KerMatt

Wedding Night @ La Costa Resort

We wanted to show you how fabulous our hotel stay was after our wedding at the La Costa Resort in Carlsbad (thanks to the help of fabulous friend and past co-worker of Keri's at the Hotel Del Coronado, Cerelle).

We stayed in a little bungalow suite which was by far the most gorgeous room we have ever stayed in. We felt like royalty in that fabulous room, complete with a king-size bed, fireplace, a bathroom the size of our whole apartment, a full kitchen and private little patio/courtyard.

Cerelle even had chocolate-covered strawberries and a cold bottles of Martinelli's sent to our room, which just added to our wonderful experience. Cerelle, you are the bomb.com for sure :) and we can not thank you enough.

We didn't get to stay long enough by any means (2 nights) because Matt had to get back to Utah for school, but we got to stay long enough to relax a bit from all of our wedding weekend craziness.

I have some pics below but I don't even think they do it justice.

Our Wedding Party

Our wedding party

Check out our fabulous wedding party - voted #1 Wedding Party this side of the Mississippi and Best Looking in San Diego:

Bridesmaids (in order of shoe size):

Tori Adams - Keri's one and only sister, roommate for too many years
- Even though we tortured each other for years and she thinks I'm too girly for my own good, I could not ask for a better sis (sorry Rocky, you're #2)

Sharee Moss - fellow server with Keri at Cracker Barrel and long-time friend
- She threw a knife at me while working and we've been friends ever since. Sharee, and her fabulous husband Brad, have been a loving support to me for years, even though they still think I'm just a little bit crazy :)

Laura Smith - Keri's partner in crime and past roommate in Utah, Vegas and CA
- What better friend would make your Halloween costumes for you, change your wisdom teeth gauze and move to Vegas with you even though we had no money, no furniture, no air conditioning and no jobs. Laura is a #1 wing girl.

Briauna Evans - great friend since the days of Girl Talk and Merrie Miss, also past roommate
- Friends through the ugly, awkward stages of our lives, the Freshman 30 and the peak of fatness, all of the years of dating and now even the birth of her first child - K.I.T. Bri!

Mary Quintero - another past roommate and fellow traveler
- Probably the nicest, most genuine person you will ever meet . I met Mary when all of my other girls had married or moved away. And she has always helps me remember how to enjoy life to the fullest.

Dawn Stratton - my biking partner and last roommate of my single life
- Friends instantly due to our love of adventure (her more than me I must admit though), love to shake our booties and our stupid, silly humor. In our 2 years of being roommates, we managed to talk each other through 2 full century bike rides, 1 half-century lost in Mexico, and some of the best "nightly reviews."

Nicole Kern - savior since my move back to Utah and great friend
- I could not have asked for a better friend to help me through my transition back to Utah. It's not easy to leave San Diego but life gets better with Nicole's cheerful outlook.

Groomsmen (in order of hair left on head?):

Bradd McBrearty - past roommate and Boncuzzi founder (Poway, CA)
- I met Bradd shortly after I returned from a Mission and found a fellow Geek to turn to. He also keeps me up with rockin bands and video games. Always knows how to throw a fun party.

Derek Porter - past and current roommate (San Marcos, CA / Provo, UT)
- Derek has been a great buddy and a lot of fun living with in Provo. He wanted everybody to know that he's looking for a shorter brunette in Utah or the San Diego area. ;-)

Clayton "C-Bass" Ashcraft - past roommate (short term) and party animal (Escondido, CA)
- I had the pleasure to audtion for So You Think You Can Dance in Los Angeles because Clayton was there to audition and I couldn't get in unless I auditioned too. He knows how to be the life of the party and can break it down better than anybody else I know. Also my fellow Chargers and Padres fanatic! Go Bolts!

Matt Fairbanks - past roommate and best friend from high school (Redmond, Washington)
- Together we're known as "Team Matt." Only fellow jock in High School Choir and former member of my high school Barbershop group "The Testoster-Tones." We were inseperable and owned Redmond! Helped me come out of my shell, start owning the dance floor, and get through a year or two of college.

Danny Carpenter - Funniest guy I know (Scripps Ranch, CA)
- Usually when I'm hanging with this guy I can't stop laughing. Caravan'ed to Provo together and got through a year or two in Provo. Great help in finding the hidden gems of San Diego County and having a quality time.

Jeff Russell - Mission buddy (La Jolla, CA / Santa Monica, CA)
- Probably the funniest, craziest guy you'll ever meet (makes Clayton look comatose). Also a fellow Geek I can collaborate with. Known to get crazy on the dance floor. St. Louis!

