Young love usually does not last but when Leeann and Patrick met in the hall in high school this was not the case. Shy at first, as she was a freshman and he was a sophomore, they began hanging out and were soon inseparable and vowed at this young age to be together forever. After 8 years of dating exclusively, Patrick proposed to Leeann in a romantic outdoor setting behind his family home complete with fairy lights and music.  The highlight of the proposal was gaining the blessing of Patrick’s grandfather who was visiting at the time from India and the “puppy” they shared barked his approval.

Because they knew each other so well, wedding planning was easy. Although a very elegant affair, you can see by the beautiful pictures that things were laid back and everyone enjoyed this special day.  From the wedding meal menu which held their favorite comfort foods to the first dance that they learned the steps to by watching YouTube, every detail held special meaning to this sentimental couple. Enjoy the photos of their gorgeous wedding at Villa Anotia and read their special love story.

How and when did you two meet? When did you know he/she was “the one”?

Patrick and I met my freshman and his sophomore year of high school. We were introduced in the Spanish hallway by a mutual friend who had been telling me about Patrick for a long time. When I saw Patrick walk out of his classroom and introduce himself to me, I awkwardly said “Hi” and immediately ran away! I didn’t expect him to be so tall and cute!! He ended up asking someone for my number and texted me the next day to hangout, and we’ve been hanging out basically every day since! We’re each others best friends and started talking about marriage at a very young age. It was hard to picture a life without each other, so we promised to never do it! After 8 years of dating, he finally popped the question and it was the easiest “Yes!” of my life! 

Do you have a super romantic proposal story or engagement memory?

Well, I was headed over to Patrick’s house to meet his grandfather for the very first time (he’s 88 years old and lives in India) so traveling can be hard for him. But I was so excited to go to dinner to meet him. When I pulled up to Patrick’s house, he got me out of the car and walked me to the lake in his backyard — a spot that holds a lot of amazing memories for us. He had made a beautiful arc of twinkle lights and a bonfire. As we were walking up to it, I was balling my eyes out because he was playing our favorite artist, Daniel Caesar, on the speaker. We talked for a little bit about our life and how it’s so crazy that we’re here right now, and then he got down on one knee and asked me to officially spend the rest of my life with him. It was truly a night I’ll never forget and would do anything to relive it over and over again. And what made it even more special was when we went inside his house, our families and Gage (our son/dog), were there to congratulate us. I finally met his grandfather, and he gave me his blessing and whispered to me that I was going to be a great wife for Patrick. 

Tell us about your wedding style. When you sat down to really figure out how your dream wedding would look, did you start with one central color, a palette of colors, or a theme that served as your inspiration?

When we started to plan our wedding- we first sat down and wrote down a few words we wanted our wedding to “speak”. We decided on intimate, romantic, and whimsical. Which then brought us to our color scheme. We wanted it to be very soft and dreamy- so we went with blushes and nudes. And most of all, we really wanted the wedding to describe us and our love. Which is very laid back and chill! So for food, we went with our favorite comfort foods, nothing fancy! Chicken and waffles, tacos, a pizza bar, buffalo wings, and samosas to tie into Patrick’s Indian heritage. 

What did you enjoy most about the process of planning your wedding?

Seeing everything come together! There were definitely times where we would second guess ourselves on things, like the color of the guys suits, bridesmaid dresses, table clothes, the ceremony arch, etc.! We knew we loved it all individually, but just wanted it all to look good together… and IT DID! It all ended up looking so so perfect and I wish I could go back and tell myself during the planning process to calm down and that it was all going to be okay! 

Looking back, was there a really special moment that you remember from your wedding that stands out as the most magical?

I really loved Patrick and I’s “last dance”. While everyone went outside to prepare for the sparkler exit, we stayed and danced one last time together in the chapel. It was nice to have some alone time and soak that last moment of our big day in. 

Did you have a special song that you danced to as your first dance? How did you choose it?

Our first dance was to “Lover” by Taylor Swift. We decided on that song because the lyrics truly describe our love and life together perfectly. AND there was a dance tutorial to it on YouTube so we decided to learn our first dance in the living room, and save money by not paying for dancing lessons! 

Do you have any tips for couples planning their wedding?

Try to stay organized! I bought a tri-fold board from the Dollar Tree and labeled a bunch of sticky notes with “task” we needed to get done for the wedding. I wrote on the board “To Do”, “Doing” and Done” and would move the sticky notes over every time we checked something off our list! This helped us visually see how much we had left to do and was so satisfying to move everything over to the “Done” section!! 

How was your experience with Svetlana Photography?

We are OBSESSSSSSSED with our wedding photos! The whole day was magical and Svetlana’s pictures truly embody that. Throughout the entire process, she was so great to work with and did a great job of being all over the place for us. We received our photos about 7 weeks after the wedding and all of our friends and family can’t stop talking about them.  Can’t rave about her enough!

What are your day jobs/hobbies?

I work in Social Media Marketing and Patrick is in construction management. In our free time, we love to have our friends over, cook new recipes, and binge watch movies!

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Wedding Ceremony & Reception: Villa Antonia

Planner/Coordinator: me and my mom, with day of help by Chris at Villa Antonia! 

Officiant: Randy Gonzales (stepdad)

Ring: Uptown Diamond

Dress: Milla Nova

Shoes: Sam Edelman

Tux: The Black Tux

Bridesmaid Dresses: BHLDN

Florist: Visually Lyrics

DJ: Texas Pro DJ 

Harpist: Angelic Strings

Caterer: Redbook Chef

Cake: Michelle’s Patisserie

Photographer: Svetlana Photography

Invitation: Etsy (@Glamyland)

Hair: Kelley Alba

Makeup: Rachel Hill