Amy and David love to travel, in fact, they met on a cruise ship where they worked together. Amy is an actress living in L.A. and David, from South Africa, decided to relocate to Southern California to be with the love of his life. Amy and David decided on the beautiful Rancho Las Lomas for their ceremony and reception and as you can see by these photos by Sergeant Photography, it was a great choice!
The ceremony and reception took place in a tent that we transformed into a romantic, vintage, Bohemian wonderland. The hanging flowers from the ceiling of the tent are actually hand-stained coffee filters (a labor of love)! Inviting Occasion, once again, went above and beyond to produce the most beautiful floral arrangements of dusty green, blush and white, while incorporating some elements like burlap and bark that worked so well with rustic nature of Rancho Las Lomas. And the floral archway! Gorgeous!
The centerpieces at each table all have a story. They are numbered by the table they are at:
1. EGYPT: After Amy and David were engaged, David had to go back to ships and they spent the next six months apart until he came to the US and they got married. Amy went to visit him for a few weeks, twice. One of the times she went to visit him, they explored Egypt together. Amy had always wanted to go there so they visited museums, the pyramids, and the sphinx. They enjoyed laughing at the poor tourists that were raised onto camels and then forced to tip the handlers before they could get back down. Funny times!
2. SAN PIETRO: After they were engaged, David had to go back to ships and they spent the next six months apart until he came to the US and they got married. Amy went to visit him for a few weeks, twice. One of the times they were reunited, she met him in Italy. It was one of those amazingly romantic moments that you see in movies. Her taxi pulled up to the San Pietro train station in Rome (The Vatican) and he was outside, standing on the curb waiting for her. She got out of the taxi and ran up to him and they kissed. A pencil skirt, some fog, and red lipstick and they would have been set. ;)
3. ISRAEL: Interesting fact about David: He knows how to juggle. David learned how to juggle in an apple orchard in Israel; with, you guessed it, apples. He lived there for a year, waking up before the sun, working in a Jewish Bakery and traveling with the nomads in the desert.
4. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Whether you believe in fate or not, sometimes things are almost too coincidental. Even though David and Amy spent their lives living on complete opposite sides of the world, they were put in each others' paths more than once. Before they met, David traveled to a little beach town for his cousin's wedding, where one night they had a bonfire on the beach. During the night, David looked around and said to himself, "One day I am going to live here". That was about a quarter of a mile from Amy's home. The beach was Big Corona, one of Amy's most favorite places in the world.
A few years prior, Amy was about to enter college. As a treat, her mom and another mother/daughter team went on a cruise to the Caribbean the summer before she left. The cruise was on a Carnival ship, which happened to have a gift shop manager named... David Mostert. They never met until almost half a decade later.
5. OUR FARM: David and Amy have a dream to own a little farm one day. Nothing big and fancy, just a place where they have enough room to grow their own food, have some chickens for eggs in the morning, and maybe a horse or two if they get really ambitious. Even though they live in the city right now, maybe someday they will be able to venture just a little further out and have their own little oasis.
6. ANTARCTICA: Amy has always wanted to go to Antarctica. She has even said that she would want to go there on her honeymoon. Knowing this David surprised her during their first trip home to South Africa and took her to a place called Boulders near Cape Town. Boulders is where wild penguins have come (on their own accord) to roost and live on the beach and rocks. Amy was incredibly excited and it is still one of their favorite memories together.
7. YELLOWJACKET MINE: Amy's family owns property (and has for over 100 years) in Idaho in the Salmon National Forest called "Yellow Jacket Mine" (it is a gold mine). They have leased it out to mining companies who mine some gold, but mostly they just go there in the summers and commune with nature: hike, fish, work on the dilapidated log cabins, work on the 1940's Willy jeeps they have up there, and overall relax. Amy took David there last summer and he fell in love with it. They plan on spending much more time up there. Absolute heaven. One of their favorite places.
8. NEW ORLEANS: New Orleans is one of David and Amy's favorite places. While the Norwegian Spirit (the ship David and Amy met on) was in dry-dock in Mobile, Alabama, David and Amy rented a car and drove to New Orleans for their first vacation together. They stayed in a room right off of the French Quarter, tried alligator (before Amy stopped eating meat) for the first time, and roamed through quaint little art galleries in the Garden District. They even picked out books they would read to their children at the Aquarium!
