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In Love's Garden

When Kimberly Carmichael met Steve Jones, it was at an event some might consider less than romantic—the annual Supercross at Qualcomm Stadium. Kimberly had gone with friends from high school while Steve was with a coworker who knew Kimberly. He introduced the two and when Kimberly went back to college in Denver, she and Steve maintained a long-distance romance. After the school year ended, she came back to San Diego to start a career in real estate, and after two and a half years of dating, Steve finally proposed.

“I came back from an errand and there were flowers on my desk,” Kimberly says. “I didn’t know he had already asked my parents for permission and gotten a ring.” Feeling as if she needed to reciprocate for the flowers, she stopped for takeout and a movie. When she came back from getting her purse from the car, Steve was standing at the door, ring in hand.

Although she didn’t have a complete vision for her wedding, Kimberly knew both she and Steve loved San Diego in the summer and that became the focus of the celebration. “At first we wanted both the ceremony and the reception to be inside,” she says, and for a long time they looked for a venue that could accommodate them. But when they fell in love with Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa, they changed the plan to an outdoor ceremony and indoor reception. “The landscaping is beautiful,” says Kimberly, “and the hacienda feel was perfect. We felt as if we were in our own world.”

Her color inspiration came from her Justina McCaffery dress. She was delighted with the intricate pink stitching on the bodice. She paired the pink—a color she once swore she would never have at her wedding—with the original brown she had chosen. “I liked the two together, masculine and feminine,” she says.

A family friend performed the ceremony, interjecting with a few jokes to help ease any nervousness. While the formal photos were being taken, the 200 guests enjoyed tray-passed sangria, complete with customized swizzle sticks. Then, after the new Mr. and Mrs. Jones danced to Clint Black’s “When I Said I Do,” it was time for dinner. “During the whole planning,” says Kimberly, “I kept thinking, ‘This is a big room.’ But it filled up nicely with the number of people we had.”

Their double horseshoe monogram—symbolizing luck—filled the room as well, from the printed napkins and boxes for the candy table to the gobo light on the floor to the martini luge. The candy table itself came from Kimberly’s desire not to overcrowd the tables by putting favors on them. “We had tons of candy,” she says. “It was all pinks and whites and browns to match the colors.”

After everyone hit the dance floor to the tunes of the NRG Band, Kimberly and Steve cut their cake, a creation from Cake. “Everyone raved about it,” she remembers. “We chose three different flavors, one for each tier, and the banana truffle especially was to die for.”

The two then left for their honeymoon on Oahu. It was Steve’s first time to Hawaii, and to complete their romantic adventure, they rented a Wrangler to tour the island. “He had a Jeep when we met,” says Kimberly, laughing. “So it was like old times.”

Kimberly's Favorites

Ever After Events, Merilee Norman

Kimberly is the oldest daughter of the family so neither she nor her mother had any experience planning a wedding. On the advice of their interior designer, Kimberly sought out Merilee Norman of EverAfter Events. “We didn’t have a clue as to what to do,” says Kimberly. “Merilee was fantastic in helping us through the process.”

Merilee Norman’s five years in the wedding planning business has given her tremendous joy at bringing dreams to life. Her career began when she consulted friends and family about what she should do with her life. “I asked, ‘What do I get excited about?’” she recalls. “All of them said it was when I was planning something.” She worked for another coordinator, learning the inside of the business. When that planner moved out of state, Merilee struck out on her own with EverAfter Events. Her degree in psychology, she notes, proves valuable when it comes to matching vendors with clients.

Although Kimberly says she didn’t know what she was doing when she came to Merilee, she had definite ideas about what she wanted, having done her homework. “She showed me detail shots she had pulled from magazines,” says Merilee. “I just built on her original ideas.” Kimberly’s clear vision yet openness to suggestions made Merilee’s job easier.

In suggesting Annette Gomez for Kimberly’s floral décor, Merilee knew Annette’s work matched the pictures Kimberly had shown her. “The flower selection and romantic feel were right up Annette’s aisle,” says Merilee. “I knew it would be exactly what Kimberly wanted.” Annette’s use of peonies, hydrangeas and roses combined with other organic materials such as twigs and coffee beans to bring in the brown tones Kimberly liked created a modern romantic look that blended perfectly with the surroundings.

For photography, she suggested Tim Otto of Tim Otto Photography. “I felt he could make Kimberly and Steve feel comfortable right away, that they would click well. Tim would bring a splash of spontaneity into their pictures but still have a good mix of seriousness.”

For Merilee, Kimberly and Steve were the perfect clients. “It’s wonderful to work with people who are so excited about their wedding,” she says. “They followed through on things I asked and they did it in a timely manner. They trusted my expertise.”

Of her own happiness, she says, “At the end of the evening, it is the look on my clients’ faces, when I’m being thanked, and I know I’ve created this incredible experience for them, that I could never imagine doing anything else. I love it.”

Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa

“It’s just a lovely hotel,” says Kimberly of Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa. Once the equestrian center for the Black family, Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa is now a magnificent venue for those seeking a luxurious wedding with an Old California feel.

Kimberly and Steve had wanted an outdoor venue for their ceremony and reception, but when they saw the grounds at Estancia, they decided a compromise was definitely in order. Catering Manager Erica Hinshaw notes that Estancia is only three years old. It therefore offers a different, fresher environment than some of the other hotels in the area, yet it still maintains a rustic, turn-of-the-century feel. Much of the ambiance comes from the reused materials and the Black family’s request that the original feel of the ranch be maintained.

