Our Elopement Story & Pro Pics

[mia1181]

Tberube, Arcadian, Addy, Portia, gtn, AdiS, Stephanie, katamari, UCLAbelle, AmberGretchen, thank you all so much for your kind words and well-wishes. The hardest part about elopement I have to say is not having that feel of it being "your day" but being able to share this with everyone on PS and recieving such sweet compliments had made me feel so special!

Freke- It was very romantic, but ideally we would have had our close family there like you are thinking. It just wasn''t possible because they all live on the other coast and so we felt the fair thing to do was not to include anyone.

Gwyn- I know! That was my favorite! The lighting was so good in city hall!

Jcrow- Awww thanks! I really liked my hair a lot. I love updos that are interesting in the back and this one definitely was. I wasn''t "in love" with the front, (maybe I needed more bangs?) but I love looking at the back! Hmmm... let me see if I can find a closeup of the back from my "getting ready" pics so you can see the detail better...

Wishful- Ooh are you going to do a TTD in Belize? That would be awesome!

 

[mia1181]

Date: 10/10/2008 7:57:20 AM
Author: claudinam
mia,

Everything was so gorgeous...you, that building, your dress, your husband looked so handsome and adorable at the same time. Thank you for sharing the pictures of your very special and intimate day.

ETA: Oh! How did Oliver do during the time you were gone? Bet he''s glad to have you home!

Thanks Claudinam! I was wondering if you saw this!

Oh my poor Oliver.... He was very happy at the vet''s while we were gone, but when we returned he was walking worse than ever. His back legs were dragging a lot and he kept falling. With rest he got a little better, but today I am finally ordering a wheelchair for him. I''m sure he was well cared for when he was there but all the excitement probably meant he was moving around more than he usually does. They have someone there 24/7 but we usually leave him home in his crate when we are at work, so I know he just got more attention than he is used to. We took him to an animal therapy center here and they recommended that he come 3x/week, but guess what? It costs $70/session.

I can''t afford that! One session per week would be too expensive and they said that wouldn''t even make a difference! Yikes! Luckily there are tons of resources online for how to do PT for your dog and we even have a pool to do water therapy. So we''ll start doing some exercises at home. But honestly, he doesn''t even know anything is "wrong" so he is happy, I just know he''ll be happier when he gets a little more mobility from the wheelchair! Thanks for asking about him.

 

[mia1181]

Date: 10/10/2008 2:26:54 PM
Author: luvthemstrawberries
Gorgeous pictures Mia!! I really enjoyed looking at them, and I for one wouldn''t have ever guessed they''re not edited if you hadn''t mentioned it!! Not that I know that much about photography, but I know the style photos I want for my wedding and yours is exactly it! I don''t think they need a thing.

Just out of curiousity, where did you get the idea for City Hall? I know you said you eloped because of how much a big wedding costs and the stress of it and all, which is exactly how I''m feeling right now (why blow thousands and thousands on half a day when all that money can go toward so much other stuff - it''s all about the meaning of the day anyway!) - I guess what I''m asking is what gave you the idea to do what you did (vs. getting married at your honeymoon spot, et.)?

Thanks Luvthemstrawberries,

Well we wanted to elope from the moment we were engaged. Our biggest reason was money, but we probably could have had small wedding with what we paid for our elopement/honeymoon. But there were three issues I didn''t want to sacrifice on and they were: 1. That my wedding had to be beautiful, 2. That we had a good photographer (I love photography) and 3. That we have a great honeymoon. So I was really open to all the rest of the details as long as I had those three things.

We chose not to include family/friends because we live across the country from them and most of my family would not have the money to come, so we wanted to be fair. Having something closer to our hometown wasn''t an option because I didn''t want to plan from far away, and there are not a lot of beautiful/unique spots in our hometown and remember (I wanted something beautiful). Also, we felt if people were there to witness, we''d feel obligated to pay for dinner for everyone and worried that would balloon into just having a full blown wedding. We are definitely "just the two of us" type people. We moved all the way across the country by ourselves and it seemed very fitting for us.

