How did you and your wife meet?
Right time right place — classic girl walks into a bar, girl sees girl, is smitten as all hell and the rest is sort of history. The stars literally aligned, we both weren’t in a place where we were looking to meet anyone. On our first date, we went to watch football at a local bar the next Sunday. Lyndsay wasted no time getting into specifics. She asked,
Her: Do you love your family
Me: They are my world
Her: Do you like Christmas (it was December)
Me: No. — I LOVE Christmas
Her: Do you want to have kids someday?
Me: A whole litter
Who popped the question? Were you surprised?
I popped the question. I took one of her BFF’s ring shopping with me. I was so nervous, her friend said she wouldn’t tell me what to do unless I was steering too far off course. Both are dental hygienists and look through a magnifying glass on a daily basis so the stone had to be perfect. It was.
Again, the stars aligned for our proposal — both of our families were going to be in AZ for Thanksgiving (we are from LA). She knew a proposal was likely coming, but assumed it was going to be at Christmas, which is why I had to keep her on her toes and do it at Thanksgiving.
We share a common love of football, her favorite team is the AZ Cardinals and once again the stars aligned, they were playing a game that weekend. But I also wasn’t going to pull a jumbo-tron moment. So I arranged for a private event and tour of the stadium. I also tricked her a month earlier into gifting my sister a cardinals shirt, which came into play later. I also knew it was important to her to have her nails look good, so my mom was instrumental into making her think it was a family tradition to get our nails done the day after thanksgiving. That morning, I made an excuse that I had something come up from work. So my mom and sister went with her to get her nails done, she was prompted by the cashier with a note from me, taking her to our favorite bar in scottsdale where my dad was waiting with another note written from her mom and step mom to meet us as the home field of her future sister-in-law’s shirt (AZ Cardinals shirt).
I had never been so nervous leading up to this, I had cancer sores and given myself a stress cold. But she was ushered in by the tour guide and she came out of the tunnel onto the field to meet me and saw our families together also waiting. I’m pretty sure I stammered most of my way through the actual proposal — but it was about how we are a team and we each gotta work together and give a little to meet each other half way.
Where did you tie the knot?
Sandos Finisterra in Cabo San Lucas
Did you have a specific theme in mind for your wedding?
The theme was tequila. Cabo holds a special place in our heart, we knew we wanted it there. As we are walking I saw an agave plant and I said, those are our colors. Our invitations said “free tequila” in big words.
Wedding Dress Designer & Style
Mine: The Bruna by Theia
Hers: Gabby - Ti Adora
We both went shopping separate with our friends, she went with her family in Arizona, I went in LA. I was scared straight because I wanted to know what her dress looked like. I was so scared that we wouldn’t look well together. I mean a white dress is a white dress right? But There’s so many styles and nuances. My friends knew what her’s looked like and they told me if I was going to get something that was completely going to mess up our theme.
What made you choose AMY O for your special day?
I wasn’t looking for anything over the top, just simple that complimented the dress. But my dress had a mesh neck line, I wanted something that was going to be a statement, but not over the top that I would look back years later. It felt modern, classic and different. The backdrop necklace truly made all the details pop.
What was one of the most memorable moments from your wedding day?
Proposing and marrying her was the easiest decision of my life, there was no question we were going to get married and we would have done it wether there were 100 people there or 3 people. We wanted our wedding to truly be a celebration and a party for our friends and family. It was. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and we wanted our guests to be a part of the joy we shared. The ceremony was lighthearted and fun, I had a couple guests saying afterwards I don’t think I’ve ever been to a ceremony that made me laugh has hard as I equally cried.
The one moment that stuck out was our “union” ceremony. Some people do candles or sand. We did tequila. And in the middle of the ceremony we had the servers pass out margaritas to all our guests and they toasted as we poured together two tequilas and took a shot.
Did you go on a honeymoon? If so, where to?
We were going to be on a honeymoon this month, but we’ve had some recent tragedies in the family and on the flip side have been equally blessed with career opportunities that are all happening this month. We both took a beat and decided to postpone until the fall or winter. The money is saved and our tickets almost booked, but it was the right choice to take advantages of the opportunities that life gives you. It just reassured to me that we are a team and sometimes decisions aren’t always back and white.
Any advice for future brides?
Plan for what you can plan for. Then let go of it. Nothing ever goes as planned. We had MORE than our fair share of turbulence along the way in the planning process and even the day of. My sister called us Zen Brides because people were shocked how well we dealt with the issues. I realized early on, you may have ideas on how your day will go. When brides turn into bridezillas, it's when they aren’t willing to let go of the idea in their head on how it was “suppose to go”.
We made a commitment to each other at the beginning and had a conversation where we told each other, we may not get everything we want. Some people aren’t going to make it and that’s okay, as long as you’re up there on that Saturday standing by me, it’s all good.
- Photographer: Kelly Balch Photography
- Dress Designer and Shop: Theia and Ti Adora
