in the very beginning, that way later during the planning process once all of the chaos has begun and ideas have grown more grandiose you can look back at your original vision for your wedding and remember what was most important to you. For us, photos were important so we found AMAZING photographers and had that settled 10 months in advance. We are both control-freaks so it was hard to let go, but people want to help and be involved… let them. The time you spend with family planning a wedding is really special, and keep in mind that it’s an important day for them, too. Once the wedding week begins, let it all go, and just enjoy it. Having all of your family and friends together to celebrate your love, it’s once in a lifetime.

Wedding Music:
Family Processional: “All You Need is Love,” Brandi Carlile
Bridal Processional: “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” Brandi Carlile
Recessional: “September,” Earth, Wind & Fire
Reception Entrance: “Sunny Side of the Street,” Steve Tyrell
First Dance: “By Your Side,” Sade
Alanna’s Father/Daughter Dance: “I Hope You Dance,” Leanne Womack
Felicity’s Father/Daughter Dance: “Georgia,” Ray Charles

Location: San Diego, CA / Photographers: The Melideos / Event Planning: Eventity / Wedding Flowers: Sweet Pea Flower Company. The arrangements were beyond gorgeous. Michelle really worked magic, she is a true artist, understood our vision from the very first meeting. / Dresses and Veils purchased at Here Comes the Bride; Felicity: Paloma Blanca 4165; Shoes by Manolo Blahnik, Something Blue Satin Pump, Simple strand of pearls given to Felicity on her 18th birthday by her Mom (her something old); Alanna: Paloma Blanca 4105, Shoes by Christian Dior, Diamond necklace of Alanna’s grandmother’s given to Alanna by her Mom the night before the wedding (her something old) / Makeup: Nicole with Masked by Nicole Miller / Hair: Vicki Penalosa / DJ: Disc-Go-Round / Cocktail Hour and Dinner: MIHO Gastrotruck. The MIHO Gastrotruck is a farm-to-truck concept – local, sustainable, and responsibly sourced food that is delicious. It is, in a word, incredible. / Wedding Invitations: Bella Figura via Sweet Paper / Videography: Classic Filmworks / Transportation: There is a “Felicity” wedding trolley, so we couldn’t resist. We used 2 trolleys to transport guests to/from the hotels.