Before I Do Events: Wedding Wednesday: Raul and Christine's Coastal Peruvian Bash!

What a special wedding this was for me! Over the past year I have grown in a friendship with both Raul and Christine! Let me first tell you a little bit about them...

Raul and Christine live in DC, but secretly (well its not a huge secret) want to live in San Diego. The sunny city has a very special place in their hearts. It was the perfect destination for the wedding as Raul's family were all flying in from Peru, and there was no better place for a wedding/vacation then La Jolla!

The ceremony was held at the wedding bowl, with the reception to follow at Darlington House. Raul and Christine wanted to bring in the coastal charm of La Jolla with a small nod to Peru! We achieved just that.

The ceremony was set up in such a simple and stunning way. We served 2 different Peruvian drinks for refreshments and had the views of the stunning coastline in the backdrop. The cocktail hour had a lounge area set up with Peruvian trinkets and authentic pillows. The striking custom bar in the center of the courtyard served a Pisco Sour, which is the signature drink of Peru and had Cancha (roasted corn) as one of the appetizers to nibble on. Then to set the mood we had a Spanish guitarist serenading everyone!

From there you walked into the reception, and WOW! Annette Gomez once again out did herself. It was simply stunning. We had descanso wood tables with soft blush runner, an incredible scape of mixed metals and clay vases with ruffled floral blooms and a personal bread, pink sea salt and olive oil tray. It was the perfect compliment to there Peruvian Coastal theme. Christine was all about the details, which you know I love. There was not an empty space that did not have a personal and sweet touch to it.

My ultimate favorite area of the reception was the cake table! Christine's father passed away last year, so we wanted to honor him, as she was so very close to her father. Throughout our year of planning I found out that his favorite dessert was strawberry shortcake. So we thought there was no better dessert to serve then just that! To top that off, I had asked if they had pictures of the two of them together from the past. Not only did they have that, but he loved the dessert so much that they had pictures of him eating it every year on his birthday.

So Annette and myself teamed up to pay tribute to him. The cake table was a complete surprise to Christine. You can imagine and joy, love and emotion she had when she saw the spread of old pictures with his favorite sayings and quotes scribed onto them hanging above the gorgeous layout of mini strawberry shortcakes!

The rest of the night was a complete success. Raul and Christine had the most incredible fun and spunky first dance. To top that off Raul surprised Christine with a serenade. Which we all know is a girls dream, especially when the man has a sexy accent! Coast catering once again delivered out of this world food and the BBC made sure everyone's glasses were full.

I loved every minute of this day. :) Thank you for letting me share in your dream wedding.
I will miss you both.