quality of life
My fiancé and I SET OUT tomake our California wedding feel as
much like Louisiana aspossible. So many
of our guests would be coming frommy
home state.
While preparing for the wedding, my
experienceas an event planner was valuable.
Just as I dofor my clients, I wanted
to attend to every detail.Even though the
process was daunting, it was well worthit.
I knew the sacrifices people would
make to bethere on our wedding day, so I
wanted the weekendto be filled with fun
things and free time toexplore the city.
To welcome our out-of-town guests,we
put together a welcome packet containing
a schedule ofwedding-related
events, our favorite spots to
eat, places toshop, things
to see and transportation
information.
We had aguest list of 75
for the ceremony Oct. 10 atSt. Brigid Catholic Church.
We found the perfect venue
fora reception, the La Jolla
Bridge Club, which overlooks
theocean. For the
menu, we chose a balance
of Californiaand Louisiana
cuisine. Shrimp and grits in
martini glasses werea big hit,
although it took a few trial
runsfor the caterers to get it right. Our
bakers requireda little finessing as well;
less than a week beforethe wedding, they
told me that California law prohibits puttingmetal objects into food. I convinced
them to look theother way so I could
have cake charms baked intomy cake as
so many other Louisiana brides do.
Mysister Melinda designed beautiful,
custom umbrellas for the second line.We also created the look of Louisiana
with a cypresstree painting, also done by
Melinda, that hung in themain room of
the club.
Another touch that I couldn’tresist
was wearing an LSU football garter,
which I foundon www.Etsy.com. My
grandfather, Vincent “Chico” Gonzalez,was an LSU football player and later a
high schoolcoach, so Louisiana football
has been a part of mylife for as long as I
can remember. Of course,we also played
the LSU Fight Song. And, when itcame
time to toss the garter, Garth Brooks’
“Callin’Baton Rouge” was the perfect accompanying
tune.
I was workingas a waitress in Dallas
when I met Dev Engle,a server. After
dating three months, I moved back tomy
hometown of Baton Rouge to continue
school. After helpingme move back to
Louisiana, Dev got to see NewOrleans
for the first time. At the
end of hisvisit, we sat down
in the airport with a calendarto determine when we
could see each other again.
Afterseveral trips back and
forth during that semester,
we decidedwe didn’t want
to be apart.
When I graduated fromLSU, we both found jobs in
San Diego and headedto
California, where we both
had always wanted to live.A year and a half later, we
became engaged andbegan
planning a wedding that
Southern charm
inSo-Cal
Louisiana-born bride plans a wedding in California.
By ALICIA GONZALEZENGLE
Photos by Colin Richie Photography
The colors of ourwedding were inspired by the colors of
the ocean.
Mysister Melinda
designed these
umbrellas for the
second line AnLSU garter was a must.
InRegister • January 2010
44
