7/30/2017 | Twin Oaks Golf Course

Rachel and Andrew’s wedding at Twin Oaks Golf Resort was inspired by their senior prom! Since they were high school sweethearts, they wanted to bring back their senior year of high school back to life! They used the same color palette for their wedding: white, silver, and Tiffany blue. They also used a very subtle beach theme for the wedding since Andrew first asked Rachel to be his girlfriend and told her he loved her on the beach.

They met in high school in San Diego at Mt. Carmel High. They both are the same age and have the same birthday! Andrew is three hours older than Rachel. We later found out after looking at our birth certificates that we were born at the same hospital, too, only a few rooms apart! There are lots of other sweet details worked into the day from Andrew’s love of cars to Rachel’s love of lace and sparkles.
Q: Tell us about your wedding! What was the inspiration behind your day? Did you have a specific theme, style or color palette? Did you incorporate any cultural or religious traditions in any part of your day?
A: Our wedding was inspired by our senior prom! Since we are high school sweethearts, we wanted to bring back our senior year of high school back to life! We used the same color palette for our senior prom for our wedding as well which was white, silver, and aqua/Tiffany blue. We tried to go with a very subtle beach theme  for the wedding since Andrew first asked Rachel to be his girlfriend and told her he loved her on the beach. Both of us are also strong Christians, so we incorporated a sand mixing for the ceremony where each of us poured a different colored sand into one jar to show we were now “one.” We also did a “pre-wedding prayer” as well. Andrew and Rachel both stood behind a wall and held hands while they said a prayer. They did not see each other during this time, but wanted to share a special moment and say one last prayer before saying say “I do!”
Q: Let’s talk wedding decor. How did you decorate your space for the ceremony and the reception? Was any part of the decor DIY?
A: We bought some DIY decor for both the ceremony and reception, but because the venue was outside and in a beautiful location, we did not need to go overboard with the decor. The venue already had several white-rose bushes, so we decided to go with all-white flowers. For the ceremony, we had a couple of wine barrels which we laid chalkboards against. The chalkboards were created by Rachel’s aunt. One chalkboard was our storyboard which included how we met, when we first kissed, how long we had been dating, when Andrew proposed, etc. The second chalkboard included the wedding day “agenda” so our guests knew what to expect. The third chalkboard included the names of our wedding party, officiant ( who was Rachel’ uncle), our parents, and the two ring bearers. The view of the mountains was the finishing touch for our ceremony! We also had the venue tie blue fabric around each chair to bring more of our blue accent out. For our sweetheart table, we bought a silver/sparkly “Mr. & Mrs.” sign and repurposed our arch pieces for our sweetheart table as well. Inside, we had a couple of pictures of us placed on the cake and candy table, as well as the center table where we repurposed Rachel’s bouquet in a vase to display the beautiful floral piece. Next to our cake, we had three cute candy jars placed on wooden boxes with blue candy in them. We had blue jelly beans, blue chocolates, blue bubblegum pieces for our guests. As said before, most of our decor was DIY and primarily consisted of floral pieces.
Q: What were the florals like in your wedding? Did you use flowers in any of your design elements like the bridal bouquets, centerpieces or ceremony backdrop? Did they play an important part in the overall style of your wedding?
A: We had lose white flowers petals laid out on the aisle, and on both sides of the arch were to beautiful flower pieces created by our florist. The two pieces included white roses, hydrangeas, and baby’s breath. For the reception, we had our florist create floral centerpieces for each table, which also included white spray roses, hydrangeas, and baby’s breath. To bring out our blue accent, our florist tied a blue ribbon around each glass cube. As stated before, our florist repurposed our two arch pieces for our sweetheart table, as well as Rachel’s bouquet to place on the main table inside. Both of us are very simple people who love nature, so we wanted to have minimal decor and more flowers to show that simple can still be beautiful and classy!As for the bouquets, Rachel’s bouquet also had white roses, hydrangeas, and baby’s breath with a white ribbon tied around the stems. For the bridesmaids bouquets, they had baby’s breath with a light blue ribbon tied around the stems to make them pop just a bit more. All of the men’s boutonnieres were baby’s breath as well. Andrew had white ribbon tied around his stems and the fathers and groomsmen had the light blue ribbon tied around their stems.
Q: Did you personalize the day in any way (food trucks, guest entertainment etc.)? What were some of your favorite parts of your wedding?
