Andrew + Rita – San Juan Capistrano Wedding
Andrew and Rita has a beautiful San Juan Capistrano Wedding on a bright and sunny September day. This sweet couple met through their sisters who went to college together. After hearing about each other for many years and after Andrew had met most of Rita’s family, except for her, they finally met at Rita’s graduation party. It wasn’t until about a year later that they would meet again and have their first date in San Clemente. San Clemente holds a special place in their hearts because that was where they became an official couple. And because of this special tie to San Clemente, this is where we did their engagement session.
After dating for some time, Andrew took Rita back to his hometown in Minnesota to meet his family. It was there that he got down on one knee at the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis and asked Rita to become his wife. Andrew is in the military and was living on base whereas Rita was living about 2 hours away. You’d think that would make planning a wedding difficult but they made it through and their wedding day was absolutely perfect!
Rita got ready at a family friend’s beach house in Laguna Niguel. It was such a gorgeous house with the prettiest view of the beach and the ocean right outside from where Rita was getting hair and makeup done. After having her mom help her into her dress and sharing some laughs and tears together, we headed over to St. Timothy’s Catholic Church where the ceremony was to be held. Andrew’s face lit up when he saw his beautiful bride walking down that long aisle towards him. They said their vows in front of their family, friends and God and sealed them with a kiss. Because Andrew is in the Military, they had the traditional saber arch with his closest friends in uniform doing the honors.
We then moved on to one of my all time favorite places to photograph, the San Juan Capistrano Mission! We had so much fun walking through this gorgeous and historic location for their bride and groom photos. One of my favorite memories from their wedding happened at the Mission. The Mission was setting up for an event later that day and had music playing. As we were in one of the corridors, a Beatles song started playing. Andrew and Rita started dancing and singing the song to each other and it was such a cute moment! I will forever think of that when I think of Andrew and Rita’s wedding day.
The Reception was held a few miles from the Mission at the Serra Plaza, also located in San Juan Capistrano. It’s a stunning outdoor venue that is setup perfectly for a wedding reception. There was a ton of dancing, everyone was having a great time and just when it couldn’t has possibly gotten any better, an In-N-Out truck showed up as a late night snack! How awesome to have already have a very tasty dinner and then a few hours later be surprised with In-N-Out! Good call on that guys, everyone loved it! All in all, Andrew and Rita’s wedding day couldn’t have gone any better. It was the perfect day and I was and still am very honored to have been a part of it. Congratulations again to the Captain and his Mrs!
A huge thank you to my team members Benny and Stephanie for all their help!
Wedding Coordinator: Meghan – Green Apple Events
Florist: City of Commerce Flowers
Wedding Dress: Casablanca Bridal
Reception Site: Serra Plaza
Catering: Sundried Tomato Bistro
DJ: Vill Miranda – SL Events Pro
[…] and different and I never ever get tired of hearing them. I had photographed the wedding of Andrew & Rita back in 2015 where John was one of Andrew’s groomsmen and Meagan was one of Rita’s […]