We're Married!

I'm writing this almost three months after we got married and my heart is still so full after the most amazing week of our lives. As many couples can attest, there is so much that goes into planning a wedding but adding the stress and complications of a global pandemic made our wedding planning journey a little crazy. After twenty months of planning and three wedding dates later we were able to tie the knot.

Mihai and I got engaged in August 2019 and we began planning right away. We quickly realized that all the outdoor venues that we loved were booked for the summer of 2020. If you don't know, the weather here in Seattle is typically very beautiful in the summer months but it can be extremely unpredictable in the spring and fall months. We decided to start looking at venues in southern California because we knew that the weather would be more reliable.

In October of 2019, we flew to Los Angeles for Mihai's birthday. We drove out to Palm Springs and stayed at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort and Spa and it was absolutely AMAZING. We had scheduled a tour at the Living Desert Zoo & Gardens and then at the Grand Tradition Estate & Gardens in Fallbrook, CA. The Zoo was a beautiful venue but they were expecting a lot of construction around the time of our wedding date and we thought it would be better to choose a venue that would be free of construction and more enjoyable for our guests.

Our next stop was the Grand Tradition Estate located in Fallbrook, CA. As we drove up the long my jaw dropped! Grand Tradition Estate has over 30 acres, 7 waterfalls, and 2 venues you can pick from. The second you walk on the property it's like you have been transported to the most beautiful tropical paradise. We knew this was it, this was our venue.

All of our planning was going great until COVID hit. Our wedding was planned for October 2020 and I had so much anxiety over whether we should cancel, postpone, or elope. I cried and cried over many months because of the stress. We ultimately decided to postpone. We had three different wedding dates but our final date was 05/10/21. The weeks leading up to the wedding were a little hectic. There were a lot of planning details we needed to finalize and items that still needed to be ordered. But it all worked out and we were able to get everything on time.

My family had rented a beautiful home in Fallbrook, CA just minutes away from the venue and my in-laws rented a beautiful home in Temecula, CA. The distance between the two was pretty far but we ended up splitting our time at both locations for the week we were down there. On the day of the wedding I was so excited... we had waited so long for the day to come and I was so ready to get to celebrate with my family and friends. Everything went smoothly and like everyone says... it went by SOOOO fast but we have memories that will last us a lifetime.

We decided to not go on a honeymoon right away. We are still waiting for COVID to die down a little bit before traveling internationally but when the time is right we will pick somewhere amazing and I will make sure to write about it! :)

Here is a list of my vendors who I would recommend 100% - they all went above and beyond and we were so happy with everything:

Venue: Grand Tradition Estate & Gardens

Photography: Cait Photo

Videography: McKenna Elsner Photo

Florals: Soiree Floral Design

H&MU: Hairspray Studio

Dress 1: Blue by Enzoani_Laura Gown via La Belle Elaine's Bridal

Dress 2: Belinda Gown via Bhldn

Cake: Cute Cakes

DJ: Supreme DJ Entertainment