A Priceless Love Story: Joaquin & Natalie

Joaquin and Natalie met the “old fashioned” way through mutual friends. Despite a 100 mile distance factor, they fell crazy in love and knew that they were meant to spend the rest of their lives together.

After dating for some time, Joaquin booked a spontaneous cruise to Mexico to surprise Natalie. As a busy mother, Natalie had always wanted to go on a cruise but never felt as though she had the time to go. One evening during the cruise, Joaquin took Natalie to the front of the ship to watch the sunset. While admiring the view, Natalie turned around to find Joaquin down on one knee asking her to spend the rest of his life with her. Natalie happily said, “YES!”

Since Joaquin lived in LA and Natalie lived in San Diego, they would often meet halfway to spend time together. One of their dates brought them to the San Clemente Pier, just below Casa Romantica. They visited the same beautiful location many times and would often look up at the property, admiring its beauty. Once they became engaged, they toured the property and immediately fell in love. “We never even looked anywhere else because the location was our dream wedding venue.” recalled the couple.

When deciding on décor, Joaquin and Natalie wanted to keep things “classy and intimate, with a Spanish and beachy/tropical twist…” said the Bride.

Bright blue bridesmaid dresses and groomsmen ties matched the color of the sky and ocean perfectly on their special day. They incorporated lush Hawaiian palm fronds and pops of coral-colored flowers to complete the whole look and feel.

Joaquin and Natalie wanted to be sure to include a special moment to honor their two families becoming one. They chose to have a beautiful sand ceremony where each family member poured their own individually colored bottle of sand into one large vase. This symbolized the two families blending together as one entity.

Joaquin’s favorite wedding moment was when he and Natalie surprised everyone during the ceremony. After they completed their vows and shared their first kiss, he told the Reverend that there was one more thing he needed to do- he handcuffed Natalie with his police handcuffs! “Everyone’s reactions were priceless!” the couple recalled.

With the help of Bonnie from The Tangled Vine, the newlyweds’ tropical table décor transported guests into an island oasis for the reception.

Guests were treated to a delectable plated dinner by Carbonara Catering. After dinner, guests danced the night away to hits played by DJ Todd from Epic One Entertainment while feasting on a decadent cake from Plumeria Cake Studio.