Iconic San Francisco Garden Wedding

Patrice and Nick met in one of the most unique ways we’ve heard of: the pair were production assistants on former TV sitcom “The New Adventures of Old Christine”. They started out as friends and their relationship bloomed from there, ultimately with an inventive engagement proposal that involved Patrice’s boss (read more below about that fun tale). They wanted a wedding that drew in their love for California, Patrice’s Filipino heritage, and an overwhelming elegance and thoughtfulness. Sabine Scherer Photography captured their wedding, from the stunning ceremony at Patrice’s family church, St. Dominic Catholic Church to their Bently Reserve reception. Their reception venue is hailed for its opulence, so to add balance, Mango Muse Events and Violetta Flowers pulled in live trees, organic asymmetrical elements and garlands, and added meaningful orchids and roses (as an homage to family that had passed on). Of course, fun had to be had, so to kick off their reception, the newlyweds partnered up to do a medley dance that ended with hip hop. We love all of the injections of Patrice and Nick’s fun personalities and fascinating lives all throughout their big day.

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In their own words

How did you meet?

We both work as television writers now, but we met when we were both production assistants on the same show, “The New Adventures of Old Christine.” Nick had worked on the show for longer than me and was friends with everyone on the crew, so initially, I was hesitant to date him.  But we got to know each other as coworkers, then became friends, and our relationship just blossomed from there. Now, not only are we married, we’re also a writing team on the Disney Channel’s “Sydney to the Max” and are together all day, every day.

What is your proposal story?

Nick had my ring custom made (luckily for us, his best friend’s dad is a jeweler!), so I caught on when he started asking some not-so-subtle questions about my jewelry preferences. But Nick was determined to make the actual proposal a surprise and give me the one thing he knew I really wanted: a good story! I was working as an assistant at the time, and he conspired with my boss to pull of the perfect surprise.

On a particularly stressful day at work, my boss came in, panicked, and told me her cousin was in town, had lost her wallet, and was trapped at the Getty Center with no way to leave — and I had to go get her. Of course, Nick also pretended he needed to borrow my car that morning — so I was surprised when he offered to drive me out to the Getty, which was an hour away from my office!

I was supposed to meet the cousin in the garden, but as soon as we got to there, Nick got down on one knee.  I was so shocked I actually said, “What are you doing?! I’m working!” Little did I know, he (with my boss’s help) had made up the whole thing. Once I realized what was actually happening, I immediately said yes.  Tears, laughter, and apologies to my boss for complaining ensued.

What was the most important to the two of you while planning? Was there anything that you chose to splurge on or skip?

We had three big priorities: we wanted beautiful venues, really delicious food, and beautiful pictures to remember the day. Most of our budget went to those three things, and they were all definitely well worth the splurge. Our other splurge was investing in a wedding planner. We knew we’d never pull off the perfect wedding on our own, so we decided to invest in hiring someone and worked with Jamie Chang of Mango Muse Events. It was the best decision we could have made — not only did she help us put together the perfect wedding, she alleviated so much stress throughout the whole process.

There were a few things we did end up skipping: we splurged on more fun desserts (including a machine that made fresh, hot mini donuts on site!), so we skipped serving a cake and went with a smaller one for cutting. We also skipped doing favors, since we personally have never been the biggest fan of them and many can feel so wasteful. Last, since we splurged on our photos, we decided to skip the videographer.

What were your favorite parts of the day?

So much of the day was genuinely perfect and amazing, so it’s hard to pick just a few! But the things that we remember most often are from our reception. We had our parents, our maids-of-honor, and our best man all make speeches — and we feel so lucky that all of them were incredibly heartfelt and moving.

Our first dance also felt like the perfect representation of us — we asked our DJ to put together a mix of three different songs: “The Light” by Common, “Open Your Eyes” by Bobby Caldwell, and finally, “Ignition (Remix)” by R. Kelly, to end on a more light-hearted and silly note. It was the perfect blend of songs that were meaningful and just fun to dance to. And just getting to spend time with all the people we loved in one room is one of the biggest memories we’ll take away from the day.

Do you have any advice for couples planning their weddings now?

Our biggest advice is to take the time to make sure you pick vendors that you love! We wanted to make sure everyone we hired did great work and was professional — but we also looked for people who we actually liked and enjoyed talking to or spending time with. I don’t know if that’s necessarily something that people look for, but for us, it made the entire process a million times more enjoyable and way less stressful!

Also, if you can afford it, get help! A planner or a day of coordinator make a world of difference in the experience. And in our experience, our planner ended up saving us money in the long run, because she was able to guide us in making decisions that were more cost effective or creative for the money.

Event Credits

StationeryMinted
Wedding DressMonique Lhuillier
Groom’s AttireIndochino
Bride’s ShoesKate Spade
Bridesmaids DressesJenny Yoo
Groomsmen AttireThe Black Tux
Reception VenueBently Reserve
Wedding PlanningMango Muse Events
Event DesignMango Muse Events
Wedding CakeGenevieve Nicolas
LightingGot Light
Photo BoothGiggle & Riot
Other ServicesMills Wine Group