Upon getting engaged, we decided to host a wedding with a non-traditional twist that was expression of us. We chose the backyard of Jaime’s parents in Tahoe, surrounded by family, friends and nature with the comforts of home – keep it local and family friendly. Every part of our wedding was significant to ‘Jeana + Jaime’. The appetizers were all created for us utilizing 21st Amendment Beer, the bar where we met. On our first date we ate at a restaurant that had wild boar on the menu. We both fondly remember with delight the date and the meal! For our main wedding course we knew a very special pork meal of a whole roasted pig was just the ticket! We even had a custom wedding ice cream made from a local San Francisco ice cream shop.

The ceremony was very personalized, as Jeana and Jaime had each of their siblings welcome each other into the family. Jeana’s family is big on Christmas and everyone in the family has their own personal stocking. To welcome Jaime and [his daughter] Kaia, Jeana’s aunt handmade a stocking each for Jaime and Kaia.

We were married on Jeana’s birthday. We kept it special and Jeana was officially the Birthday Bride. We also celebrated Kaia’s birthday, as it’s 2 days after Jeana’s. We served birthday cupcakes that were signatures of both Jeana and Kaia, pumpkin and red velvet.

To make our wedding truly unique, we opted to have a band. But not just any band, one that was special to Jeana + Jaime… Lukas Nelson & The Promise of the Real. It was a full-on concert that was a true treat to all in attendance. Every guest got to take home a CD and Lukas even signed them.

To add a tech twist to the wedding, Jaime created QR Codes; we attached them throughout the wedding location to give a little story and meaning behind Jeana + Jaime.

We created custom and hand painted signs we used during the wedding to direct guests. We had fun creating them, as we had each of our family members put their own signature and twist to them.

band: Lukas Nelson & The Promise of the Real

floral design: Suzu’s Petals

appetizers: Billy McCullough · Dragonfly

catering: Moody’s

cupcakes: mix – cupcake company

ice cream: Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous, 415.970.0750

ceremony & reception: Gar Woods Grill & Pier

catering: Gar Woods Grill & Pier

Cheers,
Nina

How we met -
…in a boot camp class in the city. It’s an intense hour long workout in Golden Gate park that meets a few times a week. He met me covered in sweat and dirt.

Our wedding colors -
My favorite colors are red and orange. It was perfect for an outside fall wedding.

Choosing Edgewood -
We knew we wanted to get married in South Lake Tahoe. Laura’s dream wedding was outside by water with mountains in the background. Edgewood was perfect.

Your bridal party -
My sister Deb is my best friend. She’s been slated as my Matron of Honor since I have been a little kid. Lisa is my other sister and the other 3 ladies are my best friends.

The custom hairpieces -
They were designed and made for my gift to my bridesmaids. I thought they were beautiful and tied everyone’s look together.

The Danish connection -
Charles lived there for a few years and made a lot of close friends. They keep in touch.

The barbie -
His friend gave him a Barbie as in a “good luck” for finding your dream girl (Barbie). I guess since I am his dream girl, he described in his speech all the ways I am “not a Barbie” but still his dream girl.

The trivia game -
Just a fun way to have everyone see how well we know each other and that we love to laugh.

Memorable moment -
For me, it was the moment with my Dad walking down the aisle and seeing Charles waiting for me. Seeing everyone there, the gorgeous lake in the background….it was absolutely perfect!

ceremony, catering and reception: Edgewood Tahoe

event planning & design: Blue Sky Events

floral design: Thrans

DJ: Brett Axelbaum

videography: Advanced Video

cake: Sarah · Flour Girl Wedding Cakes

Accomodations: South Lake Tahoe Vacation Homes

How did you meet?
Sean and I met in college during officer training for the Air Force and we became each others’ best friend and source of comfort. Once we graduated, we finally decided to go on a date and it lasted for 12 hours :) we never wanted it to end…and it feels like it still hasn’t :)

How did you choose Tahoe to get married at?
I chose Tahoe because I grew up near the area and it has always been my favorite place in the world. I always knew I would get married there. I have been all over the country and I still haven’t seen anything as beautiful as that deep blue water next to those gorgeous mountains.

