Private Southern California Beach Wedding (Coronado, CA)

Vintage VW bus, a serenade by the groom, exit on a gondola boat ride… just a few highlights from our recent wedding. When we heard Son had written a personal song for Karli and was going to be singing to her, we knew this was going to be an awesome couple and wedding. The two ended the night by exiting to a shower of bubbles and confetti leading to the doc where a surprise gondola was awaiting them to take them to their hotel.

Watching a couple of laughs and genuinely care for one another the way Karli and Son do makes our job as photographers that much more fun. Karli and Son tied the knot overlooking the San Diego skyline and the Pacific Ocean at the Coronado Cays Yacht Club surrounded by family and friends. How these two met is inspiring and completely selfless, Karli who grew up in Northern California, became a nurse and full-time missionary in Rosarito, Mexico where she met Son who was also working as a missionary. Son was born and raised in Haiti and left to help others here in the states, before also working in Mexico where the two met.

Here’s a look at a few of the moments that made up such an eventful day filled with love and friendship.

Location: Coronado, CA
Event Date:  April 15, 2018
Cinema and Video: Astray video
Tuxedo and Men’s Attire: Friars Tux
Dress Store: LuLus
Event Venue: Coronado Cays Yacht Club
Photographer: Astray Photography

Q1: Tell us about your wedding! What was the inspiration behind your day? Did you have a specific theme, style or color palette? Did you incorporate any cultural or religious traditions in any part of your day?
A1: Our style was simple and classy. We wanted to have a classy look without overdoing it with too much. We used burlap and lace to decorate mason jars. Our colors were gray, burgundy, and yellow (sunflowers). We had a Christian ceremony, which included prayer, bible reading, and communion.

Q2: Let’s talk about wedding decor. How did you decorate your space for the ceremony and the reception? Was any part of the decor DIY?
A2: We did the centerpieces ourselves. We decorated mason jars with lace and burlap. We also had golden speckled candle holders that were raised up on a piece of styrofoam covered in a cloth for added depth. we surrounded these jars with eucalyptus and filled the mason jar with a small bouquet of flowers.

Q3: What were the florals like at your wedding? Did you use flowers in any of your design elements like the bridal bouquets, centerpieces or ceremony backdrop? Did they play an important part in the overall style of your wedding?
A3: The flowers consisted of sunflowers, babies breath, eucalyptus, and a burgundy flower. The arch in the ceremony contained the same arrangement with the majority covered in eucalyptus.

Q4: Did you personalize the day in any way (food trucks, guest entertainment, etc.)? What were some of your favorite parts of your wedding?
A4: We had a couple of friends sing as the wedding party walked down the aisle. Also, our first dance song was a Spanish song because we first met in Mexico. We loved hearing all of the speeches. His sisters could not come to the wedding so they sent us a video to watch during the ceremony. When we left we went on a gondola to our hotel!

Q5: Let’s talk about fashion. How did you both choose your wedding day look? Describe the looks in detail.
A5: The dress that I chose was one I selected quickly because I had wanted to try a long sleeve dress just to see if I liked that look. When I tried it on all of my friends and my mom cried. So we knew this was the one. The dress was lace and hung off the shoulders. It was tight all the down to the hips where it loosely flowed out. I also wore a simple lace veil. My husband wanted a simple but classy but hipster look. So he went with a grey suit, simple burgundy tie, brown suspenders, belt, and shoes.

Q6: How did you meet? Tell us about the proposal.
A6: We met doing missionary work in Mexico. He volunteered for an International Christian organization called YWAM and I was a volunteer for a small clinic as a nurse. We did and medical outreach and he translated for us. For the proposal, he told me to meet him on these cliffs called La Joya in Mexico, where we had been a couple of times before. He said he wanted to watch the sunset and then go out to dinner. When I arrived he had a picnic set up with cheese, crackers, fruit, and wine. We sat to watch the sunset. After about 10 minutes he popped the question. When he did so he had a few photographers and videographers ready to capture the moment!

Q7: What was the most anticipated or special moment of your wedding day?
A7: That’s a hard one because the whole day was a dream. We loved taking communion together for the first time. But I especially loved it when he wrote me a song and sang it in front of our guests. It was so sweet.

Q8: Do you have any wedding planning or marriage advice that you’d like to share with other couples planning their day?
A8: Plan for the marriage and not just the wedding. Because the wedding only lasts for one day, but your marriage will last a lifetime. Pre-marriage counseling was really helpful for us! Also, expect that things won’t always go perfectly on your wedding day. But if you let it go, don’t worry, and have peace about it, your day will be perfect! Because at the end of the day you get to marry your person and that’s all that matters!