Dave Romney - Fellow party planner and party animal (Escondido, CA / San Marcos, CA)
- This guy started it all for me in San Diego. Together we coordinated all of North County San Diego in sports and fun. The first of the SD Crew to take the big step and get hitched. Can be the life of the party and the dance floor, but still remember what's really important in life. This guy knows how to have fun!

Wedding Reception

We had our wedding reception which was held at the Huish home in Poway (friends of Matt's parents).

Below are some photos showing the beautiful setup and decor put together by our talented friends and family. Our wedding was amazing and truly DIY - from the decor and flowers by my sister-in-law Paige, to the little fudge wedding cakes by my mom, sister-in-law Sarah and bridesmaid Nicole, to my hair, makeup and photography by my roomie Laura, invitations printed by Brad & Sharee, wedding cake made by our previous sister-in-law Emma, and much much more.

The Huish home - amazing people who let us hold our gorgeous reception at their beautiful home

We covered the sport court and converted it into our dance floor

A view of our reception before it started

Beautiful arrangement by Paige

Cute little Mel looking at our wedding photo

One set of our centerpieces along with the little fudge wedding cakes made by our friends and family

Another set of centerpieces

Our sign-in book

Our wedding cake made by Emma

Our cake topper

I found these cute glasses at IKEA

Seriously, Paige is amazing!

The head table

The Huishes lined their driveway with these pretty, lighted arches that they normally use for a Christmas celebration.

We catered food from a local Caribbean restaurant called Miami Grill. They were amazing to work with, and allowed us to keep costs down to $10 per person.

Paige also helped us keep our costs down by doing appetizers herself.

My beautiful bouquet

The dance floor

The lights at night

Before the reception we took photos with our wedding party. As you can see, this was harder for Matt and his groomsmen than it was for the ladies.

One of my favorite photos - so goofy it's amazing

Matt and I wanted our nieces and nephews to be a part of our wedding party as well:

Our nieces and nephews

Me and Kailey

Matt and the boys

Matt and Cayden

And then we took photos with our family:

The McGhee clan

Us with Matt's parents

With Grandma McGhee

Me and my brothers

The Adams clan

We had a receiving line for the first thirty minutes of our reception and then we got food. During dinner, Matt's twin nieces, Johanita and Jeraldine, kept coming up to us and asking when we were going to cut the cake. They clearly wanted cake so bad! Iit made me laugh every time they came over.

Then Matt didn't feel like he had taken enough photos with his nieces and nephews, so he took them aside and had the photographer snap some photos.

Clearly we couldn't get Jaime and Calay in the same photo

We asked Matt's friend, Dave Romney, to emcee the program. We asked Matt's high school friend, Matt Fairbanks, and my Pacific Beach roomie, Dawn Stratton, to share a few things about Matt and I.

Dave Romney

Dawn Stratton

Matt Fairbanks

Next, we had each of our parents share a few words. This was funny because both of our dads enjoy speaking in public but both of our moms do not, and they were hoping to get out of it. But we wouldn't let them. I was hoping, that by asking my dad to speak, he wouldn't try to bust out his Elvis suit he had always threatened me with. What I didn't know, was that he brought the Elvis suit anyway but wasn't feeling well enough to put it on. Once my parents drove back up to Nor Cal they went straight to the ER, where they found out my dad had pneumonia.

Matt's dad, Lane

Matt's mom, Kathy

My mom, Linda

My dad, Barry

Next, Matt and I both shared a few words. I stole an idea from my roomie, Terrie, who had been married a month or two before me, to share a few interesting statistics about each of us. I asked people to stand if the stat applied to them. These included asking people to stand if...
- Matt had provided tech support for them, which was a lot!
- I had ever been their roommate, which was also a lot!
- Matt or I had known them since their birth
- They had known us since our birth
- They had ever worked with us
- They had ever busted a move with us
- Played Fantasy Football with Matt

During Matt speech, he was sweet and shared how much he loved me.

Then we cut the cake:

And we had our first dance, then a daddy-daughter dance, and mother-son dance:

Then we invited our wedding party to have their own dance:

And Matt got to dance with his Grandma McGhee:

And then we all hit the dance floor together for some rockin' good times:

Finally Matt and I decided we needed to leave while the party was hoppin'. So we loaded into the old station wagon to depart. Once we got down the street, Matt's nephew, Cayden, popped his head out of the backseat, and said "How's it goin' guys?" Matt and I looked at each other and laughed, and Matt stopped the car. He opened up the back and Cayden went running down the street, back to the house, with hands held up in victory. The crowd went wild with laughter and cheers when they discovered the prank.

Here are some other photos of people are our reception: