Romantic + Rustic Spanish Oaks Ranch Wedding
This, loves, is rustic romance done oh-so-right. Think pastel-filled pretties from Adornments Flowers And Finery, sweetly crafted wooden touches coordinated by Ciel Bleu Event Design and a breathtaking outdoor reception underneath the trees. The always awesome Jen Rodriguez was on hand to capture every beautiful moment and THE VAULT is a total must-see.
From the Bride... Our proposal story. We were headed down to SLO because James was going to participate in the Cal Poly triathlon held at Lake Lopez. Earlier in the week, he suggested we make a reservation to go out for a nice dinner Friday night at one of our favorite restaurants in San Luis Obispo, NOVO. We drove down to SLO Friday morning, and checked into our hotel. After settling in, James took off on his bicycle to a local pool to get a quick swim in before the race, while I did some shopping downtown. After browsing through a few stores, I walked into Banana Republic to see if there are any good deals. Then, out of no where, James comes up and taps me on the shoulder! What the heck! I thought he was swimming.
Turned out there was a swim meet at the pool, so he wasn't able to use it. He had come downtown to find a "nice shirt" to wear to dinner. (Suspicious if you know James and his feelings towards "nice shirts.") I didn't question it, and he ended up getting a very nice button up shirt. Shortly after, we met up with our good friend Michelle and her boyfriend, Leland, to watch the Cal Poly men's basketball team get crushed in the NCAA tournament. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel. James brought out a wrapped gift and told me that he had found something downtown earlier in the day that he thought I might like, so he had just bought it for me. He also said he saw a store similar to Paper Source (my favorite store) in SLO, so he had them wrap up the present in this really pretty turquoise wrapping paper. But, I wasn't allowed to open it until dinner. This would seem suspicious, but the box was large and pretty heavy - I actually thought it might be a book of some sort. So, we got dressed up and went to the restaurant.
We got an awesome table at the restaurant, on their deck overlooking the creek. Michelle's sister, Amanda, happened to be at NOVO also, celebrating her friend's bachelorette party, and she sent over two glasses of wine! At this point, I was pretty suspicious, thinking she was in on some secret that James had told Michelle, and Michelle had told her. Turns out, she had no idea what was going on, they just had a lot of wine at their table and she was being nice!
We ordered way too much food, had some good wine, and at the end of dinner I was finally allowed to open my present! James had been acting so normal the whole time (which was why I didn't think he was actually going to propose), but as I was unwrapping the box I could see him squirming around in his chair. By the time I had opened it, he was down on one knee next to me, saying nice words that I was paying absolutely no attention to (sorry James!) and I was looking at a cute picture frame with my ring tied in the middle of it! Soo, I said "yes" and we were standing/hugging/etc. and then realized not a single person in the restaurant had witnessed this... so we sat back down! Eventually, the waitress came over and I asked her to take our picture, which she did, and then proceeded to announce our engagement to the whole restaurant! I'm sure I turned red, but I was too excited to care.
Afterwards, we headed over to Creeky Tiki to have some celebratory drinks with Michelle, Leland, Amanda, and others, then on to Bulls for more drinks. James and I ended the night by walking back to the hotel, stopping along the way for some Taco Bell, like old times. It was a great night!
When it came to planning our wedding, we were looking for an outdoor venue in a beautiful setting in the San Luis Obispo area. Spanish Oaks Ranch met all of our requirements - beautiful trees, rolling hills, nice architecture, plenty of space, indoor and outdoor options, easy parking, etc. Azurae Shults was recommended by several people who said she is the best of the best. Two Cooks wowed us when we went to taste our proposed menu! We chose Photographer, Jen Rodriguez, based on a glowing recommendation from friends, Amy & Luke.
Turned out there was a swim meet at the pool, so he wasn't able to use it. He had come downtown to find a "nice shirt" to wear to dinner. (Suspicious if you know James and his feelings towards "nice shirts.") I didn't question it, and he ended up getting a very nice button up shirt. Shortly after, we met up with our good friend Michelle and her boyfriend, Leland, to watch the Cal Poly men's basketball team get crushed in the NCAA tournament. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel. James brought out a wrapped gift and told me that he had found something downtown earlier in the day that he thought I might like, so he had just bought it for me. He also said he saw a store similar to Paper Source (my favorite store) in SLO, so he had them wrap up the present in this really pretty turquoise wrapping paper. But, I wasn't allowed to open it until dinner. This would seem suspicious, but the box was large and pretty heavy - I actually thought it might be a book of some sort. So, we got dressed up and went to the restaurant.
We got an awesome table at the restaurant, on their deck overlooking the creek. Michelle's sister, Amanda, happened to be at NOVO also, celebrating her friend's bachelorette party, and she sent over two glasses of wine! At this point, I was pretty suspicious, thinking she was in on some secret that James had told Michelle, and Michelle had told her. Turns out, she had no idea what was going on, they just had a lot of wine at their table and she was being nice!
We ordered way too much food, had some good wine, and at the end of dinner I was finally allowed to open my present! James had been acting so normal the whole time (which was why I didn't think he was actually going to propose), but as I was unwrapping the box I could see him squirming around in his chair. By the time I had opened it, he was down on one knee next to me, saying nice words that I was paying absolutely no attention to (sorry James!) and I was looking at a cute picture frame with my ring tied in the middle of it! Soo, I said "yes" and we were standing/hugging/etc. and then realized not a single person in the restaurant had witnessed this... so we sat back down! Eventually, the waitress came over and I asked her to take our picture, which she did, and then proceeded to announce our engagement to the whole restaurant! I'm sure I turned red, but I was too excited to care.
Afterwards, we headed over to Creeky Tiki to have some celebratory drinks with Michelle, Leland, Amanda, and others, then on to Bulls for more drinks. James and I ended the night by walking back to the hotel, stopping along the way for some Taco Bell, like old times. It was a great night!
When it came to planning our wedding, we were looking for an outdoor venue in a beautiful setting in the San Luis Obispo area. Spanish Oaks Ranch met all of our requirements - beautiful trees, rolling hills, nice architecture, plenty of space, indoor and outdoor options, easy parking, etc. Azurae Shults was recommended by several people who said she is the best of the best. Two Cooks wowed us when we went to taste our proposed menu! We chose Photographer, Jen Rodriguez, based on a glowing recommendation from friends, Amy & Luke.
