Photos by Capture Me Photography 

A couple weeks ago I shared our summer wedding ceremony and I wanted to continue with all the wedding goodness to share the highlights from our wedding reception. Our reception was held in same venue as the ceremony at Abbott Manor in Temecula. They have a beautiful garden setting with a patio covering the bar and table area and a huge custom-built gazebo over the dance floor. 

Keep reading for some of my favorite moments from our wedding reception>> 

We made our grand entrance as husband and wife doing a headbang to I Prevail’s ‘Bow Down’. Romantic, right? It was Steve’s pick! We picked out individual songs for our wedding party– including Baby Shark, T Swift’s ‘Me’ and Old Town Road… it was a fun and eclectic mix! 

After our grand entrance, Steve and I went into our first dance. We don’t have a “song” together so we danced to Jason Aldean’s ‘Girl Like You’ — we didn’t want anything too sappy or slow so this song was perfect for us! We threw in a few twirls here and there to keep it interesting. I highly recommend practicing your first dance a few times, especially if you’re adding in any special twirls or dips. 

Next came dinner– finally! We opted for a taco bar from Tacos Don Jorge and it was delicious! Carne asada, al pastor, chicken, veggies and allllll the fixings. Steve and I had done our tasting with them several months prior– we even went down to Chula Vista where they are based, which is just a few miles north of Mexico. You KNOW these tacos were legit! The company did a wonderful job catering our wedding and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. 

When dinner ended we launched into toasts– my dad, Steve’s mom, brother/best man Matt and bridesmaid Jacki all gave amazing and heartfelt toasts. We’re lucky to have so many supportive and loving people in our lives! 

Next up came our special dances– I danced with my dad to Zac Brown Band’s “I’ll Be Your Man.” It was a lovely and special moment between us and I know he appreciated my song choice. 

Steve then took his mom for a dance to Rascall Flatt’s “My Wish” which was very nice. Our guests were then invited to join us out on the dance floor! 

One of my personal favorite parts of our reception was finally cutting into our gorgeous cake! I’m not a big frosting/fondant fan and opted for a semi-naked cake with a light vanilla buttercream frosting– delicious is an understatement for how amazing this cake was. We used The Sweet Apron, a Temecula-based bakery, for our cake and she did a wonderful job. Our bottom layer was made with champagne cake and lemon filling; the middle tier was champagne cake with raspberry filling and our top layer (Steve and I kept this for ourselves– it was gone within a week!) was vanilla cake with a chocolate ganache filling. 

She used extra faux flowers I had saved from my centerpieces as decoration. The custom topper I had purchased from Amazon as a surprise for Steve since he loves fishing and I wanted to tie it in some way. I love how perfectly simple our cake turned out! 

We took advantage of the lawn area for some lawn games like corn hole. Steve had custom built these boards himself just for our wedding!  I heard the games got a little fierce– there may or may not have been some bloodshed! 

Speaking of bloodshed, when it came time for the bouquet toss two of the ladies had to dual it out. There could only be one victor though…

Congrats, Karen! 

Keeping with tradition, we also did the garter toss to the single fellas!  These guys are in it to win it…

Congrats groomsman Arek! 

We ended the night by dancing under the stars… and sparklers! We have to keep that spark going after all. Keep an eye out for more wedding goodness coming soon– including our bridal portraits, a look at our bridal party, getting ready details and decor. 

VENDORS

Photography: Capture Me Photography

Location: Abbott Manor

Wedding Gown: c/o BHLDN

Bridal Hair: Mishelle at Thomas Edward Salon & Dry Bar

Groom & Groomsmen Suits: c/o Friar Tux

Catering: Tacos Don Jorge

Wedding Cake: The Sweet Apron

Bride’s Bouquet: Chino Florists

DJ: Dellinger Entertainment