Christine & Bryce

Collage of Christine and Bryce wedding photos

Now this was a busy wedding day! But the smiles never faded from these beautiful faces. They loved every moment. Christine and Bryce embraced all sides of their cultures and religion, and we had an amazing day traveling around the Bay Area for their wedding. We started the day in San Jose to get ready, ceremony in Los Gatos, and finally a reception in Pleasanton.

Their Story

Christine and Bryce met three years ago during the first few days of medical school. Their story is adorably told on their page on The Knot, with each of them telling their point of view. (Go read it, it's so cute!) Christine was actually annoyed by Bryce at first and initially second-guessed herself when inviting him to join her in a get-together with friends that night. But he soon grew on her, and she on him, and they became study partners. That soon turned into a close friendship, and then a relationship.

They're best friends and have had so many adventures together. Christine wrote that "amidst the roughness that he is, he definitely sparkles as a person and has a special charm. I can firmly say that there is no one I am more comfortable in the world with than Bryce and that is exactly how I knew he was the one."

Bryce proposed to Christine in February of 2018 with a book he created just for her called The Reasons I Love Christine. So sweet and personal!

Bay Area Wedding

Christine and Bryce are from opposite sides of the country: Christine from California (San Jose) and Bryce from Ohio. They met in Arizona, and when planning their wedding they decided to have it close to Christine's family in the Bay Area. It felt like a homecoming for Christine, and she was thrilled to travel around the Bay Area for the wedding day.

Santana Row is a beautiful landmark in San Jose, so they decided to get ready there. Christine and her bridesmaids found a lovely Airbnb while Bryce and his groomsmen stayed at the luxurious Hotel Valencia. For makeup and hair, Christine connected with Adelina and her team who arrived early in the morning to get everyone ready in time.

"It was very important to me to have natural looking makeup and hair. I still wanted to look like myself and Adelina certainly delivered! She brought her whole team to the Santana Row loft to get 6 bridesmaids, a bride and the mother of the bride ready starting at 6am. They were prompt, and everyone looked absolutely amazing. She even created the MUAH schedule so I didn't have to worry about it."

The Dresses

When you look the through the album, one of the first things you may notice are all the wardrobe changes. Since they were celebrating different cultures, they needed to represent these different aspects throughout the day.

The first dresses that the bride and bridesmaids wore were American for the Catholic ceremony. Since the bridesmaids were from all over the country, they needed to order online. Christine discovered JJ's House. "I was so happy with how these turned out, it was really hard for me to find the right color teal. I was recommended this site by one of my aunts and it worked out great. The color we selected was "ink blue," and all the bridesmaids had a great experience with it!"

For Christine, she chose Anomalie for her wedding gown that she wore during mass. "I was able to design my own very own wedding dress with this company! You have a consultation and pick your style, fabric, and have a super supportive team to help you create the dress of your dreams for a very affordable price. I think my custom gown with veil and belt was a little under $1500- amazing when you think about how most boutiques have that as a starting price!"

For all the Indian dresses, Christine found another website that specializes in these gorgeous dresses: Lashkaraa. "This company gave us some trouble as I think they ran out of stock (and we placed the order a little less than 2 months before the wedding). For those that got it in time, they loved their lehenga (the skirt with blouse). I definitely recommend this company, especially if you're trying to find a way to have bridesmaids order an Indian outfit while they're all over the US. Just make sure you order 4-6 months in advance!"

The Tuxes

Luckily, the men didn't need to worry about changing their outfits mid-day, and stuck with the same tuxedos for both the ceremony and reception. Equally luckily, they were able to order online, just like the women did. The Black Tux was a perfect option for them. "Amazing company and so timely! From what I saw from my brother and dad, they placed their order, and two days later their tux arrived! The quality was amazing and if something didn't fit right, the company made sure to send you the right size immediately. It was convenient as everything was delivered right to you, and easy to order give their clear instructions online."

Christine surprised Bryce with a special gift to go with his tux: personalized cufflinks. This company is so cool: Love, Georgie. They have lots of things that you can personalize with your handwriting, a child's art, anything you like. "I knew I wanted to get Bryce something special, and I was so lucky to find this company that makes personalized cuff links that are engraved in your own handwriting."

Catholic Mass

Christine is Catholic and even worked for a time within the church when she lived in San Jose. She chose St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Los Gatos as she was familiar with how gorgeous it was inside. "This wasn't my home parish, but after being a former diocesan employee I knew this church had a beautiful aisle to walk down."

