Bri & Ryan

Bri and Ryan celebrated the “Time of their Life” at the Monarch Beach Resort in south Orange County.  Photography was the responsibility of the artists at Barnet Photography and stunning wedding cinema shot and edited by Carolwood Productions. Outdoor wedding, ballroom reception and Jamaican Honeymoon!

How did you meet?

Ryan worked at a popular bar in Newport Beach, which my friends and I use to go to on the weekends. After months of us running into each other, he finally got the nerve to ask me out. Of course I said YES and the rest was history.

The Proposal?

Ryan proposed to me on a romantic cruise across the Pacific Ocean, which gave us a few days to enjoy our engagement and the rest of our vacation before we got busy planning our wedding. The morning we got back from our cruise, Ryan secretly planned an engagement brunch with our family at one of our favorite brunch spots and my dream wedding venue- The Monarch Beach Resort. After brunch ended, I jumped at the opportunity for a walk through with the event coordinator.

Difficulties planning the wedding?
We were very blessed to have such an easy time planning our wedding, however, some difficulties we encountered were:

1. Getting your exact venue date. Its important to have at least 3 options. We started planning our wedding over a year out and we still had to go with a second date.
2. Finalizing the guest list was a little bit of a challenge for us. The guest list can get out of control real quick.
3. Keep a to-do list and check list throughout, even if you have a planner. It can get overwhelming towards the end trying to remember every last detail can make you feel stressed.

Fun and easy parts of the planning process?
We had so much fun planning our wedding. The top 3 most fun/easiest:

1. Venue/vendor visits. This was the most fun for us. Making decisions together for such a special day and seeing our vision come to light. I loved the invitation and florist visits, and Ryan loved the food tasting.
2. Wedding dress shopping was such a fun and special time to share with my bridal party.
3. We turned our wedding day into a 4 day celebration. We had the rehearsal dinner Thursday, spa/golf day for the wedding party on Friday, ceremony Saturday, and brunch on Sunday for the entire guest who stayed the night. It was the best having our loved ones with us every step of the way.

Something fun/unique we added to the wedding?

1. We surprised our parents and recreated their first dance. It was a special moment for us and our parents.
2. I wanted to honor some family members that were no longer with us. My grandmother’s favorite flower was a yellow rose and my aunt loved unicorns and my grandpa was a golfer. I included his golf tee, a yellow rose, and one of my aunt unicorn charms to my bouquet. It looked effortless and beautiful and meant the world to have a piece of them with me.

Suggestions/Ideas for other engaged couples?

Looking back on our special day, it was absolutely perfect, but the only thing my husband and I kept saying is “I wish it was longer”. We even added an extra hour to our reception, but 1:00 am still came very quick. Our advice to brides and grooms is making sure you schedule time to say hi to guest. As odd as that sounds, everything else is scheduled that day from your first dance to the last song played, from dinner being served to the cake cutting. So why not schedule a time for you to say hi and thank your entire guest for coming. If it’s something import to you, I highly recommend putting time aside in the itinerary, as our time slipped away.