Dave and Katie’s Wedding

Let me first say that this wedding was one of the funnest weddings I have ever been to; there were so many things that I loved about it.  Let’s start from the beginning of today; we woke up early this morning so that we could drive down to San Diego and hopefully check in early to our hotel room.  Along the way we stopped by Krispy Kreme so that Ke’alohi could watch the donuts being made and feast on her first donut which she loved.  We stopped by Lucas’ Aunt Karen and Uncle Dan’s house so that we could drop off Ke’alohi.  They were so unbelievably nice to offer to watch her while we went to Dave and Katie’s wedding.  I don’t know who had more fun Ke’alohi hanging out with her cousins or us at the wedding.  Ke’alohi just loves Aunt Karen, Uncle Dan and their kids.  We even think that Ke’alohi has a little crush on Aidan because she was giving him hugs and kisses when we picked her up.

Once we got to the hotel, we were able to check in easily and relax a bit before we had to start getting ready.  The venue for their wedding was the Darlington House in La Jolla, a gorgeous historical home not too far from the hotel. Dave and Katie setup shuttles for all the guests to travel from the hotel to the venue, since it’s in a residential neighborhood; saving everyone the trouble of dealing with parking. Once we arrived, the night kicked off as everyone re-connected with old friends and met new people, all brought together to celebrate Dave & Katie’s wedding. Even Lucas ran into old friends and we both realized we had even more friends in common than we had known. LMU was such a small world, it still baffles us that we didn’t meet until after I graduated.

The ceremony was beautiful and Katie was absolutely gorgeous.  I don’t know if I have ever seen Dave smile that big but he looked like he was on cloud 9 when Katie was walking down the aisle with her dad to one of my favorite songs, “From This Moment.”  Katie was the definition of bridal elegance and beauty and my photos don’t do her justice.  What I just loved about their ceremony was the sand ceremony, where they mixed two different color sands, symbolizing their two lives joining together.  I also loved that Dave’s friend Tommy, who presided over their wedding, quoted Dr. Suess’ book, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! to them right before they were pronounced husband and wife; it was sweet, cute and perfect.

The cocktail hour is where things really started getting fun.  Most of my friends from college that attended this wedding were all from LMU’s club soccer team and either lived with Dave or played with him on the team.  Their house was known for their parties, I mean friendly gatherings, and one other thing, The Force.  You are probably wanting to know what The Force is and why is it capitalized like it’s a person; it’s a drink, a very strong drink that when you think of these friends you instantly associate it with.  There were so many great nights in college that we had this drink, it was so nostalgic that Dave and Katie served it at their wedding during the cocktail hour.  The cocktail hour consisted of everyone reminiscing memories we shared together and even introducing the drink to our dates.  Lucas enjoyed it and even went back for seconds!

After the cocktail hour was over, we all headed to our tables to start the reception.  We had such a great table, one of those tables that you knew a couple people but by the end of the party you felt like you have known everyone for years, and no it’s not because of The Force.  One of my friend’s Margo was on our table with her husband, Mustafa, and it was so great catching up and talking about life “post-wedding.”  Once the bride and groom entered, Dave and Katie had their first dance and they looked like they were in total bliss.  After their dance, Katie’s dance with her dad and Dave’s dance with his mom, it was on to the speeches.  Kristin, Katie’s Maid of Honor talked about how they met on the internet while they both were searching for a roommate and Ken, Dave’s Best Man, talked about how they bonded over engineering and club soccer.

After all the speeches were done, we all ate great food and anxiously waiting for the music to start and the heels to come off.  Okay, maybe only the girls were ready to take off their heels and dance.  This is when Dave and Katie threw a curve ball to the guests and called up five men and five women who they wanted to “thank.”  I, along with most of the people didn’t think anything of it until they announced that Dave and Katie wanted the spot light on someone other than them and they had those ten people partner up and compete in a dance off right then and there!  It was hilarious to say the least watching the couples, who some had just met moments before, dancing together.  As fun as that was to watch, my all time favorite moment of the night had to be the garter toss.  You might think, how crazy could the groom getting the garter off his new bride be, but it was full of fun.  Dave and Katie had an inside joke about drinking Smirnoff Ice and Katie surprised Dave with actually having one hidden up where her garter was so that he would find it and have to finish it before he could get his prize.

The night came to a close at the Darlington House, but with our friends, it didn’t mean the night was over.  After all the shuttles dropped off the guests at the hotel, everyone stayed in hotel bar/lounge and hung out until the wee hours of the morning.  It was so great getting to really catch up with everyone and just hang out after a great night.  The wedding was an absolute blast and we couldn’t be happier for Dave and Katie.  If their life together is anything like their wedding day it will be long, happy and full of family, friends and laughter.  Congratulations!