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05-27-15

Erin & Anders Quirky California Wedding, San Diego

Today our featured wedding is accompanied with words from the bride herself! We absolutely love Erin & Anders’ fun and unique wedding, and we’re so excited we get to share all the details with you! So without further ado, here is Erin!

How did you and your fiancee meet?

Anders and I met in 2008. He had just moved from Denmark to San Diego for a few months to study at UCSD, where I was working on my PhD. A friend had met him in the hallway, and invited him out for a night of drinks and karaoke with some folks. Knowing how much I love karaoke, she called me up. When Anders and I met that night, we chatted about football, traveling, music, etc. It was mostly small talk and I'm pretty sure I embarrassed myself royally by having a go at "Like a Virgin" after a few too many drinks.

A couple weeks later, we traveled to Mexico with some friends. That's when Anders pulled out his shiny gold disco jacket. Any man who can rock a frock like that deserves some attention. And so after many a shot of tequila, I turned around in the street and kissed him. And the rest is history.

Tell us about your wedding planning process.

Oh wow. We were really going for something family-oriented, warm, and low-key with our wedding. We wanted everyone to feel the love we have for them, and to enjoy every moment with us. But neither one of us is particularly good with little details, to be honest! We had SO much help from creative friends and family. My mom has an incredibly keen eye for design, and we also brought our good friend Adele Fares, an experienced party planner, on board to help with all the details. She and her son David were an immense help!

How did you find your vendors?

We took a lot of advice and references from friends. All our vendors were recommended to us. Some we've known for years. So it felt like this big community project! We definitely hit a few bumps in the road (planning can be stressful, as anyone reading this will know, or will soon find out!), but there was so much love put into the whole shebang, that everything turned out just beautifully. We couldn't have asked for a better day!

How did your differing backgrounds come into play?

We mixed in a lot of family traditions too. Anders is Danish, and half my family is Lebanese. So we danced the Danish wedding waltz, after which Anders had his socks cut off (not kidding), and we also danced the dabke. One of my best friends in Lebanon recorded an incredible video for us, where all our friends in Beirut recorded messages and songs. Anders surprised me with it after the cocktail hour. His parents wrote a song for us (a very Danish tradition!) and passed out song sheets so everyone could sing together. And his brother and sister-in-law slipped an explanation of Danish wedding traditions into everyone's place-setting. So fun!

Do you have any advice for other brides-to-be planning their weddings?

I know, I know...you have heard this a billion times. But I can't stress this enough: things will go wrong. Everything we planned was outdoors, and it POURED the day before our wedding. In San Diego! In August! The day of, the grass was a little soggy, and my heels kept sinking into the ground. I also totally forgot to take out a neon green piece of gum I'd been chewing to wet my whistle before walking down the aisle. Zippers broke, chairs had to be rearranged, etc, etc, etc.

But you know what? It was an incredible day! Let it unfold as it will. You are in love, you will be surrounded by love. Nothing in the world could be better than that.