Family-Centric Microwedding in San Diego, California, Filled With Pops of Green

When the ongoing pandemic forced Kelly and Joseph to scrap their original wedding plans, they decided to move forward with tying the knot, but with only their nearest and dearest relatives in attendance. The most important members of the couple's family-centric microwedding in San Diego, California? Their seven children. "The inspiration behind our wedding came from our family vibes," explains Kelly. "We love the beach and love simplicity. We are pretty relaxed people and have 7 kids in our blended family, so it was important to us that the day felt casual and fun, but full of genuine love." Kelly goes on to explain that "we personalized the day by doing things our way. We have a big blended family. He had three kids, I had two and then we had two kids together. I feel like that in itself makes us pretty special. Everything we do is for them, so we wanted to make sure the day included them and was comfortable for them. On our wedding day, they were ages one to ten. We only had our immediate family present. We originally had a large 4th of July wedding planned but had to make changes due to Covid." 

Every detail of the couple's wedding ceremony, down to the flow of the program, was family-centric. "We asked our family to gather around us, we didn't have any seating for them. We didn't want to take away from the scenery but we also knew it would only be about 15 minutes for the ceremony. We actually led our entire ceremony! Normally the officiant does this but because we wanted this as intimate as possible, we weren't interested in an officiant navigating this for us," explains Kelly. "During the ceremony, we also took time to share vows with our stepchildren. That was a really special part of our ceremony and I'm so glad we did this. Joseph is a stepdad to my two daughters and I am a stepmom to his three children. There were so many emotional tears shed during these vows. It was so beautiful."

Following the wedding ceremony, Kelly and Joseph took wedding portraits along the beach before enjoying their intimate, family-only wedding reception with Mexican food and a semi-naked wedding cake.  In terms of decor, the couple's "theme was a boho, beachy for sure. I like neutral colors but wanted a few pops of green. Green is my favorite color which is why Joseph wore a green velvet suit. It was really such a fun, relaxing, carefree day."