Jeremy says that he knew that Elizabeth was “the one” right from the beginning. He was out from Florida for the wedding where he first met her, and she must have made quite an impression on him because shortly afterward, Jeremy made the move out west, and as it turned out, because the two had several mutual friends, he got to see Elizabeth again, coming along for group movie dates. This was no accident – their friends Justin and Sabrina were working behind the scenes, trying to get the couple together. After one of these movie dates, Jeremy offered to give Elizabeth a ride back to her car, during which he asked her out. And the rest, as they say, is history.
They moved in together downtown. Being boating, wakeboarding, and hiking enthusiasts, they took a trip to Lake Tahoe to celebrate their first year together. They had such a good time that they made plans to do it again the following year. When the time came, Jeremy planned to propose to Elizabeth and offer her his great-great-grandmother’s ring on the gondola ride up the mountain. He thought we was being crafty, but Elizabeth says she had a hunch that Jeremy was going to propose. “I just knew.” she says. He talked about looking forward to the gondola ride and a nice dinner. But when they got there, they found that the gondola was closed for three days. The same three days that the couple was going to be in the area! Still, Elizabeth thought she had the whole plan figured out, that he would propose at dinner. Jeremy sensed that he was not going to be able to surprise her unless he changed his plan. Right when they got to their room, he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. And, she was surprised, and said “Yes!”.
In no time at all, the couple was setting the date for their wedding. Elizabeth planned the entire wedding herself with help from her mom and her maid of honor. “It was a fun experience and I learned so much!” she says. Right away, she fell in love with Lake Natoma Inn at one of their open house and tasting events. The next choice was an easy one. Prominent Sacramento wedding photographer Christopher Kight is a family friend. A longtime area favorite, Chris was able to give the couple a great deal of guidance. But her favorite part was going dress shopping with her mom and bridesmaids. “Anything having to do with the dress, even going for alterations, was really exciting, and instantly made me happier!“ said Elizabeth. The dress she finally chose was one that her mom suggested she try on. When she came out of the dressing room, it was obvious that this was “the one”.
One tip that Elizabeth shares for brides in the planning stage is, “I collected many wedding magazines during the planning process and inside some of them I found a 12 month planning guide. This really helped because it laid out a timeline for everything possible you could do for a wedding. I didn’t follow the timeline exactly, but it was very helpful as a general guideline.” More advice: “Make the planning process fun for yourself and also have fun on your wedding day. Have a good photographer since those photos are what you take away from your big day!”
Elizabeth said that she learned a lot from her vendors. She asked many questions. The couple did not have a theme or a plan, they wanted to discover their plans along the way. The theme and décor ended up being “outdoor elegant”. An early, easy choice was the color for the wedding. Both Jeremy and Elizabeth like purple, and just using that as a guideline, Elizabeth found Pinterest to be a wealth of inspiration. “Some of my favorite pictures were inspired by Pinterest photos.” she said. She says that as it all came together, the last two weeks were the hardest. “It was a little stressful finding time to meet with all the vendors.” Jeremy was in the role of support. He was happy to have Elizabeth do the planning and was agreeable to her choices. “I bought the groomsmen matching purple socks – and that was about it!” Jeremy jokes. But Elizabeth told us, “The week before the wedding was very busy for me, so he helped do the table/seating arrangements as well. And he helped pick out the first dance and mother/son and father/daughter song music which I was having a hard time with.”
The rehearsal dinner, wedding and reception were all held at The Lake Natoma Inn. Their friends who had played matchmaker were involved too: Justin was the best man, Sabrina was the maid of honor, and their daughter even got in on the act as the flower girl. The intimate ceremony was on the patio with its beautifully decorated arch. Elizabeth recalls, “The day of the wedding, I was so nervous! As my Dad and I began to walk down the aisle, I was close to tears (happy ones!), but once I got to Jeremy, I was fine.” Jeremy says, “When I first saw her, it blew me away. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. She was so pretty. I was really happy.”
The couple can’t say enough about the staff at Lake Natoma Inn. “Everybody loved the food.” said Elizabeth. “And the service was awesome.” Jeremy added. The staff boxed up some food for the couple and had it delivered to their room for later. One funny moment was a spontaneous prank put together by Jeremy’s friends in coordination with the DJ, who instructed Elizabeth to make Jeremy try three times. She didn’t know what he meant until he announced that Jeremy would have to dance “sexy” for Elizabeth until she approved, and only then could he retrieve the garter for the garter toss. “It was unexpected, but I went for it.” says Jeremy. What he didn’t know was that Elizabeth was in on the joke, so he was quite surprised when she turned him down, not once, but twice! But being the trooper that he is, this only made him try harder, and the audience loved it! The dancing went on in to the night and the newlywed couple stayed until the end. “I really wanted the day to be fun for everyone and it was. Jeremy and I had a blast on our wedding day.” said Elizabeth.
The couple went on a honeymoon that was planned entirely by the groom. “Our honeymoon lasted almost four weeks, visiting several countries in Europe, so Jeremy spent quite a bit of time researching hotels and finding good deals. It paid off because everywhere we stayed was great and we had an amazing time.” said Elizabeth.
[VENUE] Lake Natoma Inn
[PHOTOS] Christopher Kight Photographers
