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Tradition Meets Offbeat

Lindsay Sullivan & Justina Estrada | October 13, 2007

When Lindsay Sullivan began working on a project in which same-sex couples created videos about their relationships, she had no idea it would inspire her to propose to girlfriend Justina Estrada. “It kind of dawned on me for the first time: ‘Wow, we can get married too,’” says Lindsay. So, when the videos were screened to more than 150 people, the grand finale was Lindsay’s proposal video. Justina said yes.

A few months later, life got more complicated than usual when they became temporary foster parents to Justina’s two nieces. Between planning a wedding and learning to be parents, they needed help—something that friend and wedding photographer Suzanne Hansen recognized. So Hansen connected them with Shelly Fortune of Bella Sera Event Design, who helped flesh out their vendors.

The couple’s main objective was to share their union before loved ones in a setting that combined casual elegance and fun. With that in mind, they fell in love with Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa. “It’s really hacienda-style, ranch-y,” Justina says. “It’s a very nice hotel, without it looking too posh.” Going for a simple fall theme, the ceremony and reception were drenched with lilies, hydrangeas, roses and orchids—in vibrant shades of red, orange and yellow.

For the ceremony, Lindsay and Justina each descended identical staircases into the courtyard—Lindsay escorted by her parents; Justina by her mom—as a keyboardist played Canon in D. At the stairs’ base, the couple and their escorts continued down a rose-petal-carpeted aisle. They skipped the bridal party, so that everyone could “just relax and enjoy the wedding,” says Lindsay.

The ceremony and reception combined traditional elements (Lindsay’s strapless white gown, Justina’s black suit, a Celtic handfasting ritual in which a couple’s wrists are tied together to symbolize their union), as well as unique touches (Lindsay wore white Mary Jane-style Skechers). On the social front, the wedding program included a quote from Mayor Jerry Sanders endorsing same-sex marriage; and table favors were bracelets from the Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights group for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

“We didn’t want it to be a political wedding,” Justina says, “but we definitely wanted to acknowledge what’s happening today.” In addition to sharing with each other the significance of the union, Lindsay adds that it was important to them to “make it poignant for other people who were there to experience this with us.”

Despite the serious touches, the wedding was hardly sober—in fact, it was downright whimsical and lively. Justina said “You betcha” instead of “I do,” and Justina’s 13-year-old niece served as the videographer. At the reception, guests hit the dance floor before the newlyweds even made their entrance. Lindsay’s classically trained cousin serenaded the couple’s first dance with Sarah McLachlan’s “Ice Cream,” while backed by an eight-piece band that even lured Lindsay’s elderly aunt to the dance floor. Meanwhile, guests dined on free-range chicken breast with wilted spinach or a vegetarian “presse,” which is concocted by pressing organic greens into a mold.

For Lindsay and Justina, getting married—whether or not it was legal—was the next logical step, but Lindsay says the celebration may have solidified and normalized the relationship in others’ eyes. “You had a lot of the same elements of any other wedding,” she says. “I think for a lot of people, it made them realize that this isn’t any different from any other relationship.”

Lindsay’s Favorites

Suzanne Hansen Photography
Suzanne Hansen prioritizes getting to know couples ahead of time, which she says makes wedding pictures far more meaningful. And, in Justina and Lindsay’s case, this was even truer: Though she didn’t introduce them, she met Lindsay and Justina separately before they met each other. She says they are a perfect fit.

As a wedding photographer, Hansen, a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute who established Suzanne Hansen Photography in 2002, also wants to be the perfect fit for her clients. That’s why her pre-wedding interviews average two hours instead of the standard 20-minute rundown of minutiae such as wedding date, venue and fees.

“I start asking them a bunch of questions—as many as I can and not seem like a stalker,” she says with a laugh. Hansen also shares some of her own stories to help make the couple feel at ease. “It’s a two-way street,” she says. “I want them to know me so they feel comfortable letting me know who they are.”

Although she includes traditional wedding photos in her work, Hansen doesn’t tire her subjects with endless staged shots—so her work is a mix of traditional pictures and candid shots. This creative technique, combined with her personal touch, helps her to capture the personalities of the people and the mood of the event.

The Fabulous Ultratones
The crowd at the Lindsay Sullivan-Justina Estrada wedding was captivated by The Fabulous Ultratones. In fact, the band played for an additional hour because nobody wanted to stop dancing, says lead female vocalist Judy Malings.

The Fabulous Ultratones, who have been performing for 15 years, has a large repertoire that includes radio hits, disco, rock, swing, country, R&B and Latin jazz. And the list is always growing as they add additional songs to the collection in order to meet couples’ special requests. For Lindsay and Justina’s wedding, the band learned Sarah McLachlan’s “Ice Cream” for the couple’s first dance and Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” for Lindsay’s dance with her father.

Aside from those two songs, the couple let the band do what they wanted. And clearly the band succeeded in hitting the right tempo and creating a festive mood. According to Malings, the guests started dancing when they walked in—and didn’t stop for four hours straight.

“I think it sums it up very well in that my Aunt Fran, who is 85, said that she would not be dancing—that she didn’t remember how to dance,” Lindsay says. “And there is a picture of my Aunt Fran with her arms up in the air on the dance floor.”

Haydee’s Creative Flowers
A fresh attitude and a commitment to realizing a couple’s dreams—not just playing it safe with bridal-industry traditions—is what Haydee De La Cruz-Weiner, owner of Haydee’s Creative Flowers, says her company offers. “We treat the wedding like it was our own,” says De La Cruz-Weiner, who started in the blossom business more than 12 years ago. “When somebody comes to me, I don’t try to control. I really listen to the bride and couple and figure out what their needs are. And it’s up to me to bring it to the next level.”

In Justina and Lindsay’s case, this translated to building on the already ranch-like atmosphere of the Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa to develop the couple’s fall theme. The florist, who loves to use bright, exotic flowers, created elegant centerpieces of roses and tealight candles and show-stopping arrangements of curly willow and orange orchid florets. Set up strategically throughout the ballroom, these backlit arrangements created graceful, autumn-inspired silhouettes on the dance floor.

The arrangements looked so amazing that one of the couple’s friends was even in a debate over whether the flowers were real, Lindsay says. “At the end of the night he plucked one of the petals off the flowers and realized they were real.”

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