“The whole day turning out amazing and so much more than I was expecting”

Today I get to share with you Monique and Nate’s outdoor wedding (including a very special sand ceremony) from Elate Photography that took place at their friends’ Ranch in Fallbrook, California.

Nate’s mom worked in the office at my high school and would take me out to coffee or lunch every week. I babysat his sisters when they were little and was very close to his family. He had moved out at about 15, so I knew of him, but didn’t really know him personally. He had chaperoned my senior prom, and the first time I’d ever talked to him was that night when he commented on my first, and at that time, my only tattoo, asking if it was real and said it was “sick”. Two years later, he contacted me asking for my tattoo artists number because he was interested in some new work. I replied and gave it to him, and that’s when we began talking a little more and getting to know each other. I always thought he was cute when I saw him around and when he would stop by his mom’s office at the school, so I was almost immediately interested.

“Our first date was on Valentine’s Day at the movies. He says that he asked me out for Valentine’s Day because if I didn’t already have plans, he knew I was single.”

We hung out a couple times after that going hiking, out to sushi and walks on the beach, go kart racing and then he took me out for a day at Mission Beach. It was one of the best days of my life. We walked on the boardwalk, went on the rides, took silly pictures and then went back to his house to watch a movie. That night, in his mother’s driveway, sitting on his skateboard, he asked me to be his girlfriend. As he was my first boyfriend ever, I was so nervous and excited. We dated for exactly one year before he proposed. I knew I loved him and wanted to marry him just a couple months into us dating. He had everything I wanted and prayed for in a man and my husband, he’s my best friend, he’s basically a man version of me. The night he proposed was a total surprise! He didn’t tell me where we were going or what we were doing, just for me to treat myself to a new dress and jewelry, and to be ready at 6. We headed to downtown San Diego, and ended up on the Hornblower Valentine’s Day dinner cruise! It was so beautiful and romantic. Nate was acting weird and all nervous. We would sit down and eat a little and then he would want to go out on the deck, then we would sit down and drink a little, and he would want to go back out again… this happened a lot this night.

Finally, towards the end of the night, he took me out to the top deck just as we were going under the Coronado bridge. I was looking out at the city lights, and when I turned around, he was down on one knee, telling me how much he loves me, holding the ring I had picked out! Of course, I instantly started balling and said yes! We celebrated with champagne and dancing to one of our favorite songs, You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling from the movie Top Gun, which just so happen to start playing right when we walked back inside. We met my sister and her husband for drinks after, and everyone was ecstatic.

We did a sand ceremony during the ceremony where we both poured two different colored sands into a vase with a rock at the bottom. The rock at the bottom representing God as the foundation of our relationship and marriage, and the sand representing us two different people coming together as now one. 

We had a few little things that were DIY – We had a lot of wooden signs directing people form the street to the wedding and for parking that we just painted on, my sisters and some friends made some tissue paper flower balls that they hung from the tree, a lot of gold spray paint, and we got a couple records that we had our guests sign with silver Sharpie as our guest book.

I definitely wanted a dress to show off my sleeve which was on the side facing our guests, and we told our photographer that we wanted then to be complimented and seen in our photos. She did an awesome job catering to that, and when we took our private photos, my husband took his jacket off and rolled up his sleeves, which worked out well because his are on his opposite arm and hand.

How beautiful is Monique and Nate’s outdoor wedding? I love Monique’s dress, her tattoos fit great with it.. And her hair is stunning. I’m really loving grooms wearing bow ties too – Nate’s is awesome! Thank you to them both and to Elate Photography for sharing with Marry Me Ink today. Be sure to leave them some love.