Channing and Jon wanted a “romantic and chic” wedding celebration in San Diego. Brick was the first venue they visited, and also the last—they LOVED it. Planners SoCal Wedding Consultant coordinated details that played of the space’s brick walls and a vintage vibe setting the perfect tone for the couple’s big day. San Diego Floral Design emphasized the palette of mostly whites and greens with pops of peach and gold while the couple (amazingly!) DIY-ed the large floral wreath installation. Photographer Christina with Hello Blue was a natural choice for the couple and these gorgeous images prove it was the perfect match.
What made the wedding special and unique?
Jon: For us, what made our wedding special and unique was that our guests ended up telling us that they felt as if they were invited to a dinner and a show. We added our own personality into our wedding by choreographing our first dance ourselves, making a short film with Channing’s brother and singing a Disney love song medley together that we arranged ourselves. Our parents even surprised us by singing a song for us. Moreover, all the speeches were captivating, heartwarming and tear-jerking for everyone. All the guests were telling us that they felt entertained and engaged the whole time. At the end of the night, Channing and I were still in disbelief on how smoothly the evening progressed, how fantastic all the decorations looked, and how much fun everyone ended up having.
Channing: For our wedding, we both wanted something romantic and chic. Jonathan and I wanted a rustic/industrial venue to have our wedding. When we saw BRICK, we both agreed that it was perfect. The brick walls and the market lights had a vintage vibe that we loved. The open space allowed us to be creative and fill the room with whatever we wanted. It was our first choice and the only venue we visited and we went with it! Jonathan and I wanted a photographer that we could trust. We wanted to know that we would love all of the shots captured and that no moment would be missed. Upon seeing Christina’s work, we loved the soft details of her photography and the way she captured beautiful moments. Once we met Christina and knew she was available, we booked her right away! Our engagement shoot was fun, natural, and effortless and we knew we were in good hands for our wedding day. Her aesthetic completely aligns with the vision we had for the wedding so it was a perfect match.
Tell us about the gown and where/how you found it!
Channing: I stumbled across Julie Vino’s dresses on social media and instantly fell in love. I made an appointment with them when they had a trunk show in town and the dresses were just as beautiful in person as they were in photos. I had no idea what I wanted for my wedding dress until I saw the Dakota. I knew it was THE dress. So I said “yes” to the dress!
What were some touches added to make the wedding personal?
Channing: We wanted to make our wedding as “us” as possible with as many personal touches we could squeeze in. We used a track from our first date movie (back in 2010!) as the bride concessional. Jonathan used his 3D printer to print out each of the place cards for our guests. We DIYed our floral wreath chandelier and I hand-wrote most of the decorations, like our guest seating chart, the menu, and our guestbook globe. I have a minimalistic palette, so everything was mostly white with touches of our wedding colors, gold and peach. I found inspiration from blogs and Pinterest and built off of that with my own aesthetic. All of these projects took months of planning and hard work, but it was so worth it in the end to see our dream wedding come to life.
What was the most memorable part of the day?
It is hard to pick just one part of the day to be the most memorable since there were so many surprises and emotions throughout the entire day but if we had to, we would choose our parents surprising us with a singing performance to bless us. Little did we know, they had scheduled a few practices in secret before the wedding. They sang “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” arranged in a four-part harmony and it blew everyone away.
Tell us how you met and became engaged.
Jon: Channing and I met in 2008 at church. She had been attending that church all her life and I was a newcomer. We exchanged pleasantries but didn’t really get to know each other until 2010, when we started playing card games together every Sunday after church. After a college winter retreat in 2010, I told my best friends that I was interested in Channing and they gave me their approval. For our first date, I took Channing to see the movie How to Train Your Dragon. Five and a half years later I decided to propose to her.
Channing’s brother, Arthur, works in the film industry and we often helped him film personal projects for his demo reel. So around Christmas, I had Arthur message us, asking for our assistance in helping him get some romantic shots of a couple (us) looking at Christmas lights for his demo reel. This not only gave us an excuse to dress up, but also allowed Arthur to document the whole proposal without raising suspicion. The neighborhood I planned on taking Channing to is known for having spectacular Christmas lights set up and this year was no exception. I planned the route we would walk and had our friends and family hiding at the very end. Once we got to that end point, we had someone take a picture of us on Channing’s phone in front of a Christmas light display. When we had our backs turned, our friends ran out, holding light up signs that I made with my 3D printer that spelled out “Channing Will You Marry Me?” After we took the picture, I had Channing check to see how the picture turned out. When she looked at the picture, she saw the lit up message in the background and turned around. By that time, I was already down on one knee and that’s when I gave my short, tear-filled speech and asked her to marry me.
Channing & Jonathan from byDesign Films on Vimeo.
Photographer: Hello Blue // Wedding Planner: SoCal Wedding Consultant // Florist: San Diego Floral Design // Ceremony and Reception Venue + Photobooth: Brick // Gown: Julie Vino / La Belle Salon Bridal // Bakery: Sweet as Bliss // Catering and Rentals: ArtQuest Catering // Band: New Sensations // Hair: Beach Bridal Beauty // Makeup: Bride // Videographer: By Design Films // Ring Box: The Mrs. Box