9. NEW YORK: When David and Amy started dating they were porting out of New York. They had been dating on the ship for a week or so, but their first date OFF of the ship, in "real life" as they called it, was in New York. They went to Europa Cafe and David paid like a gentleman. Of course he had to go to the ATM to get more money afterward... and Amy has been draining his bank account every since.
10. COZUMEL: Cozumel was David and Amy's favorite place to stop at while they were cruising together in the Caribbean. Stopping for breakfast and a beer (or mimosa) alongside a busy square full of dancers and music, popping over to the Crew Bar (a well-known hangout for all the various cruise ship workers in port) to meet up with friends, or playing a round of mini-golf at their favorite put-put course. Often times they would stop by one of David's old haunts and he would relive stories of past cruise adventures or they would hop on a ferry to Playa Del Carmen and meander along the white sand beaches. It was also the first place Amy had guacamole, which she now is unabashedly addicted to.
11. MARLEY & LANEY: Amy found out about a shelter that was about to be closed down due to overcrowding and result in all the animals being euthanized. The city had told them they had to get rid of all the animals, so they needed to foster all the animals out THAT night, and then they could relocate to a larger location and we could bring the animals to their new location in a few weeks. Amy had been wanting to start fostering animals, because they weren't really in a place to own one, but fostering could allow them to help some animals and make a difference in some animals' (and humans') lives. Before she left for the shelter, David stopped her and gave her two very firm rules: #1. Under no circumstance can you bring home more than one dog, #2. Absolutely NO chihuahuas. When she returned that afternoon, she ran in the house, threw two chihuahua mixes in his lap and ran out to work. He fell in love almost instantly. Their names are Marley and Laney, they are still with us, and they are very much our little babies!!!
12. SONORA: Right after their first wedding, (Literally two days after the wedding) David and Amy traveled up to Sonora, CA where Amy had been hired to play Sarah Brown in "Guys and Dolls" in a little equity theater named, "Sierra Repertory Theatre". They stayed up there for three months living in a warm cabin in the forest. Amy saw it snow for the first time in her life, and they saw deer on a daily basis! While Amy was singing and dancing on stage, David was making the sets and working the spotlights. They got to experience living in a small town and actually living together for the first time. One of the best times of their lives!!
13. BIKE: Interesting fact about Amy: She doesn't know how to ride a bike. She never learned and even though countless people have tried (every single one of her close friends has gotten her up on a bike at one point or another) no one has succeeded. David kept pleading with her about it, so she made a deal with him. If she learns how to ride a bike, David will buy her a motorcycle. Sweet deal.
14. NCL SPIRIT: David and Amy met while working on the Norwegian Spirit. David was the Cruise Consultant Manager on board and Amy was a new Principal singer for the Production Cast. They met in the crew bar over a Schmirnoff and a sliced thumb. The first night that they met, he tried to offer her a Schmirnoff and when she couldn't get it open, he nonchalantly said that it was a twist-off and then proceeded to slice his thumb open trying to "twist" it off. She laughed and walked away. He was hooked.
15. SOUTH AFRICA: David should get a prize for the most perfectly tailored "Amy" proposal. While visiting David's family in South Africa (where he was born), David whisked Amy away on a safari for a few days at a private game reserve called "Kapama Reserve". Every day they went out on sunrise and sunset game drives and were treated to spa treatments overlooking the African tundra and dinners by bonfire. While on one of their sunset game drives, the jeeps stopped for us to enjoy the view and sip on wine and cheese as they did on every sunset drive. Very quietly, David pulled Amy aside, hugged her, and asked her to marry him. It was beautiful, simple, and serene surrounded by nature. Perfect!
Photography: Sergeant Photography
Venue: Rancho Las Lomas
Event Planning: Brandi Smith of High Society
Floral and Decor: Larrissa of Inviting Occasion
Vintage Rentals: Jeni Maus, Found
Catering: 24 Carrots
Video: Neighbors Video, Tim Neighbors
Cake: Superfine Bakery
Hair by Jessica Krueger
Makeup by Alana Dawn
Photobooth: Shutterbooth
Lighting: The Event Co.
