What a day! We are so amazingly stoked we were able to be photographers at Ashley and Kyle’s wedding because they have become lifelong friends. Break dancing, possibly the best charcuterie board we have ever seen, and a ceremony overlooking the Pacific coastline are just a few things that come to mind when we look back on the memories from their wedding. Kyle and Ashley are some of the most fun outgoing people we have been around, and their laid back, beachy personalities translated into the overall day of their wedding. Andy and I had to laugh throughout the day when we thought of how chill and relaxed everything was going. Encinitas is their hometown, and it only made sense for them to get married at the beach, followed by their ceremony at The Lux Art Institute just down the street. Check out a few favorites below, Enjoy!

Q: Tell us about your wedding! What was the inspiration behind your day? Did you have a specific theme, style or color palette? Did you incorporate any cultural or religious traditions in any part of your day?

A: Our wedding day had so much personal touch and personalized inspirations behind it. Most of what we had encompassed who we are and things we love as a couple. From the subtle dusty colors, to the greenery, vendors and food, everything was picked not because it was suggested to us or because we had restrictions and could only pick from a list of particulars items and vendors but because they were companies, vendors, and aspects that we loved in our everyday life and were locally sourced vendors and companies. Having a wedding that encompassed the city we love most, the vendors we love most and things we support in our lifestyle such as shopping locally and being environmentally friendly, was something we wanted to be sure to incorporate. The themes we went with was more of a french rustic greenery styled wedding with a touch of farm house (I know, a big mixture), but it ended up looking beautiful and exactly how we envisioned it! Neither of our religions played a part at our venue. We said a few prayers at our ceremony and that was the furthest we got into religion at our wedding.

Q: Let's talk wedding decor. How did you decorate your space for the ceremony and the reception? Was any part of the decor DIY?

A: All our decor was bought and made by friends and family. Majority of our decor was rustic lanterns, wooden charcuterie boards and plants. Any of our decor that was not lanterns, charcuterie related or plants, were either bought with the idea that family members could use them after the wedding or they were made by friends who own their own businesses and whom we wanted to support!

Q: What were the florals like in your wedding? Did you use flowers in any of your design elements like the bridal bouquets, centerpieces or ceremony backdrop? Did they play an important part in the overall style of your wedding?

A: Because I (Ashley) grew up in a family where literally everyone was a green thumb fanatic, This was one of the most important parts of our wedding. I was sure our florist was going to hate me for how crazy I was over making sure the flowers and greenery were absolutely prefect (side note, he didn't hate me and is an absolute gem!). Our flowers consisted of a TON of greenery, but very specific greenery; true blue eucalyptus, seeds eucalyptus, silver dollar eucalyptus and willow eucalyptus. It was also very important to me to have touches of rosemary in every bouquet since rosemary is a natural calming agent (just in case myself or anyone else got a little too stressed out). For the actual color and floral portion, I am very picky with flowers so this was a hard one. No roses or carnations were allowed to be apart of anything in our wedding. However finding the perfect white floral piece was so hard. My first pick was white anemones which was unfortunately not in season. By the time we finalized our flowers we ended up with white Queen Anne's lace, blue thistle, queen protea's, white dahlias, dusty miller, bears grass, rosemary and tons of greenery garland all over. We also had the corsages, boutonniere's a wretch for my girl dog, and a floral hair piece all of which included a mixture of everything we went with. Our flowers had to be one of my favorite parts of our wedding!

Q: Did you personalize the day in any way (food trucks, guest entertainment etc.)? What were some of your favorite parts of your wedding?

A: Every part of our day was completely personalized. Having a ceremony location and venue that allowed for us to start with a blank canvas and have little to no restrictions on imagination was very important to us. We chose to get married in Encinitas which is a very important city in our relationship. It was the first place we moved to, the first of many firsts happened in that city and it is the only place we can still go to and feel more at home than anywhere in the world, so getting married at the Moonlight Beach Overlook was without question! For our ceremony we picked an art institute, also in Encinitas, that also allowed for the same blank canvas we had at the beach. The venue we chose puts the money made from weddings and events, back into the school and art community , which was very important to the both of us. Everything inside and outside was completely transformed into a rustic french style greenery farm house (or at least thats how we imagined it) with a touch of art from the institute all over. Our favorite parts of our wedding was our charcuterie wall and the market lights that set the most amazing mood for all of our guests as well as our caterers who had the most amazing attitudes and food!

