Summer Nights at The Andaz

Jill and Blake celebrated their wedding in Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego’s lively downtown neighborhood, known for its nightlife hotels and upbeat energy. Jill and Blake, along with the rest of the wedding party, matched this upbeat energy perfectly as they danced and partied on top of the Andaz Hotel balcony overlooking the rest of the city as the sun went down. Here’s a recap in photos from their wedding day.

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: The inspiration behind our wedding was just chic and simple. Blake and I are both in love with roof tops, so we felt the venue was perfect for us. With being on a roof top, the scenery of the downtown area gave so much to the venue so we didn't need to add much. The color palette I went with was ivory, deep red/ burgundy, and green. We did have a religious wedding, with our Pastor marrying us. He married my sister and my brother so it was special he got to marry us as well.

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: I felt less was more for our downtown rooftop wedding. So for decor I had a lot of cylinder hurricane candles with some greenery. There was already a live plant wall that was behind the buffet style food which added a lot to the space. We had some lounge furniture and a lot of tall potted plants that helped with the space to make it feel comfortable and relaxing.

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: As far as florals I didn't have much. Im not huge on florals so the only florals I had were my bouquet, my bridesmaid bouquets, and our sweet heart table.for centerpieces I did lots of candles and some greenery. I kept it all ivory, white, and green. The main flower I really wanted for my bouquet and my sweet heart table was called the king protea.

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 was my favorite part of our wedding day haha but one thing that was pretty awesome was having all our family and closest friends all together celebrating with us.

Q: Let's talk fashion. How did you both choose your wedding day look? Describe the looks in detail. 

A: I wanted to find my dress before we decided on what Blake was going to wear. I went to BHLDN and actually bought my dress the first time trying on dresses. The dress I thought was my dream dress, was a hard no. I tried it on and didn't feel like a bride in it. The dress I ended up buying was the 3rd dress I tried on. It was a 3 piece set. A high waisted ball gown skirt, a little cami tank top, and a pearl overlay. It was so unique and I felt like a bride in it. For my shoes I wore keds by Kate Spade. They were a sparkly ivory sneaker. Im not a fan of wearing heels so I figured sneakers were the way to go for my wedding day. And they were so comfortable! For Blake we wanted something simple so we went with a black tux with a burgundy tie.

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

A: We technically met in college, but didn't date until 6 years later. We saw each other at a bar one day and the rest is history. By the time we were married, we had been together for 3 years. For the proposal we went camping locally for a night and during our hike Blake set up his phone to take a self timer photo and he actually had it on video record. So we have the whole proposal on video. It was special it was just the two of us and we drank lots of wine and made s'mores that night

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

A: I would say there were two really special moments on our wedding day. 1. We slept separately the night before our wedding and around 5:30 on our wedding day Blake texted me and I met him downstairs in the hotel lobby. We went for a walk downtown and grabbed some coffee and there was no one out! It was so quiet and calm and just perfect. We took our coffee back to the hotel and went up to the rooftop where our wedding was going to be in just a few hours and just took it all in. 2. The second most special moment for us was waiting to see each other in our wedding attire until I walked down the aisle. We both didn't like the idea of doing a first look and I am so happy we didn't. I was so nervous to walk down the aisle in front of everyone, but once I saw Blake standing there looking back at me I felt a sense of comfort and wasn't nervous anymore. It was honestly the most magical day ever.

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

A: For wedding planning just enjoy it all! The good and the bad. Planning can be stressful, but don't let the small things get to you. The most important thing is that you get to marry the love of your life and that's all that matters. And marriage advice, tell each other every day that you love him/her.

When it comes to choosing a venue for your wedding in San Diego there are so many amazing options to choose from. From downtown in Gaslamp to a wedding ceremony on the beach, San Diego has just about every idea you could imagine. We have been a part of so many awesome weddings and shot at some of the best wedding venues in San Diego and always love the feel that a city brings. Each part of San Diego is so diverse, from East Village to Little Italy. Although just minutes away from each other, each part of town offers its own feel making each wedding venue that much different. City not your scene? Look at Planning a beach wedding on the coast, from Carlsbad to Sunset Cliffs there are so many beautiful beaches to hold your ceremony and reception. As San Diego beach wedding photographers, we have mapped out or favorite spots for wedding photos wrote a few blogs on ideas for San Diego beach weddings! With so many top photographers in California it can make choosing your wedding photographer in San Diego that much timelier! Engagement photos are one of the best ways to get to work with your photographer before choosing one as it gives us a time to work with you and build a bond before your wedding day and we have met and connected beforehand.

Helllloooooo! We are Andy and Brittney, local San Diego wedding photographers and videographers. We grew up in Temecula, California and moved down to the beach right after we got married and have been loving every moment. We have been able to meet so many incredible people who have tied the knot and met so many amazing people in such a tight knit community including coordinators and wedding planners. If you are planning your wedding and looking for recommendations here locally or throughout California we would be stoked to share some of our personal favorite vendors! We live here in PB so if you are looking for a local Pacific beach wedding photographer or local San Diego videographer we would love to meet and grab drinks! Hope to connect soon.