Jake and Shannon's Wedding in Sunol, California
Romantic Spring Pink 1 wedding vendors
6/4/2022 119 0
J&S
4 Jun, 2022
The story of our wedding
Our story began with a story. In 2011, Jake messaged me on Facebook about my interview with the band Dawes in the UCLA Daily Bruin newspaper. We had a mutual friend Irene who he knew from high school & I went fossil hunting with (who would also go to our wedding) - so I trusted him to drive me to my next article at Old Style Guitar Shop in LA. It was there he proposed 7 years later with the rings from his mom & biological dad, who passed when he was eight – I was so touched & honored.
Jake would go on to work with the frontman of the band I interviewed, who also met his wife Mandy Moore online…After 11 years together, growing up in the music industry, moving from LA to NY, saving a diabetic rescue chihuahua & surviving a pandemic, Jake & I finally got married.
Jake grew up in the Bay Area where we had the wedding, so many of our vendors were friends, from the incredible photographer & florist to the best man who also played guitar & his wife, our cellist (who plays with Halsey, Weezer, Olivia Rodrigo…). We even ended up picking the same cake shop & flavors as Jake’s mom did 30 years ago without knowing! I loved the idea of having wine at the wedding come from the vineyards we just got married in. I loved my Stella York fairytale dress (found at Kleinfeld, bought in Jersey) & Jake’s Vera Wang suit.
Continue reading »My dad officiated the wedding & Jake made the amazing flyers (with Spotify scan code to a playlist we created) and seating chart – each table was marked by a favorite album of ours. Thank goodness for eBay to get the CDs and Etsy where I got my earrings, hairpiece & custom cake topper with our dog, which was somehow shipped out of the Ukraine during the Russian invasion…
Our wedding hashtag #ShakeItUp came a little too true…The week before, Jake’s uncle broke a rib trying to save a snapping turtle, his stepdad went to the hospital for an allergic reaction & my bridesmaid got COVID before flying out the day before (they’re fine now!). My amazing friend who was already doing hair & makeup stepped in and got a bridesmaid dress the night before. A bridesmaid’s dress broke right before the ceremony, but another who happened to be a Broadway dresser fixed it. Though our recessional song was “Mr. Blue Sky,” it was overcast - but our photographer said those are the best pictures. And some of the seating got mixed up, but people made new friends.
Though we try, weddings are never perfect – it’s the family, friends & person standing next to you who make the day the best you’ve ever had. They came from 12 different states for us to a winery in a small town with a dog for mayor and a couple ostriches onsite, plus a century old mansion.
We had a s’mores pit and dive bar karaoke after, where a stranger immediately sang “You’re The Inspiration” by Chicago to me, a favorite of Jake’s late father – it felt as though he was there. Though our parents and families had never met in person before in all those 11 years, they got along so well that most were too caught up in conversation to dance (though we did have a killer vinyl DJ). From talking to everyone on the outdoor deck beside the firepit & hanging lights to our final dance (“Closing Time” by Semisonic) – it was perfect to us.
Jake and Shannon's vendor team
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