Real Weddings Magazine - Winter/Spring 2019 - The Best Wedding Vendors in Sacramento, Tahoe and throughout Northern California are all here!

eal weddings
LAURA &
KEN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
TEMPLE PHOTOGRAPHY
& PHOTO BOOTH
Laura and Ken knew the Dunbar House was the
perfect venue for their intimate July wedding.
“The second we got out of the car, we knew it
was the ideal location. We had an overwhelming
sense of peace,” says Laura. Their 25-person
celebration was only for family and included
everyone sitting at one shared table, so guests
from both sides could get to know each other.
Laura, who has three adult children and two
grandchildren, was proposed to by Ken at Christmas
in front of her family. After they had opened
all their presents, or so Laura thought, Ken asked
if she had found them all. As she wondered what
he meant, he got down on one knee and asked
her to be his wife. Laura recalls that she was
crying with happiness (along with the rest of her
family) as she of course said yes.
Their celebration was held in the garden
of the historic 19th-century home, with simple
greenery accents and homemade signs from
Laura’s daughter, Meghan. As the guest list
was so small, they opted to forgo a wedding
party—mostly. “My two granddaughters were
our adorable flower girls,” says Laura. “They did
an amazing job. They were the life of the party.”
Other elements of their party included a
personalized wedding date cornhole set, made
by Ken, and barrel-cooked tri-tip in lieu of a
formal plated dinner. Hanging market lights
provided an elegant backdrop for
the dance floor, and between the
Dunbar House’s greenery-covered
walls and nearby fields, there were
plenty of spots for the couple to
snap a few photos together before
joining their guests at the familystyle
table.
Both Laura and Ken were surprised
by how stress-free the day was, even
though they ran into an issue with Laura’s ring
during the ceremony: it didn’t fit! “When we
were saying our vows, the ring would not go
on,” she says. “Must have been the wine and
Mexican food the night before!” Despite that,
both managed to be worry- and stress-free on
their wedding day, though Ken jokingly credits
part of that to the bourbon he was sipping on as
got ready for the nuptials.
Because their celebration was all about family,
it’s not surprising that one of Laura’s favorite
parts of the day was spending it with her daughters,
who had supported her through the entire
wedding-planning process. “Spending my wedding
day with them was something I will cherish
forever,” she says. “They did everything to make
me feel like a special bride.”
Despite the togetherness, Laura and Ken
recall that one of their shared special moments
was just about the two of them.
After their celebration ended, Ken and
Laura sat outside, taking the evening in
and finding a quiet moment together as
husband and wife. “Sitting outside with
Laura is something that I will never forget,”
says Ken. OO—Suzie Dundas
150 | REAL WEDDINGS WINTER/SPRING 2019 REALWEDDINGSMAG.COM