What was the Inspiration for your wedding day?
We really wanted our wedding day to feel sacred. We decided on a private, intimate wedding ceremony where we could relish every moment with each other and have no distractions. We wanted our parents to share this experience with us and knew the only place was standing beside beautiful Lake Tahoe! We feel inspired by the beauty, purity, and honesty found in nature, and wanted to be surrounded with love from our family and by the elements – the water and sand and incredible granite boulders at the Lake.  We love this time of the year, watching the leaves change colors and the sound of the wind blowing through the trees.

How and why did you pick your venue and or wedding details
Initially, wanted to have our ceremony at our favorite little beach on the east shore of the lake – a hike-in location with no road access. We discovered during the Summer though, that due to a bountiful winter last year, that beach was under water! We switched locations to Sand Harbor after a recommendation from Jeannette’s mom, and couldn’t be more pleased with how the whole day went. Sand Harbor is the epitome of Lake Tahoe beauty! We wanted simplicity to enable a purely joyful experience, and that’s just what we got! As for details, we wanted to incorporate some of our favorite things… being outside and barefoot, stunning flowers, a linen suit, something sparkly, laughter, champagne.

What special details did you include in your wedding or reception??
We really wanted to make our ceremony only about each other and our commitment to each other. There was no question that we had to have the people who molded us by our side, so we decided to keep it to just us and our parents. Our best friends are pastors of their own church in Hawaii, and we were blessed to have them be our officiants. We wrote our vows to each other and chose to stand barefoot on the ground, connected and rooted to the earth. Jeannette wore her mother’s handmade dress from her parent’s wedding. The dress was updated and customized for Jeannette by a family friend.

How did you make your wedding day special and make it about the two of you??!
We were set on the private ceremony, but we also held a small reception at a later date so that we could celebrate with the rest of our families and close friends! We have the most loving and supportive people in our lives and wanted to make our loved ones feel included and able to share in the excitement of our wedding day. The incredible videography and photography that was captured of our priceless day was undeniably how we were able to share those special moments with them! Hiring just the right people to capture every moment was exactly what we needed to keep the day exclusively about us and our love.

Most memorable moment (s) of your wedding day? (From Groom and from Bride)
JayR: Our wedding day was colder out than we had expected. As I was waiting for my bride, I was shivering. I didn’t know if it was my nerves or just the cold, but as soon as she turned the corner I felt completely at ease and my shivering just disappeared.     

Jeannette: My arm holding my dad’s, turning the corner and seeing my groom waiting for me. The anticipation, joy and comfort of knowing I was walking towards my Love and the rest of my life. The only thing better that this was holding JayR’s hands while he made his promises to me and knowing I would have my best friend by my side for the rest of my days.

What was your favorite part about the wedding planning process?
Music selection for our reception, suit shopping, wedding dress fittings, selecting flowers for my bouquet

Any advice for those planning now?
Enjoy it! Try not to stress about the details too much because you won’t realize how quickly the actual day goes by and that sometimes things won’t go just as planned, but its your once-in-a-lifetime day and it can still be perfect. 

Music

  • Processional: Say You Won’t Let Go (James Arthur) – Violin Cover by Daniel Jang
  • Recessional: The cheers of our parents 🙂
  • First Dance: Say You Won’t Let Go by James Arthur

How was your experience working with The DeLauras??
Kendal and Anthony made the day so easy for us. They are obviously talented, but their professionalism and coaching while shooting is something extra special. Kendal was terrific at directing us to capture the best photos… from posing and advising just how JayR should put my hands in his pockets =) to making the experience fun and a beautiful part of a day to remember!  The DeLauras are genuine and we could tell they shared in our excitement and joy, which enabled us to be fully present to each other. They were encouraging and made the whole process really effortless for us… we were confident that our photos would turn out amazingly. We couldn’t have asked for a better team of talented and caring people to create images that look as breathtaking as the day felt to us! We enjoyed every second.

ceremony SAND HARBOR | destination LAKE TAHOE  | floral design DEVONWOOD  |  hair  Janessa Loftin  | makeup Natalie Cartwright | officiant Kevin and Christine Sweeney |

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