So for choosing to marry here- Well, eloping on our honeymoon was our original plan, but all of the honeymoon destinations we were looking at either had issues with marriage requirements (some had residency requirements that you had to be in the country for a month prior to wedding) or the elopement packages seemed really expensive. Plus you usually get the hotel photographer and I wanted a specific type of pictures. I also wanted to be able to plan and doing it that far away would have stressed me out. So instead we decided to elope somewhere in the Bay Area (where we live) and my DH got to plan the honeymoon himself (we went to French Polynesia).

As far as city hall- Well I did a lot of researching on elopement and found the Indiebrides website. The kvetch section has a section just on eloping. That was really nice because of all the wedding sites you don''t really see any info on eloping. At this point, I would have never wanted to get married at a city hall Yuck! I just pictured the justice of the peace and being in courtroom or office and saying "I do" and your done. But I wanted something beautiful. So on Indiebride, I learned that you don''t need to go to city hall to get married, you can do it anywhere! You just pay an officiant to meet you at any public point of interest (maybe a park, or street corner where you meant or wherever). And that sounded romantic to me so I looked for a place, but really there are sooo many beautiful places in the bay area, and with our being new to the area, we didn''t have any places that had special meaning or anything. Meanwhile, on Indiebride there were a lot of elopers gushing on how great their weddings were at San Francisco City Hall, but I had never paid any attention because I had my mind made up on what a city hall wedding would be. But then I saw one of the bride''s pictures and then I was interested! Because it is really pretty in there!

So in looking for other pictures of the inside of city hall, I found my photographer, who actually does Weekday City Hall packages and I fell in love even more with the building (and my photographer''s work!). In his package he includes one other location in addition to city hall, so I felt it was the best of both worlds. We could get married somewhere beautiful indoors and then shoot at another location outdoors! Then I was able to plan the few things I got to plan (my flowers, dinner, a small cake) from home and it all worked out so well. I am so happy with what we decided to do!

 

[wishful]

Date: 10/10/2008 4:58:49 PM
Author: mia1181


Wishful- Ooh are you going to do a TTD in Belize? That would be awesome!

Oh, no no no....no trashing of the dress here! Haha..in fact your thread was the first I had ever heard of it! Not that I don''t think it''s a cool idea. Ours will be a beach wedding and I am looking forward to lots of swimming and snorkeling in crystal clear warm water for the rest of the time.
I still have a fun party to throw that friends can attend when we get back to San Diego...so I was going to wear the dress to that- also my parents are throwing us a reception of sorts on the east coast so I was going to wear it then as well. I''m sure that goes against some kind of wedding etiquette but who cares...it''s almost 2009!

 

[miraclesrule]

mia: Absolutely incredible!! City Hall was a beautiful background for how gorgeous and amazing you looked. Your hair and dress was perfect. Your trash shoot was gutsy and amazing. You are my idol!!

This just proves that you can have a beautiful meaningful ceremony and have beautiful memorable pictures, all without the obscene costs and drama associated with big weddings.

Congratulations and Good Job YOU!!!

 

[luvthemstrawberries]

Hey Mia, thanks for all the information! We''re still trying to decide what to do - we live on the East Coast near most of our family, so we''re trying to decide whether to do something semi-small with them around here, or just take off to somewhere (preferably our honeymoon spot) and do it alone or just with our parents. I''m so glad you are happy with everything you did - it sounds wonderful.

One more question - how long were you engaged for? Just curious how long the planning for this took to get what you wanted.

 

[mamie]

Just wanted to pop in to say "Holy gorgeous wedding and photos!" Love everything about it! Most beautiful elopement I''ve ever seen. Congrats! : )

 

[swimmer]

Fantastic! You both look so happy and in love! wonderful photos, congrats!

 

[mia1181]

Date: 10/11/2008 10:45:22 AM
Author: luvthemstrawberries
Hey Mia, thanks for all the information! We''re still trying to decide what to do - we live on the East Coast near most of our family, so we''re trying to decide whether to do something semi-small with them around here, or just take off to somewhere (preferably our honeymoon spot) and do it alone or just with our parents. I''m so glad you are happy with everything you did - it sounds wonderful.

