With all the uncertainties of COVID-19, I had the absolute honor of coordinating an intimate, safe gathering back in 2020 for Aly and Dom to get married while taking a pause on the big celebration.

Fast forward 2021, the venue, the vendors, the couple, and I were all ready to plan a party of a lifetime! Aly, Dom and I sat down for the first planning meeting 60 days from the 2021 event, and Aly breaks it to me that she is… PREGNANT!! Knowing that I have been on this journey with the couple for over two years, playing a huge role in their private elopement and now another exciting stage of their lives – I’m overjoyed!

Now that she’s pregnant, the couple had a wonderful idea that since the professional vendors were already contracted for the celebratory event – they would turn a portion of the event into a Baby Gender Reveal. I bet you can only understand my excitement at this point. They had the doctors share the gender to me… yes me! And let me tell you, this was a true honor. It was tough keeping this big secret, but I pulled through; ordered the gender reveal cake and planned for the gender reveal. In addition to all this excitement, we decided to add another element from a connection that the couple had, which was light up bracelets that flash different colors. What better way to include this fun part once the couple saw the gender themselves from the cake and the bracelets would turn the color of the gender. Amazing!

Celebration day has come, and 100 guests arrived in San Clemente to celebrate the love of Aly and Dom. The venue deck and its view were gorgeous, especially during the sunset – nothing else quite like it! There was an abundance of joy that filled the day; but also such a relaxed day. Given that the major COVID stressors were out (in comparison to July 2020) and the joy of a baby on the way, made for a day filled with ease and celebration. It was such a special day (and into evening) to share with so many people that adored the couple and witnessed them grow, while thy watched their first year of marriage together thrive.

The wedding went on as they normally do — cocktail hour into reception. Cute Grand Entrance dance, speeches, delicious tacos, re-watching last year’s video and into the dancing. When it was time for the big gender reveal, we passed out the bracelets and pulled out the cake to the dance floor. Everyone kept asking every 20 minutes, “is it time? is it time now?” OH, we were all so excited. As the bracelets were flashing different colors, I waited for Aly and Dom to cut the cake, and see for themselves that the inside was blue! I didn’t have perfect visibility of them so I was working off the screams of the guests; when I couldn’t see exactly – I went GREEN before BLUE. As planned, the song “The Boys Are Back In Town” was cued and everyone wailed with excitement. I honestly don’t know if anyone actually thought it was a girl?!

Aly is definitely a boy mom and I was over the moon when I received that envelope that said, “it was a boy”. Congratulations to the parents to be – you two are going to be such wonderful parents and I cannot wait to meet the little man! JANUARY HERE WE COME!

• Coordination: @alwaysallegra_
• Venue: @olehansonbeachclub
• Catering: @24carrotscatering
• Photography: @astrayphoto
• Videography: @halffullweddingfilms
• Florals: @shineandcoflorals
• Cake: @trishas_treats
• Hair & Makeup: @alijeanrose
• DJ: @neffectdjs
• Dessert Station: Terri Ferraro
• Orange Chocolate Cupcakes & Set: @lee-coogan