Marry Me In Paris

Everyone has their love story but of course mine is my favorite. Steven and I are high school sweethearts as you know. I was 16 and he was 17 when we met. We've been together for 14 years now. Which 4 of those we've been officially married for. Our relationship wasn't always butterflies and rainbows but I knew at the young age of 17 that I would marry him one day. (You can ask my cousin Efrain this because I did tell him that one day.) Which fortunately I did and we had the most beautiful and magical Parisian wedding ever!

We decided that we wanted to elope since we had been together for almost 10 years and lived together for about a little over half of our relationship, so technically by common law we were kinda already married. When we made the final decision that we were eloping we then knew that this was a great advantage to use my flight benefits. Before this trip we had never been to Europe. So Steven came up with Paris and seriously I mean how much more romantic can you get right!

(On my bouquet I added a small picture in a necklace frame of my mother in law, who is no longer here with us on earth. But she definitely was there in spirit with us on our special day.)

First things first, we booked our wonderful photographer Juliane Berry. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to hire someone that was going to take amazing pictures because that's all I would have to look back at one day. And I thank God for google search. I came across Juliane's website and contacted her right away. She made me feel at ease since she is American and spoke English. Right after that everything literally fell into place. My mom and sister came with me to pick out my wedding dress. Which was a beautiful Vera Wang mermaid dress. (I still have it packed and I probably will never part ways with it! Haha) Steven got his suit from ZARA and we booked our hotel for the week. The best part of this experience was that our family decided to come with us. Next thing you know we were on a flight to Paris!

Let me tell you something, never ever did this girl from South Central LA ever think she would be marrying her best friend in Paris, France. It was literally a dream come true! May 5th 2013 came right before you knew it. That day was so beautiful. It was a little overcast, the cherry blossom trees were covered in flowers, and it felt like we had the city to ourselves. Julian had suggested to meet at 8am to beat the crowd. It was perfect! We had a small ceremony performed for our family at The Tuileries Garden.

Right after that we took pictures with them in garden and then headed across the street to the Louvre. There was somewhat of a crowd there since it was the first Sunday of the month and the museum is free to go in but Julian was able to capture some beautiful pictures there as well.

After taking a few pictures at the Louvre we hopped on a train to the Eiffel Tower. There was hardly anyone around and the few that were around we didn't mind. That day felt like no one else existed but just the two of us.

(A day before the wedding we ran into a flower shop and found the most beautiful bouquet of white tulips!)

Once we were done taking pictures around the city we had planned a brunch with the family at Brasserie De La Tour Eiffel, a restaurant right next to the tower. The food was delicious and the service was great. Once we were done there we had crepés from a local street vendor. You can't ever have too many crepés in Paris! After brunch everyone went their marry way to do whatever they wanted to do. I mean it was still a vacation. The day could not had been more perfect. I am so grateful for those who did come with us and I am so thankful to actually have had our dream wedding on a budget.

My best advice for those of you getting married soon just remember that the day should be about the two of you. To take it all in and enjoy yourselves. No one should be stressed over cake. Also invest in a good photographer. I cannot ever stress this enough!

Paris for this reason will always hold a special place in my heart and I can't wait to take my girls there.

What is some of your best advice to anyone getting married? What are your favorite memories of your wedding? Or what questions do you have if you're planning your wedding?

Xoxo,

Magaly