One more question - how long were you engaged for? Just curious how long the planning for this took to get what you wanted.

Ha ha, we were engaged longer than anyone in their right mind should be! We were engaged more than 3.5 years by the time we got married! Mostly because I was still finishing college across the country when he proposed. Then I had to move here and get a job and get situated before we really started any planning. We decided on SF City Hall about 6 months before our date and booked the honeymoon soon after that. So I think about six months is great if you want to make sure you have lots of time to be picky with all your decisions (dress, shoes, flowers, photographer). At about 4-5 months pre-wedding, we booked the photographer because we wanted to make sure he had our date reserved. But all the other details were planned within 3 month of the wedding because San Francisco City Hall only allows you to reserve your wedding up to 90 days before. So yeah it can be pretty easy.

I would never tell anyone that they should elope. It''s such a personal decision and one that you have to be able to live with. I definitely got a lot of people telling me they wished they had eloped, but at the same time when I would tell someone that I was eloping I could see that they felt sorry for me that I wasn''t having a "real" wedding. For all the people that say they should have eloped, there are much more that associate eloping with a sad thing like we had to do it because our parents didn''t approve, or I was pregnant, or whatever. So you have to be able to deal with that.

One book that I would recommend for anyone considering eloping is called Let''s Elope. http://www.amazon.com/Lets-Elope-Definitive-Destination-Weddings/dp/0553380826/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223771188&sr=8-1

When I read it I felt like it pinpointed all of the reasons I wanted to elope and basicly made me feel better about my wanting to elope.

 

[mtjoya]

Omg, your pics are sooo amazing! They are so beautiful and it gets me teary eyed, cuz it looks like pics from a love story movie! I loved your idea so much!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Mia! I could have sworn I posted in here days ago, but I''m absolutely in love with your beautiful, private wedding! You and hubby are a gorgeous couple, and everything was perfect - your hair, dress, makeup - you are STUNNING!

Love your TTD pics, and what a fun way to cap off a perfectly romantic wedding! Congratulations!

 

[TravelingGal]

Now THAT''S a wedding! Congratulations...I loved all the pics. So much more interesting than the run of the mill wedding stuff...it actually looks like two people who have their priorities straight!

 

[vintagecushion]

I just wanted to say congratulations and to tell you I''m just blown away by the photos. Beautiful!

Your story particularly speaks to me because my fiance and I will be getting married in SF. I checked out City Hall and saw its photo possibilities so seeing this set made my day. For many reasons similar to yours, we''ll be doing an elopement announcement for the wedding and hosting a dinner afterwards. I''m excited to check out the links you provided.
So thanks, and I wish the two of you much happiness.

 

[WishfulThinking]

Your ceremony was so beautiful! I absolutely love the pics. I'd seen glimpses of City Hall in SF before, but never in detail like yours. Your photographer did a great job catching everything, and you look beautiful!

You've totally inspired me in the elopement area... I've been talking to FI and we're considering it depending on the circumstances. So, in the off-chance that we're still allowed to be married after Nov. 4th, I was wondering if you could share the info for your photographer? I hope it's not too tacky to ask, but if you feel comfortable sharing the price range as well, that would be very helpful.

Again, your wedding was beautiful!

 

[matildawong]

hi mia! I loved reading more of your wedding details. I just really like your style!

I hope your Oliver is doing ok. Best of luck with the p/t and wheelchair. Keep us posted?

My little charge will be 2 next month. She's such a character. I'm only with her 30 hours a week (I have other p/t work, too) but it feels like 50 hours; she keeps me on my toes.

 

[luvthemstrawberries]

Hey Mia, I just read the part about your dog and the physical therapy and wheelchair, and I just wanted to say BIG kudos to you. I''m such an animal lover, and I''ve seen on TV/online and read a lot of stuff about animals with disabilities and people that help them. You''re a very special person to help him like you''re doing - the pool and everything, and especially getting him a wheelchair. I''ve watched lots of videos online of training dogs when they get the wheelchairs, and watching them progress is so rewarding and heartwarming!!