Q: Let's talk fashion. How did you both choose your wedding day look? Describe the looks in detail as well as what you were looking for in a photographer.

A: For me my wedding dress was not something I always envisioned to be a particular style, shape or color. In fact, I really had no idea what I wanted, I just wanted it to truly encompass who I am as a person. I ended up working a few months at a wedding shop (BHLDN) and in all honesty, found the dress I knew was mine within my first week working there when I put my first bride into it. It was the most whimsical yet boho dress with the perfect amount of detail, last, buttons and elegance. I couldn't have loved a dress more! For Kyle, he is one to wear a bowtie to every occasion, this time he decided a skinny tie would best fit this special occasion. He picked a weathered grey suit to match our dusty blue and eucalyptus green color scheme along with his favorite nut brown wingtip styled shoes. Both of our looks were picked completely separate to encompass us as individuals and ended up being a perfect collaboration of style together. As for our wedding photography, we knew we wanted someone who would not pose us and was a local beach photographer in San Diego.

Q: How did you meet? Tell us about the proposal.

A: In second grade I switched schools to Abby Reinke Elementary, the school that Kyle attended and that is where we first became aware of one another. It wasn't until years later, in fact, second semester of senior year of high school, that we both got a class together (computer class where Kyle played Call of Duty all class instead of doing his work). Fate would have it that we got assigned seats right next to each other. We grew to become good friends and a little under a year after graduating high school we went on our first date - 03.19.2012 Our engagement: The day Kyle proposed, we were in Odda, Norway and had planed to spend the day hiking up one of our dream hikes, Trolltunga. We planned to get a good nights rest the night before, wake up around 5 a.m., and start our 12 hour journey by 6 a.m. (Interesting fact, Norwegian summers consist of one hour of sun-down and 23 hours of sunlight so we didn't end up getting much rest that night). We woke up that morning, much to our surprise, it was a beautiful, clear day. The day before had zero visibility at the top of the hike so we were extremely lucky with the conditions we got! We got about two hours into our hike and the weather started to take a turn for the worse! For the next four hours, we hiked through 40 mph winds, hail, snow, rain, miserably cold and muddy grounds, and when we started to reach the top, the clouds disappeared, the rain and wind went away and the sun came out! We spent the last two miles walking as fast as we could to get the best view while it lasted. When we arrived at the top, Kyle told me to go find a place in line to get a picture (yes there was a line of people at the top of the hike, very shocking to us). Kyle ended up asking a guy to take our picture and gave him a heads up that he was going to be proposing. Our turn came and Kyle was just casually walking around the edge of the rock and I said "Kiki, what are you doing, there are people waiting" he turns around and next thing I know he's down on one knee, I cried, said "YES" and the rest of the hike down Kyle swore we were celebrities haha

Q: What was the most anticipated or special moment of your wedding day?

A: Marrying my best friend surrounded by my closest friends and family!

Q: Do you have any wedding planning or marriage advice that you'd like to share with other couples planning their day?

A: Truly soak it all in and enjoy your day with each other. The day really does go by so fast, you hear people say it but it never really hits you until the weddings over. I didn't realize how much of our time would be spent being pulled in all sorts of directions to greet people and then to say bye to people. If I could go back I would have our DJ/MC make an announcement about how appreciative we are to have everyone there and in order for us to get the most out of our night and to truly soak in every moment of it we will not be sad if you don't come say help and/or goodbye to us. If I could give any advice at all it would be to do everything in your power to make sure you had the most open schedule once you and your groom/bride arrive to the reception so you both can enjoy each other and the night

It was so awesome to work with Kyle and Ashley. Being how important the beach plays into our own personal lifestyle, it was great to be able to celebrate their wedding at the beach. If you are looking for a beach wedding photographer or searching for areas to have your wedding at on the beach in San Diego, make sure to reach out as we have tons of recommendations of venues and areas to have your wedding here in San Diego.

We are local San Diego wedding photographers and live in Pacific Beach. We love living here in San Diego and having so many different options for places to shoot at the beach! From the caves at Sunset Cliffs all the way up to the pier in Oceanside, there are so many different unique areas for engagement photos or beach weddings. If you are looking for new locations that have not been overdone make sure to shoot us a message! Can’t wait to talk soon.