Kate + Nick's Santa Monica Wedding Celebration
Kate + Nick looked no further than their new hometown of Santa Monica, California with its incredible natural beauty as their wedding destination. Bridesmaids were gorgeous in their mix and match blush dresses carrying airy bouquets in blush, cream, and white florals. Flower girls wore baby’s breath floral crowns and looked like little flower fairies flanking the wedding ceremony arch. One of our favorite details was Kate’s incorporation of her love of blue and white pottery into the wedding reception place settings. Photography by Krista Mason Photography.
How were your personal styles reflected in your wedding day?
I have a slight obsession with blue and white pottery so having blue and white plates with different patterns was one of my favorite touches! I wanted the wedding to be simple and elegant and I loved the way it turned out! The band playing as our guests entered the ballroom created such a fun atmosphere. It was beautifully elegant while also a great party! Ending the night with In and Out Burger and singing Sweet Home Alabama on stage with the band was all Nick :)
Tell us a little about you and Nick.
Nick and I met in Cincinnati where he was working for P&G and I was teaching English as a Second Language in an elementary school. Nick left P&G shortly after we started dating to work for a private equity firm in Boston. I moved a few months later to join him in Massachusetts. A year after I moved Nick was given the opportunity to move to California with the same company and we couldn’t turn it down! We settled in Santa Monica in May of 2018 and were married at a beach hotel just down the street from our apartment!
We have a dog named Dublin who is loving beach life. We are enjoying exploring our new city and trying restaurants and experiences.
How did you and Nick meet? What were your first impressions of each other?
We meet about 10 years ago through a mutual friend, and we know now that we both thought the other was cute! Nick moved away shortly after we met and we didn’t see each other for 7 years. We reconnected at our mutual friend’s (the one who introduced us) wedding and started dating right after that!
Tell us about planning a destination wedding.
The best part of planning our destination wedding was that it was destination for everyone except us! We wanted to make sure we had multiple opportunities to be with our guests so we picked a holiday weekend to encourage our family and friends to spend another day with us. We had a welcome party for our guests on Friday and a Sunday party as well. Since we had just moved months before the wedding to Santa Monica, we felt it was a great opportunity to have our friends and family be a part of our new lives in California. Having a wedding planner was incredibly helpful as well!
What were your favorite details?
My dress, the flowers and the table settings :) and the invitations of course!
Describe your wedding day. Is there a particular moment that remains in your memory most vividly?
I have a couple moments that stick out in my mind. The first look is one moment I will never forget. It was so nice to have a special moment with Nick before the ceremony and reception. Nick and I had our first dance immediately after being introduced and right after our first dance the band had a short three song dance set which really set the tone of the night! Every guest was on the floor signing and dancing! The energy of that moment was so exciting and fun!
Krista Mason Photography
Tell us about the proposal.
Nick and I had moved to Santa Monica the month before he proposed so we had been doing a lot of exploring around the city. We had gone on a hike that had the most beautiful views of Malibu and the Pacific Ocean that we just loved. The night before my birthday Nick surprised me by having a car pick us up and take us to the spot of that hike. When we arrived there were flowers and champagne already set up on a blanket. Nick proposed as the sun was setting :)
Tell us about finding your dress.
My parents came to visit a couple weeks after nick and I got engaged and we went shopping in Beverly Hills. It did not take us very long to find the dress at all! As soon as I put on my dress we knew it was the one. I put a couple other dresses on, but kept going back to my dress. I felt it was such a perfect mix of simplicity and elegance with the unexpected open back for the wow moment.
Krista Mason Photography
Best part of being married so far?
Hearing Nick introduce me as his wife :)
Krista Mason Photography
VENDOR PARTNERS:
Photographer: Krista Mason Photography | Florals: Wisteria Lane | Venue: Hotel Casa Del Mar | Planner: Simply Natural Events | Cake: The Butter End Cakery