Tell us about the tiny little pin on your dress :)
The small pin on my dress is my “sweetheart wings”. My husband is a pilot for the Air Force and it is tradition for the spouses to wear these wings in honor of them :)

And the dress itself…
My dress was perfect, Sean had tears in his eyes when I got to the altar and that was the goal ;)

Your color theme/decorations:
The main flower were my favorite, sunflowers. They are such a happy flower :) So the colors were based off them: mostly yellow, accented with brown and green.

Who are your bridesmaids/groomsmen?
My bridesmaids were: my sister, Maureen; Sean’s sister, Breanna; my cousin, Stacy; and my two wonderful friends Brenna (a wife of one of the groomsmen) and Candice (whom I have known since 5th grade).
The groomsmen were: Sean’s brother, Devin; his lifelong friend, Orlando; his college friends James (husband to Brenna) and Steve and finally Travis, his friend from pilot training

Memorable moment:
I have so many memorable moments but one that makes me laugh is watching two of my brides maids after the wedding ceremony while taking pictures chase down a golf cart so we could use it to take pictures on :)

But most of all, standing in front of all the people I love with my best friend looking up at him and only thinking about how much I love him :)

ceremony, catering and reception: Edgewood Tahoe

florist: Thrans

DJ: Gary · JJ Entertainment

cake: Sarah · Flour Girl Wedding Cakes

make-up: Shannon Swinney

hair: Stacia Swinney

ceremony, catering and reception: The Chateau

Why Northstar?
Brian and I both fell in love with Northstar when we realized that we could provide not just a wedding for our guests, but a destination. It had all of the amenities that we were looking for, including beautiful scenery, a fabulous staff and the character of a mountain village.

The bridal party:
Our Bridal party consisted of our best friends and family – our best man, Jim Huether, was Brian’s roommate and best friend from college. My maid of honor, Tricia Hinckley, has been my best friend, adventure seeker for the past 5 years. The rest of our bridal party consisted of our respective siblings, Brian Vondersaar and Mary Denton, as well as many friends from college, elementary school and all have played an integral part of our lives.

Your dress/shoes/jewelry:
My dress was made of vintage chantilly lace. My jewelry consisted of diamond earrings and necklace, along with my diamond wedding band and engagement band.

Colors/decorations:
Our colors were navy blue and white with a touch of pink. We chose to have pink roses in our flowers because Brian brought me a pink rose on our first date. The flowers were rounded out with white and pink peonies and lysianthus. In regards to the other decorations, I designed most of it myself. We had personalized signs made, I made all of our vintage blue and white cookie platters, and we had a custom guest book made of lake tahoe post cards in a shabby chic wooden box.

S’mores:
Brian and I chose to do s’mores because neither of us wanted a traditional wedding cake. Since we both love camping, s’mores seemed like a fun way to go. Plus, we had a great fire pit at Northstar!

I actually have two memorable moments:
1. During our ceremony while we were saying our vows, one of the lines was “I promise to laugh with you and cry with you.” Brian on accident said, “I promise to laugh at you and cry with you.” The whole audience started to crack up laughing, and then when it came my turn, I said the same thing back at him (on purpose of course). I knew then that I had married my best friend, the one person that would not only make me laugh, but who would teach me to laugh at myself.
2. My second most memorable moment was when I looked around on the dance floor and realized that all of my friends and family were dancing, having a blast. I knew at that point that we did exactly what we had planned – a fun, joyous event that people would remember.

Favorite shot:

ceremony, catering and reception: Northstar-at-Tahoe

florist: Sheila Hohenstein

Entertainment: Matt Brys · Extreme Productions

videography: Dean Richard

hair stylist: Donna · Expressions Salon

make-up artist: Kari Spalinger

event rentals: Camelot Party Rentals

cookies: Kelli’s Cookies

bride’s necklace: grandma