Courtney, 33, and Michael, 34, didn’t know each other before their friends’ wedding. Courtney, originally from Ashland, Kan., was living in San Diego, and Michael was living in his hometown of St. Louis. They had met their friends as sophomores in college: Courtney at the University of Kansas and Michael at the University of Missouri.
The two were introduced to each other at a bar before the rehearsal dinner Nov. 19. Courtney’s first impression: “Mike seemed kind of grumpy.” Michael’s excuse: frustration from travel and traffic.
But at the wedding the next day, they had a great time together. By the end of the day, “Brooke’s mom said that we were arguing like a married couple,” Courtney quipped.
They parted as friends, and what started as a long-distance friendship became more by 2011.
“You can find love when you’re least expecting it,” Michael said. “We were just there to support our friends. Neither one of us was looking for a relationship.”
The two were dating long distance for more than a year, seeing each other at least once a month. They were determined to make it work, but Michael said, “Obviously there were some logistical difficulties.”
Eventually, Michael, now director of litigation technology at Aptus Court Reporting, joined Courtney, a freelance writer, in San Diego.
Michael proposed on March 21, 2014, at Mission Bay. He chose the setting because one of the first places Courtney took him when he visited San Diego for the first time was the now-closed Boardwalk Mission Beach restaurant. It was a place she liked to watch the University of Kansas Jayhawks, rivals of the University of Missouri Tigers.
Not quite a year and a half later, on Aug. 8, Michael and Courtney were married in a ceremony by the bay at The Dana on Mission Bay.
About 80 people attended the wedding; about 75 percent were from out of town — mostly from Kansas.
The ceremony was officiated by Courtney’s brother-in-law. The bride and groom had only one attendant each: Brooke and Greg Moore.
Like the Moores, who live in North Park, Courtney and Michael planned a fun and casual wedding. They wanted the event to reflect who they are, keeping things simple, but pretty, Courtney said. They decided to forgo a wedding planner and instead visited a few wedding shows, finding photographer Katherine Evans of Katherine Beth Photography and florist Patti Silva of FlorAffair.
Going to wedding vendors can easily get overwhelming, Courtney said. But by sticking to small local companies and doing without some of the extras, such as elaborate table designs, she said she never felt stressed out.
“The most important thing for us was for everyone to come and have a great time,” she said. “We wanted it to be more about our guests and to have fun.”
In keeping with their laid-back style, Courtney chose a strapless dress with sand tones layered in soft chiffon folds over traditional white. “I wanted something a little bit different,” she said.
Because they both like Mexican food, the reception meal consisted of a Mexican buffet. They had a traditional three-tiered wedding cake and a groom’s cake, which were created by the Grove Pastry Shop in Lemon Grove. Each layer of the wedding cake was a different flavor, ranging from mango champagne to chocolate marble and cranberry orange. To pay homage to their love of the Beach Boys, the vanilla-flavored groom’s cake was designed like a vinyl album with a California Girls theme.
They found the band, Luck Devils Band, during one of the band’s free, public showcases. The high-energy music had everyone dancing, Courtney said. Because everyone had worked up an appetite, mini pizzas and cookies and milk were served to the guests before they went home.
It was the perfect ending to their day.
Martina Schimitschek is a freelance writer.
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