Temescal Beach House Wedding

Sarah and Chris held their Temescal Beach House Wedding in Oakland in front of 60 of their closest friends and family. They wanted to acknowledge their Japanese and Jewish roots in the Ceremony with hundreds of handmade cranes for the chuppah and the breaking of glass.

They opted to do their family formals before the ceremony, which gave me my first impression of these two goofballs. When Chris was added into a group family photo on Sarah’s side, they immediately started making crazy faces and biting each other without me even directing them! This initial impression let me know that he was so welcomed into their family and that their personalities matched perfectly. It was nice foreshadowing into what turned out to be such a memorable day!

I always love personalized ceremonies in the décor, but especially in the actual ceremony. This particular wedding was interesting because they involved more audience participation that what I normally see, asking a handful of the guests to share an anecdote about the couple, based on their own personal stories. It made for touching moments that showed how much the two were loved by everyone.

During the reception, after the standard parent and sibling speeches, they allowed for an open invite for the microphone and ten different people stood up to share their well wishes and stories, which further complemented the fact that they were a very loved couple. It was great to get different viewpoints from various guests and I felt that I knew them my whole life from the stories and moments that were shared about the two.

Once the music started playing for the group dancing, this group continued on in their goofy ways, encouraging Chris to do his famous monkey dance to everyone’s delight. If you can find the photo, Sarah’s brother ended up mimicking this famous dance move, almost performing it with as much character and emotion as the Groom! 🙂

Sarah and Chris’s Temescal Beach House Wedding will be one to remember! 

If you are interested in discussing your wedding, please CONTACT ME to chat details!