Today’s wedding graduate post kills me a little. Not just because it’s so beautiful, but it’s because it’s the wedding we wanted to have… and couldn’t quite manage. And while our wedding was exactly what it should be, well, old dreams die hard. So, I have to say nothing but wonderful words about the Marin Headlands Hostel, where I’ve been staying since I was 14 (book the small house if you can); and the Headlands Center for the Arts. And, you know, Kate Harrison, who shot this wedding. So here are Kelly’s wise words:
My name is Kelly, my husband is Oliver, and we live in San Francisco. We were married May 29, 2010 in the Marin Headlands, CA. There are so many amazing stories and gorgeous weddings shared on your blog. I want to share our story with you, not because I think we did anything so crazy or unique, but because we started as “not wedding people” and ended up planning the most memorable, joyous, FANTASTIC weekend of our lives. The only trick was to make it everything we wanted, instead of the expected, the “norm”. I hope our story might inspire others out there feeling lost when it comes to wedding planning.
When Oliver and I first started discussing getting married, we both agreed we were the type of people to elope. It would be inexpensive and best of all, stress free! I never wanted to plan a wedding. But, once we got engaged, our tunes changed. We were so excited to get married and knew for sure that we wanted to share that excitement with our family and friends. Oliver is from Germany and I am from Michigan where, for the most part, weddings are very traditional. All we knew from the get go was that we would NOT be taking that route.
People often tell you that the wedding starts with the dress; once you find the dress, it sets the tone (or maybe I just heard that on Say Yes to the Dress…either way). Ours started with a hostel. We knew if we were going to get all our loved ones to come into San Francisco, we wanted them all in one place for the entire weekend, so it was Oliver who suggested renting a hostel. The Marin Headlands Hostel is a charming building with 80 beds, nestled into a beautiful national park, just minutes from San Francisco. From there we found the Headlands Center for the Arts, right next door to the hostel. This place has such a unique and romantic ambiance, I think you could get away with no decorations at all…my kind of place.
I prefer to not look at it as a wedding day, but more a wedding weekend. A lot of Oliver’s family and friends came from Germany (our wedding was 25% German) and my family and closest friends came from all over the states. Most of our guests stayed in the hostel all weekend. (Sidenote: We thought the hostel idea was the bomb! This is not to say we didn’t get a bit of “we’re staying in a hostel?!”. But to all our peoples’ credit, everyone had an amazing time, even grandma shared a bunk!) Read More…