Carmen & Elmer: Spanish Revival Wedding at Casa Romantica

Photographs courtesy of Aaron Shintaku.

Favorite Memories of the Day

Carmen's favorite memories: My most memorable moment was our first look. We decided we wanted to see each other before the ceremony. Best decision ever… I was so nervous and as soon as I saw Elmer all my nerves went away. It was intimate and I also never thought that he would get teary eyed.

Wedding Details

Most of our inspiration for our wedding day was from Casa Romantica. We knew as soon as we walked in that this was the perfect venue for us! The Spanish feel it had and all the beautiful gardens, but most of all the VIEW… it was amazing. We really wanted to keep it simple with the decor and make it “us”. I knew as soon as I was engaged that I wanted to incorporate succulents as my centerpieces and our first DIY project was to make our centerpieces. We purchased planter wood boxes from IKEA and Elmer stained ALL the boxes. Our floral designer, Christa Rose, really helped put my vision together and did an amazing job with all the arrangements. I was sooo in LOVE with my bouquet. I couldn’t have done most of our DIY projects without our friends and family. My brother is an AMAZING artist and he created our guest sign in tree, for guest to “leaf us a note” when they entered the venue. He made a painting of “Dia de los muertos” for us as a present and we displayed it at our wedding. My sister purchased all the jaritos from Mexico and we used them as favors for guest to take home and had a Day of the Dead groom and bride by our cake. Other DIY projects we did were our escort cards, moss letter initials, table numbers and chalkboard menus.

Advice for Couples Planning Now

I think the most important thing is to have fun with the planning process and relax! It doesn’t have to be so stressful. Hire a coordinator! I really think if I didn’t have a coordinator everything wouldn’t have run as smoothly as it did.

Vendors

Floral Design: Christa Rose

Venue: Casa Romantica

Wedding planner: In the Now Weddings

Wedding Photographer: Aaron Shintaku

Wedding Dress: Marisol

Wedding Shoes: Steve Madden

Caterer: Iva Lees

Wedding Cake and Cookies: Groom’s Parents

DJ: Elegance Elegancia

Hair and Make-up: Beauty and the Beach

Bridesmaids’ dresses: J. Crew