I Married My Best Friend (for the Second Time!)

Last weekend was nothing short of an amazing and magical weekend for us! We had the distinct pleasure of marrying each other again. This time, in a public place with most of our loved ones. It was very special.

Max and I began the weekend by traveling to Seaside with our friend Troy (and the wedding cheesecake!). Also, the arrival of our best friends, and wedding party -- Daniel (Shane's Best Man), Melanie (Shane's Maid of Honor), Cory (Max's Best Man) and Jessi (Max's Maid of honor).

Friday evening, once the wedding party had checked into their hotel rooms, we held the rehearsal dinner at Mo's (near the beach). It was for close friends and family (minus a few who had to work). It was a fun, informal gathering designed to allow everyone to decompress and segue to a celebratory mood.

Saturday morning, we all went and got coffee together. Rehearsal was held at Noon.

The ceremony began at 3:00 p.m. and most people had arrived by that time. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty stormy (as expected), and not everyone was able to make it.

Pastor Jason (Max's former pastor in California) officiated, and led the way down the aisle, followed by Jessi and Daniel, followed by Cory and Melanie, followed by Max and I. We walked down the aisle to "Grow Old With Me" by John Lennon (our song).

The sermon was beautiful and there wasn't a dry eye in the house (Shane bawled through the entire service :) ). A favorite moment was when Pastor Jason said "May the Lord's love reign down on you" and heavy rain/hail began pelting the venue very loudly at that exact moment. Everyone laughed! We danced back down the aisle to "Love Shack," which was a lot of fun!

After the ceremony, we had toasts. Max's best friend Cory gave a moving toast, as did Melanie and Jessi. We opened the floor to anyone else who would like to make a toast and several stood up to wish us well. We toasted with Marinelli's sparking cider (this was a non-alcoholic event).

After the toasts, we had our first dance -- "Never Had a Dream Come True" by Stevie Wonder.

Since this was a "Roaring Twenties" themed wedding, our caterer had curated the dinner menu to consist of foods that would have been commonly served at dinner parties in the 1920s (with a few additions to accommodate our vegetarian/vegan friends). Dinner included: charcuterie boards, shrimp cocktail, goat cheese stuffed potatoes w/ truffle caviar, vegan croquettes, cranberry quinoa salad w/ roasted vegetables, rib roast w/ au jus, herb brined chicken breast, and lemon curd tartelettes for dessert.

Dancing ensued, and as you can see from the photos, we had a lot of fun! We curated our own wedding playlist long before this ceremony and it included most of our favorite artists, with plenty of music from the 20s through the 50s added in for fun.

The wedding cake was a beautiful multi-tier marionberry cheesecake made from scratch by our talented friend Troy. It was stunning to look at -- and tasted wonderful!

In the end, a fun time was had by all, and we really feel so blessed for all the love in our lives. There will be more photos to come once they are received from our professional photographer, but here are some candid photos we have thus far received. Enjoy!

In gratitude and love,

Max and Shane Chase