Since it wasn't her home parish, Christine ensured that it still had the most important elements of her familiar Catholic upbringing: her mentors within the church. "Growing up in a super Catholic family, we always had priests over, so it was only natural to have not only one, but 4 priests at our wedding. It meant so much for me to have my two mentors (Fr. Saju and Fr. Jon) because they truly are father figures to me, and certainly have no problem teasing me to the nth degree. They created my community and it was only natural to have them be the ones further opening my community as I gained a new family."

It really was a gorgeous ceremony that perfectly celebrated Christine and Bryce.

Casa Real

Casa Real is a popular reception venue in The Bay Area, and one of our favorites. The photo opportunities are endless, from exterior building shots to stunning vineyard photos. We made sure to get them all, with both sets of dresses we mentioned above. (Scroll through the album at the bottom of this point to check them out.) But here's one of our favorites; it really encompasses the joy and love of these two!

"We fell in love with this location because it had so much space to accommodate our guests and it is absolutely gorgeous. Also, their food and drink is incredible! We hope to be able to attend another wedding here in the future!" Christine, that is entirely possible. This is a popular venue for a reason! Affordable, fits lots of guests, central location, and simply stunning.

Details

We love the details and make sure to get as many detail shots as we can with every wedding. The tables were decorated so uniquely without being distracting. They used Asiel Design for the floral arrangements. "We loved how they incorporated candles, lanterns and flowers to create a beautiful design. We wanted variety and they definitely delivered!"

The reception itself was so much fun for everyone. After a busy day of getting ready, taking photos, wardrobe changes, a ceremony in a different city, it was wonderful to relax and celebrate. The decor was stunning throughout the venue and the guests appreciated every detail.

The Guestbook

The guestbook was a very important detail for Christine and Bryce. What better way to remember every guest who traveled near and far? And to celebrate their origins? This guestbook from Miss Design Berry was perfect for their wedding. "Bryce and I are from nearly opposite sides of the country. It is truly amazing how our lives aligned for us to be able to meet during medical school. We found no better way to honor our roots, and our beginning, than to have a guestbook with our home states (mine being California, his being Ohio), and Arizona (the state where we fell in love). I can't wait for this to hang up in our future home."

Dancing

The dance floor was phenomenal due to the combined efforts of the DJ (Wicked Entertainment) and lighting team (Fantasy Sound Events). "I have to say, I think our dance floor was the most incredible I had ever seen and all credit goes to our DJ, Happy Grewal. Every time I turned around, the dance floor was packed! No one was sitting at the tables. Happy did an amazing job alternating between American and Indian music. There was no feedback, the volume was perfect, and everyone was dancing the whole time because there were none of those awkward pauses while the song switched!"

The Cake

The cake designed Katrina Rozelle blew everyone away. "This cake was heavenly. I'm not kidding, it was absolutely delicious and I ate the leftovers for breakfast the next day. Also, it was absolutely gorgeous! The flowers (provided by Asiel Design) were so perfectly placed and the cake honestly tasted like what dreams are made of. I highly recommend this company to anyone, not just for wedding cake, but to just get a slice sometime!"

It can be so hard to find a cake that looks amazing AND tastes just as fabulous. So kudos to this cake artist!

Thank you Christine and Bryce for sharing such a special day with us. And, because we can, we have to share these final words from Christine:

"We are so grateful to Oscar (and Alicia) for being such wonderful people and capturing our special day. Oscar, your commanding personality impressed all of our guests and we certainly would not have the forever memories in these photos without your skill and talent. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! I hope that we get the chance to see you at future weddings. I most certainly hope to have the honor of working with you again to capture our future life celebrations. Thank you!"

Vendors

Ceremony: St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Los Gatos
Reception: Casa Real at Ruby Hill Winery in Pleasanton
Videographer: Six50 Productions - "Neal and his team are absolutely amazing. They captured our day so perfectly and helped us to feel so comfortable. Be sure to check out their videos on their instagram/fb pages."
Groomsman Attire: The Black Tux
Bridal Gown: Anomalie
Bridesmaid dresses (American): JJ's House
Bridesmaid dresses (Indian): Lashkaraa
DJ: Wicked Entertainment
Lighting and Draping: Fantasy Sound Event Services
Cake Designer: Katrina Rozelle
Makeup & Hair (MUHA): Makeup and Hair by Adelina
Floral Designer: Asiel Design
Guestbook: Miss Design Berry

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