Heather and Mike were married on a perfectly lovely day in Orange County at Tivoli Terrace. You may remember these two from their Long Beach engagement session. If you recall, Heather and Mike are proud nerds. I like this about them because it is my belief that nerds make the world go ’round. I’m married to one, so I should know.
Heather and Mike’s nerdiness does not stop at wearing matching t-shirts for their engagement session. Because, why stop there when you can nerd out your wedding in amazingly great ways? Needless to say, this was a fun wedding with tons of personal touches. Just as it should be. My lovely friend Jen Grant joined me for this one and we had a blast.
Congratulations, Heather and Mike! Thanks for including me in your day. I hope you’re having a wonderful time in Greece!
Heather’s mom, Jeannie, got emotional the instant Heather was in her dress. It was really sweet.
This is the face of a girl who’s excited to be getting married!
A few rooms over, we popped in on Mike and his guys getting ready.
Mike and Heather opted for a first look so that most of the portraits could get finished before there ceremony, thereby leaving them more time to enjoy their reception. Good idea, I say.
I think this next shot might be my favorite of the day. It’s straight out of camera. The light was perfect and the moment was completely genuine. Love!
Right after the ceremony one of the first things these two did was … change their Facebook relationship status to “married.” Of course!
So here’s where some of the nerdiness comes in. As I mentioned during their engagement session post, Mike proposed to Heather through a game they both love called Kingdom of Loathing. The tables were named after different areas found in the game. The couple also provided little bags full of board games and activities for guests to entertain themselves with. But that’s not so much nerdery as much as it is just awesome.
The cake topper was made in the likeness of Kingdom of Loathing characters by one of Mike’s and Heather’s friends who owns a toy company called October Toys. It was PERFECT.
And let’s not forget the dragon champagne flutes, purchased from the Ren Faire. Awesome.
Heather saw my post about the custom Christmas ornament I had made in the likeness of our late dog, Frasier. She mentioned during their engagement session that she ordered some of their cats and I was so excited to see them make an appearance at the wedding! Thanks to Jen for lining them up to get this shot. The bride and groom on the left are manatees, which is Heather’s favorite animal. The cats are dressed up like Star Wars characters, in case you’re not a nerd.
All of the dances between husband/wife, father/daughter and mother/son were very sweet. Mike and his mom’s dance was particularly emotional. Both of them hugged tightly and cried and I’m sure there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
There was a photo booth with props, courtesy of Party Booths. Heather and Mike don’t usually dress like this for special occasions. At least I don’t think they do.
Say what you will about nerds, the fact is, they sure do know how to party..
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by Heidi
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