So just wanted to say good luck with it all - I want to hear how it goes! When will the wheelchair be coming?

 

[mia1181]

Date: 10/13/2008 1:25:21 AM
Author: WishfulThinking
Your ceremony was so beautiful! I absolutely love the pics. I''d seen glimpses of City Hall in SF before, but never in detail like yours. Your photographer did a great job catching everything, and you look beautiful!

You''ve totally inspired me in the elopement area... I''ve been talking to FI and we''re considering it depending on the circumstances. So, in the off-chance that we''re still allowed to be married after Nov. 4th, I was wondering if you could share the info for your photographer? I hope it''s not too tacky to ask, but if you feel comfortable sharing the price range as well, that would be very helpful.

Again, your wedding was beautiful!

Wishful, if you''d like to email me I can give you more specific information about my photographer-
[email protected]

 

[mia1181]

Date: 10/13/2008 2:10:10 PM
Author: luvthemstrawberries
Hey Mia, I just read the part about your dog and the physical therapy and wheelchair, and I just wanted to say BIG kudos to you. I''m such an animal lover, and I''ve seen on TV/online and read a lot of stuff about animals with disabilities and people that help them. You''re a very special person to help him like you''re doing - the pool and everything, and especially getting him a wheelchair. I''ve watched lots of videos online of training dogs when they get the wheelchairs, and watching them progress is so rewarding and heartwarming!!

So just wanted to say good luck with it all - I want to hear how it goes! When will the wheelchair be coming?

Aw thanks luvthemstrawberries! Well we''re not exactly like the real rescuer-type people that you see adopting pets with disabilities. I mean, we definitely didn''t choose this route. Those are the real heroes, the ones that go and adopt a pet with disabilities knowing full-well what they are getting into (Kristie, here on PS is a great example of that) We have had our little guy since he was 2 months old and he just has had medical problem after another. At 5 months, he was diagnosed with Addison''s disease and almost died from it. But that is pretty managable. And then about 4 years ago we noticed he was dragging his hind legs and found out he has a degenerative disk disease and is slowly becoming more paralyzed. So everything has been so gradual. We have spent a lot of time and money on him and his care and a lot of people give us talks about "when enough is enough." But honestly, each of his issues are manageable and do not affect his quality of life, so why would we even consider putting him to sleep? He''s really still doing well but the dragging has progressed to the point where he cuts his feet badly without boots, and if we put the boots on they are so heavy he can''t walk. He is fine on the carpets in the house, so we are going to get the wheelchair just for walks at this point.

I have ordered the wheelchair but now we need to get him measured. We tried on our own last night and it was too difficult to be sure we were accurate.

If you want to see Oliver there is a video I took here. I took it a while ago, so he has gotten worse, but it''ll give you an idea of what he looks like when he walks. Hmmm.... now I am thinking I should make a new one as an update...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUrgBt4yxuc

We''ve started a little PT at home and so far it''s been going well. I''m hoping he will take well to the wheelchair. I heard they can be a little hard for the dog to adjust to, but the Vet that I saw the other day said Oliver seems like he''ll adjust well to it. So we''ll see! I''m sure I''ll post about it in the hangout section when we get it!

 

[Gypsy]

Oh WOW! Those pics rock! I don''t know about the editting, I''m not a photo nut, but I really love the pics, especially of those of the two of you in city hall alone, and then on the beach! I know it was a crazy day, and that there were a lot of things that weren''t on schedule (dress, underwear), but you are MARRIED! You look just beautiful, I loved your hair and your dress, and your hubby is super handsome and dashing in his attire too!! Congrats Mia. And your bouquet looks lovely (and I bet you didn''t feel like you had to mess with it and re-arrange it like you would have with DIY!).

 

[Dreamgirl]

My goodness woman!!! These photos are amazing! You two looked so happy! I also LOVE how you did a kind of "trash the dress" session right after the wedding. I loveeeee the one where the water comes up to you! Wow!!

Looks like so much fun!

Congratulations to you!!!!!!!!!

