(Here for Founders Chapel Wedding Photos? You’ll find the photo gallery at the end.)
In 2004 I shot a very lovely wedding at the Prado. Casey & Matt. I loved their wedding so much it became on of my sample albums I used for YEARS. A few years later, I was invited to shoot the weddings of some of their family friends as well. A constant in all these weddings was Casey’s little sister… Taylor. I think she was 14 when I first photographed her. To say I have been waiting years to photograph her wedding is an understatement. When the email finally came in from Taylor inquiring about wedding photography I about screamed. I HAD to do this wedding! And at Founders Chapel and Rancho Bernardo Inn? Amazing! And now that the wedding is over, darn, I am going to miss this family!
Taylor & Colin’s wedding day was dreamy, romantic, and rainy! This may be the norm in other parts of the world, but for a San Diego Wedding, rain like we had is rare, and a rained-out wedding day just doesn’t happen. I really enjoyed the challenge. And to the families; thanks so much for including me again in documenting your family history! I was a pleasure to see you all for wedding photos at Founders Chapel yet again.
NOTE: A wedding at Founders Chapel is only available to alumni as far as I understand. If you want wedding photos there, start looking for a bestie that attended USD! It is very dark inside, so this is not the venue for a “light and airy” style wedding, but if you appreciate some drama and incredible architecture, this is the place for you!
the INTERVIEW
We met through friends. Colin’s best friend is Ed, he was also his Best Man in the wedding. He is married to Alexa (now). Well Alexa is one of my best friends. She was a bridesmaid in the wedding. Her and I met at USD and we ended up working at Nordstrom together during summers and studied abroad together. After several years of friendship, her and Ed finally set me up with Colin.
How would I describe our proposal: “Couldn’t have been any better.” 🙂 That is exactly how I would describe our proposal. Colin really knocked it out of the park. He isn’t always romantic but when he is you definitely need to be ready because he will blow you away. He thought of every detail, here is the story:
First off you need to know that one of Colin and I’s favorite spots is Tahoe, specifically North Tahoe. Colin’s family has a house in incline village. Well the very first time we went to Tahoe was the first month we were dating. He was meeting all of his rugby friends up there for there yearly trip. I am sure you can imagine a Tahoe trip with a whole bunch of ex-rugby players. Exactly! Well the very last day of the trip, Colin didn’t tell me that everyone was leaving a day early and him and I would have Tahoe to ourselves. We drove all around and I basically got a private tour. This was in February so it was snowy and chilly. He took to one spot in particular always held such a special moment in my heart. It was Emerald Cove on the west side. We stopped and viewed the gorgeous scenery and at that moment I completely fell in love with him.
So..come 2018…It was my 28th birthday on July 26th. Colin was planning a surprise bday trip for me. No idea where we were going. He told me what outfits I should pack and that I needed to be at his house at 2pm on Friday. Got to the airport, through security, and to the gates, I still did not know where we were going. It was time to board and I see the screen say “Reno.” My heart about stopped. I had a feeling that this may not be a birthday trip, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. We flew into Reno and picked up our rental car. I noticed we were going a different way and passed the highway that we normally take to his house in Incline.
We were not going to his house, but to South Lake Tahoe.
We ended up at Harvey’s in South Lake around 9pm that night. Once we checked in we decided to take stroll around town, it was summer so it was lively and warm. Colin was quite frustrated that there was no safe in the room to put my iPad in. Ha! He said we were waking up early to take a hike. So we woke up around 6:30am. Colin took a shower and did his hair. Made me a bit more curious, so I decided I should throw on some blush and curl my lashes, oh and maybe put on a cuter top instead of my oversized cotton T. Grabbed some coffee up the mountain and after a bit of a drive, ended up at Emerald Bay.
My heart skipped and I knew exactly why we were hear. It overlooked the whole lake and you could still see white tops on the mountains. There was a waterfall that just looked so beautiful and refreshing. He walked me over to this cliff, where we were alone. I started to get nervous. He told me he wanted to take a picture of me with the lake, so he set the backpack down, and grabbed the “phone.” Then he got down on one knee, and I about lost it. It was the perfect setting, the perfect time, with the perfect guy.
After an hour of just taking it all in and doing our hike I find out that this celebration is just not over. We ended up going to the beach, going to our favorite restaurant where we ironically ran into close friends, and that next morning flew home to SD.
When we arrived we ran to his house showered and changed and went up to Del Mar for a surprise family brunch. His family was there and my family was there. Jennifer, you know how close my family is with me so it was such a blessing that they all knew and we could celebrate with them. It was perfect. So again, just when it couldn’t get better…after brunch, Colin and I got back to my apartment to REST. ha! We were exhausted!
So much emotion.
Colin had spilled something on this nice button-up and he was adamant that it needed to be washed. I was confused why he couldn’t just put one of his old shirts on that I had kept at my house. We had decided to go over to my parents that night to just relax with them. I was too lazy to change outfits from brunch and Colin ended up washing his shirt at my house, now I know why. There was something else. He had planned a surprise party with all my closest friends. There was decorations and all these pictures of Colin and I that my mom had put up. My grandpa and aunt was there. I had a friend there from SF. So much joy and excitement. It couldn’t have been any better.
We wanted a very classic and timeless wedding. Must haves were good dancing and good timing, oh and a Catholic Ceremony. Besides that I had no idea what I really wanted until I started planning.
The ceremony blew me away. I just feel like church weddings are rare and mostly a church wedding that was just so real, I thought it was gorgeous. Also loved my family’s “My Girl” dance. My first dance with Colin gave me butterflies too! But that day…ahh…all the feelings. There was nothing in that day that could have taken my joy away. I was so happy and so ready, no stress.
In may we are going to Europe, specifically Ireland and Italy. 🙂 We will visit Father John in Rome when we go too!
I know you probably didn’t expect that long of a proposal description but as I started typing I just couldn’t top, it was great to relive that moment again and there were so many wonderful details that made it so special. – TAYLOR
the TEAM
Before I Do Events | Modern Bouquet | Founders Chapel | Rancho Bernardo Inn | Jennifer Dery Photography | White Flower Bridal | Choice Entertainment | Taylor Films | Barri King: Make-up
