Even Fog Can’t Damper a Beautiful Wedding
Sep 17th, 2007 by msdanielle
This past weekend I was honored with being one of four bridesmaid for my friend on her most special wedding day. The ceremony was held at the Crystal Cove Beach Cottages off the Newport Coast in Orange County.
On the way to the ceremony from Laguna Beach, the clear skies had indicated a bright afternoon, but we suddenly came upon a wall of fog — it came completely out of nowhere and engulfed everything in sight (or not in sight, for that matter). Our bride, Cathleen, had a moment of tension but we quickly assured her everything would be fine, and that even fog wouldn’t damper something as beautiful as her wedding. And we were right.
As the ceremony ensued, we bridesmaids fought back the tears with our cheerful smiles and thoughts of “grape trees” (that’s an inside joke…). Then suddenly, as Cathleen and husband Dexter announced their vows to one another, the fog lifted, as if God himself had given his blessing and wanted them to know he was present. Being a Catholic wedding, we were all glad He showed up 
The reception location, an art space when not hosting receptions, was elegantly decorated with an endless number of flowers — both large bouquets and individual floating pieces — combining dark hues and subtle lighting to create an ethereal effect.
We had many places to be this weekend, between the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner on Friday, to the hotel we stayed at overnight, and then to the ceremony site and reception site the following day. It might seem like a lot of driving to someone who’s not from Southern California, but it really wasn’t that much. And besides, we would’ve driven to the ends of the earth for the future bride. Here’s how the itinerary went:
Friday
Rehearsal at Crystal Cove Beach Cottages
Dinner in Laguna Hills
Sleep in Dana Point
Saturday
Get dolled up in Dana Point
Photos at Seven Degrees (reception location) in Laguna Beach
Ceremony at Crystal Cove Beach Cottages
Reception in Laguna Beach
Pick up car in Dana Point
Home (north OC)
If you don’t know what that looks like, I’ve drawn a visual:
Sunday was recovery day for everyone, I’m sure, myself included. Overall the wedding was a huge success. It was perfectly seamless, with no “freak-outs” as some people have been asking about. Our bride Cathleen was as cool as a cucumber, keeping her checklist at hand until late Friday evening when there was nothing left to check off. There aren’t two more fitting people for each other than Cathleen and Dexter. Cheers to them, and I wish them all the best in their new life together!
[What was the last wedding you attended? And was it as seamless as Cathleen’s??]
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Man.. California weddings, you can have them outdoors any time of the year!
Wish it were like this in Canada because hardly anyone gets married during the Winter!
we’re at the tail end of the wedding season i think, so we got the last of the great weather. i’m glad it’s cooling down now though, since two weekends ago it was 100+ degrees!
I went to two weddings in two days this summer and they were about 200 miles away from each other. That all seemed to go pretty good and fun was had by all at both of them.
oh wow, did you drive or fly? i traveled about 200 or so miles this weekend, but fortunately some of that was spent in a limo or shuttle
It was a road trip. No limo time, but I didn’t actually drive most of it either (just a passenger) and the highway time wasn’t too bad. The worst part was having to go back to work after the few days off.
yea going back to work after a huge function is hard. at least you didn’t drive the whole time
Weddings are so much fun to attend! Did you catch the bouquet afterwards?
Yup, I wanted to ask the exact same question as Jason
The last one I went was for..err…hmm….brb, got to think…really, I do need a life!
it was headed in my direction so i ever so slightly jumped to the left — it almost touched me… it was a close one…
LOL… it usually flies in the direction of the person that does not want anything to do with it
Did any wedding crashers showed up!? hehe
no wedding crashers fortunately. that would’ve been pretty terrible
i tried guys . . . but they threw me off pretty good by tossing a blonde out of the limo on PCH . . .
Look at all the girls… So beautiful!!!! Especially you Danielle.
thanks jeff — our bride commented that we were the hottest bridal party EVER
lol
I should have crashed the wedding..
Seriously…it looks like a wedding full of hotties. Gotta love the awesome weather too!
i should’ve mentioned that the “EVER” part is also an inside joke
Wow! Gorgeous Bride + Pretty Bridesmaids!!
I’m still Single Girls!!
;))
man i love the visuals, i think it’s the funniest thing. Cali is great, and probably the only state second to Hawaii that in September has great weather for a wedding.
I have to make it back to the Fisherman’s Wharf…
yea i got them mad photoshop skillz. don’t be jealous…
cathleen was lucky that it wasn’t as cold as this past weekend, thank goodness. it rained super hard on friday night. fisherman’s wharf in SF in awesome, but i’m a fan of the east bay. albany, oakland, berkeley, etc. that’s more my stilo…
Nice pictures, it seems the wedding was hectic. I wish i was invited
Hi, just wondering where you and the bride had your hair and make-up done? I’m getting married in May ‘08, at Tivoli Too in Laguna Beach. I’m half Samoan, and I thought your pics were beautiful.