“Estancia has more of a residential feel,” Hinshaw says, “and less that of a hotel. Many people say it reminds them of Bacara in Santa Barbara or La Quinta in Palm Springs.” For brides, Estancia creates an intimate experience with only one wedding a day.

Kimberly and Steve were married in the Garden Courtyard where a fountain served as the background and the grand procession stairwell created a dramatic effect. Afterward, the reception was in the La Jolla Ballroom with cocktails served in the foyer and garden area. Kimberly and Steve not only had their French martinis served during the cocktail hour but also—given the hotel’s origins and atmosphere—Estancia’s signature sangria, both red and white. “Sangria is a traditional drink of the hacienda,” says Hinshaw.

Each menu is customized and executive chef Jesse Frost is delighted to meet with the bride and groom if they would like the full culinary experience of consulting with the chef. Hinshaw notes that Frost’s restaurant approach to banquets ensures that each dish is presented with perfection for guests to enjoy.

Because Estancia is located in the Torrey Pines area, it is not subject to the restrictions other hotels in La Jolla may have to impose upon celebrations. Receptions can run until midnight, for example, without fear of violating the noise curfew.

Unique to Estanica is the wedding concierge, who acts as the couple’s personal assistant throughout the day. Besides helping with the preparations throughout the day, the concierge runs specialty errands, such as making sure the couple have their favorite drink with them at all times. The concierge also coordinates the preparation of the bridal suite. When the couple enters, they find rose petals from the flower garden scattered on the bed and the music from their first dance playing. Several slices from their wedding cake are waiting with champagne for them to enjoy while reliving their special day.

Troy Bakewell, Party Booths

“Our guests loved it,” Kimberly says about the Party Booth at her wedding. “The pictures were such high quality. It was definitely not your typical photo booth.”

A few years ago in Minnesota, when Troy Bakewell was busy with his photography business, he stumbled across a photo booth at a wedding. “I was blown away by the concept,” he recalls. “I knew that it was going to be the next big thing, and I wanted to be part of it.”

Soon, Troy was setting up customized photo booths at weddings throughout Minneapolis. Guests had a wonderful time getting their pictures taken and soon began asking about renting his services in other areas of the country. At first shipping and travel costs were too high, but eventually agents were stationed around the country and the company was able to go national.

Specifically designed for weddings, the booths are elegant and add to the ambiance of the reception instead of taking away from it. They are accessible to the handicapped and feature a removable bench for group shots. But it’s not just appearance that sets Party Booths apart from the typical vendor-style booth.

“Because of our background in wedding photography, the image quality is one feature that sets us apart. We use studio lighting and try to keep it like a portrait studio with the photo booth concept still intact,” Troy says. A high-resolution option features an eight-megapixel digital camera for the finest results.

Party Booths is also innovative in its use of technology. All images are loaded onto a disk for the couple, and the company posts the photos in a private online gallery so guests can access the pictures anytime. “It makes a huge difference for the bride because often, in other companies, she foots the bill but doesn’t see the results,” Troy says.

And, as a free service, pictures can be printed from the computer to create multiple copies.

Though the nearest agent to San Diego is in Los Angeles, a Party Booth is only an e-mail or phone call away. In the near future, Troy hopes to have agents in every major city and even to begin franchising.

“Guests comment to me all the time about what a wonderful idea these booths are and how they wish they had had one at their wedding” Troy says. “Once you’re a guest at a wedding with a Party Booth, it makes all the sense in the world.”

Tim Otto, Tim Otto Photography

When Tim Otto was finishing up his studies at SDSU, he interned with a wedding photographer—and decided the business wasn’t for him.

“It was before the photojournalism style became popular,” he says of the experience. “Instead of 3,000 photos, we took 300. Everyone was posed and it was the same photos at every wedding. It lacked emotion and it missed all these things that were going on during the wedding.”

But then he was asked to photograph a wedding with a friend. The two documented the wedding, and the happiness Tim felt in the creative freedom he was given translated into incredible photos. The couple loved his work. They told their friends and soon Tim was busy in the very business he had avoided.

His style, he says, is a blend of playful and contemporary—part art shoot, part photojournalism. He photographs the moments and stays far away from the posed shots of old. But he also likes to stylize photographs more than what is allowed by the objective stance of pure photojournalism. To that end, he takes advantage of opportunities, such as positioning a bride to capture an architectural detail, so that many of the images look like art prints.

When meeting a couple for the first time, Tim asks what they feel is most important about their wedding photography, to ensure their styles will be a match. He includes engagement portraits in his packages because he believes it is an important chance to build rapport between him and his clients. “You see how they react to things and that means you can get some amazing photographs at the wedding,” he says. For these engagement shoots, he’ll suggest not only the proposal location but also some downtown settings for an urban feel or one of his “secret spots” in Balboa Park.

Tim is described as “magical” by Kimberly, but he gives the credit to the couple for the fabulous photographs. “They gave me a lot of time to take pictures,” Tim says, “and everyone involved was having a great time. The two of them weren’t stressed, so their expressions were beautiful.” He points out that having a wonderful planner helps with alleviating nerves. “A good planner nips problems in the bud before the bride even knows about them,” he says. “So these problems don’t show on the bride’s face. With Kimberly and Steve, they just looked like they were having fun.”

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