Can I just say, I’ve never had as much fun watching a family dance and enjoy each others company than I did at Joy and Eric’s Anaheim White House wedding. It was a treat to be able to spend the day with them and photograph them all together, especially since they’re from all over and don’t get to see each other often. 🙂 Joy is pretty amazing; she planned everything from distant New York! This was really a “destination” wedding for everyone, so I asked Joy for some thoughts on wedding planning from a distance and any advice for upcoming brides. I also really like the new family traditions they’ve created since their wedding. Thanks to Joy and Eric for inviting me to be a part of your beautiful day!
“I knew Eric was the one when I realized that I felt truly happy for him when he was happy, and truly sad when he was sad. His happiness and sadness touched me in ways that I never knew existed. It wasn’t about ME and my feelings when he was going through difficult times, it was caring about him and how he was feeling at that moment. When the anniversary of his Grandfather’s death came and he got upset, it was the first time I knew what real love was because I was so sad knowing that he was sad. I wanted to take his pain away. I didn’t want the credit of taking it away or for him to love me more because I had taken it away. I just wanted him to not be sad. I had never had such pure intentions before that.
“I also knew he was the one because for the first time I was completely myself. I was still the same Joy that I was before I met Eric, he just made my life better by being in it. My personality didn’t change, my likes and dislikes didn’t changed, he just enhanced everything good about my life and made anything not-so-good seem better. He was someone to go through life with, not someone I NEEDED to have in order to live. He completed me by him being as amazing and real and ‘salt of the earth’ that he is; he helped give me the confidence to be the best me that I can be by just loving me as I am.”
“Anaheim White House was just a perfectly classy real life sized “castle” to have our fairy tale wedding. It was classy, romantic and picturesque all at once. It was as if we took a piece of a fairy tale and put it in real life for a day. That was our wedding. The Anaheim White House was like a hidden fairy tale. A gem in the middle of the road.
“Best part of the day was seeing Eric as I walked down the aisle for the first time and saying “I do”. It was also being able to look around the room and see my ENTIRE family and knowing that they all just witnessed the most special moment of my life.”
“Advice would be to expect the unexpected. When having a wedding where a lot of people have to travel, personalities you didn’t know existed come out when under stress, good and bad. Because everyone is traveling, everyone is stressed out and wanting to enjoy the moment. Although “the day” is about the bride and groom, the trip is about everyone involved. Flights get cancelled, credit cards from guests get declined when renting cars, relatives get drunk . The bride might expect the trip to be about her, but when so many people are spending so much time and money to be there, the trip is really about everyone. That can be surprising to the bride unless she takes a moment to picture it from other people’s perspectives.
“I would also suggest getting to know the area well before the day of. Especially knowing how long it takes to get to the venue from the hotel so that you’re not rushing to get everything done the day of the wedding. That causes a lot of stress. Also, just to have as much as possible done and ready the day before the wedding so your goal would be to just wake up, get to the venue, get beautified, and have a great time!”
 “We love spending time outdoors, at the beach, on the boat or traveling. We love taking day trips and having “adventures”. Our favorite time is when we have a full day off TOGETHER to spend the day together.  The best part of being married is having dinner every night with my husband. Coming home to him each night, knowing that I have a best friend for life and that we’re always there for each other. Having become a family and a unit that is unbreakable.  We are looking forward to having babies and creating memories and moments and traditions that we will always have. We use our candle holders from our wedding every Sunday night for dinner to remind us of our special day. We have date night once a week, even if just taking a walk or getting coffee. We’re creating traditions for the holidays that we’ll hopefully pass on to future generations. We’re figuring things out everyday, especially after moving 800 miles away from our entire family and support unit three days after our reception. But our favorite phrase is ‘we’re getting there.'”
Vendors:
Venue: Anaheim White House Restaurant, Anaheim, CA
Catering:Â Anaheim White House Restaurant
Bride’s hair and makeup: Fairytale Hair and Makeup
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Jenna.. This is beautiful. You are amazing and we’re so thankful and blessed that you were part our special day and captured all of the best of each moment we experienced. You rock. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you 🙂 xo
I love what Joy had to say about Eric. That was so touching. I’m glad they had a beautiful day and that you were there to capture all the fun! 🙂
They were a really sweet couple, I’m glad I was able to photograph them too!