Katie, Barista & Mike, Retail sales
SUM-UP OF THE WEDDING VIBE: We wanted it to feel like a big springtime desert pool party where we just happened to get married.
Soundtrack for reading: “California Desert Party” by Jonathan Richman
Favorite Thing
We have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to talented, creative, hard-working friends. We hired as many of them as we could for our wedding. Second favorite thing: Our flower girl and ring bearer were the children of our two good friends Shannon and Tim Marvin. When the kids learned they would participate in the wedding, they picked teams! Daisy was Team Katie. Townes was Team Mike. We tried to explain to them that marriage is about rooting for two people on the same team, but they were having none of it.
Other Cool Stuff
1. I wore an heirloom family wedding dress, which was sewn for my mother’s wedding in 1967 in San Francisco. I was the fourth woman in my family to wear it, after my mother, my aunt Helen, and my cousin Fiona. Miraculously, none of us needed to alter it for fit; the changes Loyce made were purely aesthetic. The dress was old, but it was also new, it was borrowed, and it was blue.
2. Since we hired so many friends to work they event, they were invited to stay at Hicksville along with our wedding party. For example, we didn’t have a wedding planner. But our good friend and guest Erin Buckley from Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a wedding planner. Her advice and guidance was invaluable. And our DJs (Hungry Beat) are friends of ours who matched perfectly the sounds to the spirit of the wedding. They specialize in Northern British Soul, but the three of them have a vast repertoire. We were able to support the businesses of our nearest and dearest. Then, we had a big ol’ party.
3. Hicksville Trailer Palace turned out to be a super fun location and recording studio in Joshua Tree, California. They have custom trailers, pinball games, mini golf, a hot tub, a BB gun range, a truly excellent wedding package, and a beer vending machine. “It’s not a trailer park, it’s a trailer palace!”
4. Gina, our photographer, has known Mike for nearly fifteen years, and is a dear friend to Katie. She is incredibly well organized with a gift for putting people at ease and getting relaxed, joyful smiles out of even large groups. And she has amazing instincts—as the sunset grew increasingly spectacular, she grabbed us by the elbows for an impromptu shoot beyond the Hicksville grounds. She captured some really genuine, beautiful moments.
5. Not long before Mike and I became engaged, my father became very ill. It was a very emotional time for the both of us, but I was happy to be able to tell my father in the hospital that I, his youngest, would have someone to take care of and someone to take care of me. The day after we returned from visiting him in the hospital, my father died in his sleep. We lit a candle for him during our vows. The engagement, meanwhile, happened over the weekend of Mike’s sister’s wedding. One year later, she and her husband attended our wedding with their beautiful newborn daughter, Ireland. She is a joy.