 

[Skippy123]

Congrats wow what a beautiful wedding; beautiful couple!!! Cheers!!!

 

[CJ2008]

Date: 10/10/2008 5:17:23 PM
Author: mia1181

Date: 10/10/2008 7:57:20 AM
Author: claudinam
mia,

Everything was so gorgeous...you, that building, your dress, your husband looked so handsome and adorable at the same time. Thank you for sharing the pictures of your very special and intimate day.

ETA: Oh! How did Oliver do during the time you were gone? Bet he's glad to have you home!

Thanks Claudinam! I was wondering if you saw this!

Oh my poor Oliver.... He was very happy at the vet's while we were gone, but when we returned he was walking worse than ever. His back legs were dragging a lot and he kept falling. With rest he got a little better, but today I am finally ordering a wheelchair for him. I'm sure he was well cared for when he was there but all the excitement probably meant he was moving around more than he usually does. They have someone there 24/7 but we usually leave him home in his crate when we are at work, so I know he just got more attention than he is used to. We took him to an animal therapy center here and they recommended that he come 3x/week, but guess what? It costs $70/session.

I can't afford that! One session per week would be too expensive and they said that wouldn't even make a difference! Yikes! Luckily there are tons of resources online for how to do PT for your dog and we even have a pool to do water therapy. So we'll start doing some exercises at home. But honestly, he doesn't even know anything is 'wrong' so he is happy, I just know he'll be happier when he gets a little more mobility from the wheelchair! Thanks for asking about him.

Mia, I came looking for your pictures...

Oh poor baby Oliver...please give him a hug for me. But I know he gets more love than he'll ever need from you and your husband. What a lucky boy.

I just saw that you posted a video of him, I am going to see it right now.

ETA: oh, he is so cute and his poor little legs just give on him...it broke my heart to see his little feet are hurt from the walking...

I wish you lived around here - I would so ask you to let me meet him so I could hug him personally.

I saw the video of your honeymoon, too - that song is the song that we used for our recessional - I absolutely love it. It looks like you guys had a wonderful honeymoon!

 

[mia1181]

Aww Claudinam, if you lived nearby we''d definitely have you over! Oliver loves hugs and will take them from anyone who is offering! He really is such a sweet doggy. Everyday when we are taking him to go potty, if someone walks down the street past us, he starts whimpering at them. Most people don''t notice and just keep on walking but poor Oliver is so sad like "hey, you... why are not coming to pet me?" He doesn''t quite understand that every person is not for him. Ya know?

Anyway, I''ll put a new video of him on youtube when we get the wheelchair.

Haha you saw the honeymoon too huh? Yeah that song is so sweet. For some reason it popped into my head during the honeymoon, so I knew I was going to use it for our little video montage. We are away from all of our familiy and friends and I didn''t want to wait until Christmas to share it with them so I threw the montage together as soon as we got back.

 

[CrownJewel]

so how''s married life mia? my goodness, i''ve been getting that question at least 3 times a day.

i thought i posted but maybe not? well, once again I think your wedding was perfect. in every way. you and your husband looked great and SO in love. i was speechless over the shot of you guys walking out of city hall. i''m a sucker for a floaty dress.

congrats. i''m so glad you posted your photos. they''re truly beautiful - not only does everything/everyone look beautiful but I can tell you are both lovely people too.

 

[mia1181]

Date: 10/16/2008 1:22:47 AM
Author: CrownJewel
so how''s married life mia? my goodness, i''ve been getting that question at least 3 times a day.

i thought i posted but maybe not? well, once again I think your wedding was perfect. in every way. you and your husband looked great and SO in love. i was speechless over the shot of you guys walking out of city hall. i''m a sucker for a floaty dress.

congrats. i''m so glad you posted your photos. they''re truly beautiful - not only does everything/everyone look beautiful but I can tell you are both lovely people too.

UGH! I know! Everyone asks us that! My usual answer is "almost exactly the same... we''ve been together 9 years!"

One girl I know has asked me three times already, and then goes on to tell me that she hated it when people would ask her that!

