Forever Eugela

Jason's coworker, Angela, got married to her sweetheart Eugene a couple of weeks ago (Angela + Eugene = Eugela...CLASSIC!).

The wedding was amazing - from the location (High up in the Malibu hills), to the decor, to the intimacy and the food - we had an absolute blast!

Jason and I made the long drive out to Malibu...when I worked out in Malibu a few years ago, my jobsite was WAAAAAAY out there- past the beachside condo's, past Pepperdine University, past the entrance to Topanga Canyon, past the famous (And overly priced) restaurant Geoffery's (pronounced JAUF-REE's...I know, obnoxious). I didn' think there was any way the wedding would be that far out...but it was! A little ways past my former jobsite, was the church where we would catch a shuttle to take us UP to the wedding site...and by UP I mean waaaay up! The shuttle ride took a total of maybe 10 minutes - we were winding and winding up and up and up the hills of Malibu. At one point, the road we were on ended and our driver stopped for a moment at a construction site - as the bus paused, Jason and I both thought to ourselves "wow, Angela is REALLY into construction! She's even getting married on a construction site!" the girly-girl in me was QUITE relieved that the bus picked up speed and continued up MORE hills leaving the construction site in the far away distance.

When we arrived at the wedding site, I was amazed and knew immediately it was going to be a fabulous night. The setting was breathtaking - from almost every vantage point you could see the ocean. The ceremony was to take place in a small area shaded by trees, and the bride and groom said their vows under an amazing garden arch. I'm calling it a garden arch because I have no idea what else to call it - it was an arch covered in flowers- but not your typical vibrant, fresh from the market flowers- these flowers looked as though they had been hanging on this arch for years, just waiting for Eugela to say their vows underneath them. There even seemed to be a few old bouquets tied up in there- I'm honestly not sure how the florist made these flowers look the way they did, but it was beautiful.

After the ceremony, we headed to the reception site and along the way past the "Wedding Tree" which was an awesome guest book token I'd never seen before (Yet another reason why I think Jason and I should get married again! Ha!) - the Wedding Tree was a framed piece of art that had a picture of a leafless tree with several branches coming off of it. Next to the frame were two ink pads - one in yellow and one in blue (the wedding colors) - an instructional note next to the frame asked every guest to take their thumb print and mark a tree branch and then write their name in the print so that Eugela would have a record of their guests! It was awesome, and such a fun and artistic way to display everyone that was a part of their special day!

As we walked into the reception site, we were all blown away -even though we'd walked past this area moments before in order to get to the ceremony, seeing it up close as we all found our seats just made all of the girls at our table giddy with delight! From the beautiful centerpieces, to the table names and artwork which accompanied them, to the strings of large white lanterns hung across the area, to the dessert table set up next to the fireplace near the bar - there didn't seem to be any detail left untouched - we all knew we were going to have a great time.

Once we were seated, the bride and groom had their first dance and then speeches...I have to say, and I think everyone who attended this wedding would agree, these were some of the best speeches I've EVER heard (And this is coming from the girl who had her Dad SING as part of his speech to her at her wedding!). They were all so personal and thoughtful, I felt honored to get to peer in to this family union because it was obvious that they were a very tight knit group.

As all of the speeches were going on, a few of us at our table kept noticing something happening a little off site from the reception area...something was being constructed...something that was SPINNING...and something that looked like a lot of fun...but what was it?! It was, one of the best things I have EVER seen at a wedding...

A FLIP BOOK STUDIO!

A what? Oh yes, a flip book studio (Not sure if that's what they are officially called, but that's what I'm calling it) - at first, I thought it was a photo booth which I was ecstatic about because I've never been to a wedding with a photo booth! As Jason and I walked up to the scene to pick out our outfits (The spinning thing we saw from our seats was the hat rack), we realized this was NOT a photo booth...there was a large white screen and really bright lights and people dressed in funky costumes dancing for about 6 seconds and then walking away - huh? Were we supposed to make music videos? Express our love for the happy couple? Were we auditioning for a reality TV show (Hey, it WAS Malibu after all) - when we made our way to the camera we were told that we were about to film the contents of our very own flip book and that we would need to make grand gestures for 6 seconds which would be filmed, then printed and formatted into tiny books- of course, Jason and I took some extra time to choreograph an entire 6 seconds sequence and once we felt prepared, we told them to film. The end result was FANTASTIC! The little books were printed out in about 5 minutes and for the rest of the night we kept flipping our book...it was SO FLIPPNCOOL! Great idea for a wedding if anyone is looking for an unconventional way to give a gift at the end of the night and keep the guests entertained!

That's the groom sporting the pink socks - so great!

No wedding is complete without a chicken hat and some deuce's thrown! HOLLA!

All in all it was an awesome night. Angela and Eugene make an amazing couple and Jason and I wish them the best in all that comes their way as husband and wife!

Cheers!