Today I had the privilege of attending a very private and simple ceremony of two friends tying the knot. I feel that we are living through so many things since the day we arrived to California, only a month ago!

Last night we drove south to Aptos as we offered to take the pictures of their wedding and they happily agreed. Their wish was to gather with the parents, spend some time together, have the ceremony and the photos taken and later in the evening have a relaxed and casual dinner at a restaurant in Capitola-by-the-Sea.

Putting aside that love was in the air at all times I have to point out the stress free wedding I have just attended. These days you just cannot get rid of super planned marriages where everything is arranged a year in advance and everything needs to be perfect, from the bride’s hair to the flowers at the party. Every single step is rehearsed many times and the enjoyable moments get shorter.

I have seen brides cry right before the beginning of the ceremony and I believe it is due to the pressure they endure and cope for months to have that ideal day.

Sometimes the parents do not help either since they also want to invite half of the world and they do not understand that the kids are the ones getting married, not them.

Either way, I point this particular case out because the couple was deciding what to do, when to do it and how. They were both glowing with happiness, relaxed and everything got done smoothly and without pain, the way I think it should always be.

We went to Sand Rock Farm and the “I do” was told between trees and little fountains. The sun was outside just for a couple of hours and lots of pictures and videos were recorded walking around, beside a redwood tree, close to an old wine cellar. The property is designed for the wedding business so  I guess you can choose to have a private little wedding or a bigger celebration.

In the evening we had a very nice dinner at Shadowbrook Restaurant (the one with the inclined elevator from 1958, pretty cool by the way) and we ended up the night the same way we started but some people in the group got new rings.