Haha thanks for the compliments on the pictures. We had 3 shots to choose from of the city hall door pic. I look pretty crappy in all of them so I picked the best one based on how well my dress flowed!

Anyway, I love the new avatar!.... hmmm maybe I''ll need to update mine....

 

[CJ2008]

Date: 10/15/2008 11:24:34 PM
Author: mia1181
Aww Claudinam, if you lived nearby we''d definitely have you over! Oliver loves hugs and will take them from anyone who is offering! He really is such a sweet doggy. Everyday when we are taking him to go potty, if someone walks down the street past us, he starts whimpering at them. Most people don''t notice and just keep on walking but poor Oliver is so sad like ''hey, you... why are not coming to pet me?'' He doesn''t quite understand that every person is not for him. Ya know?

Anyway, I''ll put a new video of him on youtube when we get the wheelchair.

Haha you saw the honeymoon too huh? Yeah that song is so sweet. For some reason it popped into my head during the honeymoon, so I knew I was going to use it for our little video montage. We are away from all of our familiy and friends and I didn''t want to wait until Christmas to share it with them so I threw the montage together as soon as we got back.

hahahahah what a cutie. For some reason I could totally see myself saying, "hey lady don''t you notice the cute dog? He wants your attention!"

Can you please let us know when you post the wheelchair video?

 

[luvthemstrawberries]

I''m just glad you and your husband are people who are willing to take care of whatever comes your way with your dog. Many people don''t care. So even if you didn''t deliberately get into what you''re in now, kudos to you for being willing and understanding and taking such great care of him. I think he''ll do great with the wheelchair - I just watched some of the videos that come up after yours, linked to it because of the theme of dogs and wheelchairs. It just makes the dogs look so much happier and they learn it means time for walks and going outside. I think he''ll do great, and you seem like great enough people to have the patience to help him. Very heartwarming.

And we''ll watch for the wheelchair video!

Congrats again on being married!

 

[wishful]

Hey Mia
I have a question to ask you....
So I had purchased a dress from Nordstroms online...and after careful consideration it just isn't going to work. It's too heavy (we're doing a beachy wedding) and it will cost a fortune to have it altered due to it's intricate design.
And when I read your thread the first thing I said was "omg I just love her dress" and I know it's a David's Bridal dress, available to anyone and everyone but I wanted to ask if you minded at all if I "copied" you and bought the same dress? It's so my style and the price is right on!

I know that proabably sound kind of weird but I guess PS is sort of like a great big group of virtual girlfriends and that's just how I am with stuff like that!
Anyway lemme know if you have an reservations about that. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery you know!

 

[mia1181]

Date: 10/17/2008 5:03:21 PM
Author: wishful
Hey Mia
I have a question to ask you....
So I had purchased a dress from Nordstroms online...and after careful consideration it just isn''t going to work. It''s too heavy (we''re doing a beachy wedding) and it will cost a fortune to have it altered due to it''s intricate design.
And when I read your thread the first thing I said was ''omg I just love her dress'' and I know it''s a David''s Bridal dress, available to anyone and everyone but I wanted to ask if you minded at all if I ''copied'' you and bought the same dress? It''s so my style and the price is right on!

I know that proabably sound kind of weird but I guess PS is sort of like a great big group of virtual girlfriends and that''s just how I am with stuff like that!
Anyway lemme know if you have an reservations about that. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery you know!

UGH! ABSOLUTELY NOT! Why don''t you go out and get your own dress, that one is MINE! Just Kidding!!!!

Awww yes that is the highest form of flattery! I am so thrilled that someone liked my dress so much to want to wear it themselves.

Heck, I ''d give you mine to wear but I sorta got rust all over it because I left it wet in a garbage bag while we went on our honeymoon and the clasps rusted.

Oh you just reminded me I have to pick it up from the cleaners.... I took it there to see if they could get the rust out. They were doubtful, but I asked them to try anyway because I am wearing it for halloween (I''m going to be an angel!). Oh well if they can''t fix it I am going to use white paint. Horrible, I know.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Just saw the honeymoon video, love it!! You two are so adorable!