Real Wedding: Cami & Tim

“Our theme was French Country meets Backyard Bash,” says Cami Atwood, whose mom invited 140 guests to her Leucadia home for her daughter’s marriage to Tim AhSing. Marrying at home became the obvious answer when the couple couldn’t find a venue that would allow them to bring in all of their own vendors, keep the party going past 10 p.m., and stay within Cami’s budget. The wedding was a group effort. “Fortunately, my mother collects antiques and, thanks to her generosity and decorative eye, the look of our wedding came to life with a lot of her pieces,” Cami explains. “It was a lot of work, but worth it. In the end, we had a one-of-a-kind location.”

Cami Atwood, 30, met Tim AhSing, 29, at First Street Bar in Encinitas in November 2009. They’d both come from separate birthday parties, with Cami in a crown from Medieval Times, and Tim donning a full mustache. “We don’t remember much from the evening, only that neither of us had laughed that hard in years,” Cami says, adding that they have a photograph from the night they met. In December 2012, the couple hiked Machu Picchu in Peru. Tim got down on one knee just as the clouds parted for a picture-perfect moment. Their big day took place back home with 140 guests.