Love does not always come at the perfect time, in the perfect place. In fact, it may even come in the least expected moments. One of our lovely brides might never have met the love of her life had she not agreed to show up to a less than perfect place.
Originally from Michigan, Peter’s career had moved him around quite a bit. In January of 2015, he found himself in a new role in southern California. His new team wanted to take their new boss out for a night on the town to show him what Cali was all about.
In another part of town, the reluctant Maria was not so ecstatic about her plans for the night. Her cousin Christina wanted her to join several of their cousins and friends at a dingy, slightly shady little bar in town. It wasn’t the kind of place she would expect anyone to have a good time in but Christina insisted it would be fun, after all, it was their crew. Everyone was going to be there and their friends were even bringing their new boss from out of town. Maria agreed to an hour, not a minute longer but when she walked into the bar, someone immediately caught her attention.
Extroverted and lively as ever, Maria introduced herself to Peter. As it turned out, Peter was the boss from out of town. After light conversation and a few competitive games of air hockey, she shared her phone number with Peter and the two formed a friendship.
Maybe the first sign that they were meant to be together came at their first official date. When Peter and Maria showed up to dinner, they found themselves in nearly identical outfits. The host at the restaurant said they were an adorable matching couple to which they replied, “This is our first date.”
They two moved in about 6 months later, something she never was opened to doing with anyone else. This is when Maria realized she had found her forever love. Coming from a close-knit Hispanic family, the idea of moving in with someone before marriage had never appealed to her. With Peter, things were different.
“I hated being away from him. You can miss someone, but this was different than the normal kind of missing someone,” she says. “Peter is a gentleman, he is really kind, sweet and strong. He allows me to be who I am and accepts me for who I am. He allows me to be independent and has never tried to take that from me.”
Peter popped the question at Maria’s favorite place on earth, Disneyland.
He surprised her in front of his family as soon as they walked in. Even though the two had discussed marriage beforehand and had even picked out custom wedding rings together, the proposal came as a total surprise for Maria!
Maria’s beautiful bouquet contained stunning flowers such as roses, ranunculus, dinnerplate dahlias, billy balls, chamomile and blue delphinium. While her flowers alone were stunning, the meaning behind her bouquet went much deeper than beauty.
“My bouquet was very important to me. It represented my grandmother,” Maria said.
The bouquet itself was made up of flowers that Maria’s grandmother loved. When her grandmother passed, Maria knew she wanted to honor her grandmother at her wedding. She chose to carry her favorite blooms as a way of having her grandmother with her on her special day.
“When I think of my bouquet, I think of that Mary Poppins word, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. It’s all the happy memories, happy tears. It just brings me joy.”
Maria’s preserved pieces were extra special. Her main piece was a double-matted 11x14 featuring her wedding bouquet, a lovely reminder of her special day as well as her grandmother. She also had her invitation preserved in an 8x10 double mat surrounded by her bridal blooms. Their final piece was a small 5x7. Before their wedding day, Peter wrote his wedding vows on a hotel notepad. What he didn't know was that Maria saved the small piece of paper and preserved this very real and in-the-moment detail along with his boutonniere.
“The way Andrea and her team preserve them in such a spectacular way, they look literally like in real life. I see the creativity, the dedication, the attention to detail,” Maria said. “When I look at it, I literally see my whole bouquet. There is nothing that is missing. Every piece, every flower is there.”
Over the last couple of years, our team has really gotten to know Maria. A friendship has blossomed between us that all began with us preserving her bouquet and creating custom pieces for her. She’s always been a wonderful supporter of who we are and what we do and we can’t say thank you enough. Even though Maria is located many states away, we know that a true friendship has formed. She’s gone from being one of our dbandrea brides to one of our gal pals!
We love that the nature of our company allows us to connect with so many of you! Like all good bridesmaids, we love celebrating and connecting with you!