A: We decided to create a slideshow of the both of us. The slideshow was especially important and special to us because we love to watch home videos and pictures of when we were younger. We are both very sentimental people so videos and pictures mean a lot to us. We also created the slideshow to show our guests our lives before and after we met. Its amazing to see how much we have grown together over the years! But most importantly, we wanted to honor Andrew’s mother in the slideshow as well. His mom passed away from breast cancer when we was just seven years old, so the fact that Andrew was able to relive those moments with his mom on our wedding meant the absolute world to us! We also saved a seat for Andrew’s late mother in the front row where she would have sat if she was still here with us. Andrew picked his favorite framed picture of her to place on the chair as well as a trophy she gave Andrew when he was younger. The trophy means a lot to Andrew because when he was younger, he told her how he always wanted a trophy, so she bought him a trophy and personalized it to say, “Andrew Hnat, the best little buddy in the whole wide world.” We also repurposed Jane’s (Andrew’s mom) memorial decor on the main table for people to see during the reception.
Q: Let’s talk fashion. How did you choose your wedding day look? How did the groom? Describe both looks in detail.
A: Both of us like light colors (hence why we chose white, light grey, and light blue for our wedding!), so we used Pinterest to help us think of some ideas. We wanted our wedding to look and feel “lighthearted”, which is why we went with the light grey suit with an accent of our light blue color. Plus, light colors to us seem “beachy” and since we were married in the summer and the beach is sentimental to us, we thoughts going with the light colors would be the perfect choice for that! As for my look for the dress, I wanted simple, elegant, and classy. My dress had an open back, sweetheart neckline, and lacey straps. To me, it looked simple, but with the lace and beading, it was also very intricate at the same time. My moms best friend actually hand beaded my dress for me (literally thousands of beads!) to add just a hint of sparkle! I usually only wear my hair down and curled for special occasions, but I went with a “messy” up-do to go with a more elegant look. The only jewelry I had was two diamond earrings that hung just a bit (and then my ring of course!). As for my makeup I also wanted it to make my eyes pop but not so much to make me look like a completely different person (I wanted my husband to still recognize me!).
Q: How did you meet? Tell us about the proposal.
A: We met our junior year in high school at Mt. Carmel High. However, we didn’t start dating until the very beginning of our senior year of high school. Andrew actually asked Rachel out the day before both of our birthdays! That’s another fun fact about us, too. We both are the same age and have the same birthday! Andrew is three hours older than Rachel. We later found out after looking at our birth certificates that we were born at the same hospital, too, only a few rooms apart! We dated through the rest of high and college for four years until Andrew finally popped the question! We were at Mammoth Lakes on a trip with Rachel’s family. Both of us love going to Mammoth every year because as stated previously, both of us love nature and spending time with family. Rachel and her family had been going to Mammoth every year since the time Rachel was born. Little did we know this was where her future husband was going to propose! While we were going hiking to one of our favorite lakes, we were Geocaching (which is essentially a scavenger hunt for adults). When Rachel found the geocache, she opened it to find a note that said “Rachel Denise Peters, will you marry me?”. Then, Andrew got on one knee and pulled out a beautiful ring, all the while beautiful mountains and lakes are surrounding them. It was very romantic and surreal!
Q: What was the most anticipated or special moment of your wedding day?
A: For the both of us, it was meeting at the alter! We had both read our final love notes to one another before meeting at the alter, which made us even more excited for the special moment! Rachel could not wait to walk with her dad down the alter and see her friends and family at the ceremony. Since Andrew’s mom could not walk with him down the aisle, he chose to walk with Rachel’s mom, which was very special to Andrew because he could not wait to have a mom again. We both had to pinch ourselves when we finally met at the alter! We had waited for this moment for five years, and the special moment finally arrived!
Q: Do you have any wedding planning or marriage advice that you’d like to share with other couples planning their day?
A: Take a deep breath and take it all in! From the day you get engaged to the moment you say “I do”, it’s a season full of love, celebration, and joy. Remember to set the wedding planning binder down occasionally and go on a date. Do not stress about the details because you will not notice the details (and if anything completely forget about the details) the day of the wedding! On the wedding day, let the vendors and venue staff take over, and remind yourself its time for you to be the “passenger” and just enjoy the special day with you friends and family! Just remember the real reason of why you’re there!

ingredients:
Photography: Savoring the Sweet Life Photography
Makeup: Betel Nicole Makeup
Cake: Cute Cakes
Hair: Locks by Linda
Florist: Petals by Katie
Entertainment: Rebirth Entertainment
Catering: Twin Oaks Golf Course