Shane and Erik’s Nomadic Wedding was held in three different places all within walking distance of each other in Santa Cruz: a neighborhood art gallery, their favorite Chinese restaurant, and their (soon-to-be-vacated) apartment. This allowed the pair and all their guests to parade around downtown in pure elation while cutting down on both cost and cleanup. Sometimes things don’t go as planned. Such is the case with Shane and Erik’s Santa Cruz Wedding. The original spot where they planned to marry fell through just months before their wedding date. That’s how their unique nomadic theme came to fruition. We loved these two from the first email message and we were heartbroken and worried when we heard about their venue cancellation. But as their brainstorming and creative minds kicked in, we started to hear about even better plans. We grew excited as we learned about the record shop down the street, a wonderful little art-space for the ceremony, a parade to dinner,  wontons and Tsingtao beer, their apartment and plans to empty the space before their big move to San Francisco, and then decorate it back up for their wedding reception. We ended their wedding day with big hugs and a promise to be forever friends. I can’t tell you how badly I wish they could be our neighbors. I’ll let Shane tell the rest of the story….

“We were lucky enough to experience a real ah-ha moment about 4 1/2 months before the wedding, we lost our venue, and all the wedding ideas that were tailored to it went with it. The original plans were lovely, but losing them was like a dare to do it better. Instead of a ceremony under a flowering apple tree, we would do it in the art gallery right around the corner; instead of dancing on native meadow grasses and drinking under the stars, we waltzed around the little beach town we fell for each other in and got down in the gutted studio we first called home. The first wedding we had planned was beautiful, but the one we ended up having was really us.”

“I was surprised at how much I loved planning it. After my ninth birthday, I basically sat my parents down and told them NO MORE PARTIES because they made me anxious (OK Woody Allen). Since this party was going to my first in over a decade, I thought I would be nervous and stressed. Not at all. Loved it. From scrubbing the walls of our teeny Victorian studio together, hands smelling of bleach, to stinking to high heaven from no shower the day before because Erik, I, and our band of merry women were way too busy hanging lights and pictures and metal dandelion sculptures to fiddle with such foolishness as hygiene. It was all an absolute blast. I miss it and might have to take up throwing holiday parties or something as, though I never thought it possible, it seems the hostess bug has laid eggs in my brain.”“The dress I had ordered from a designer was three months late and by the time it did arrive days before the wedding, it wasn’t even close to the design we’d discussed, making it necessary  for my mother to totally redesign, recreate and resew my dress. Later I realized that getting into my dress was indeed the only real hitch in our getting hitched, and that the rest of the night was fan-fucking-tastic and that’s pretty damn fortunate. As soon as I saw Erik right before the ceremony, it didn’t matter one bit that I’d forgotten to pluck one of my eyebrows because I was too busy being pushed and pulled and sewn into my dress by my superhero of a mama who barely had time to get ready herself. It didn’t matter that I used the wrong gloss over my lip pencil, creating a grated cheese affect on my mouth during the ceremony (I promptly swallowed all the little chunks), because Erik looked fine as hell, and we were getting married. And that was awesome.”For Erik, the groom “The most memorable moment of our day for me was when I finally got to see Shane for the first time that day, after hours of waiting, as surgical attention was being devoted to her dress: sublime”.From Shane “My most memorable moment was the way Erik looked at me during the entire ceremony. I’d only seen that look a handful of times before, it’s almost a sad face, sad in the happiest way as though defeated by the joy of the moment.” “We stuck with our gut with our planning. This was important. Why would we pay $45 a plate when our favorite Chinese joint was right down the street? Why would we buy a cake when our preferred sweet-of-choice was doughnuts?”“Decorating the house we’d lived in for three years for that one night was pretty epic. We put twinkle lights everywhere (I’m a whore for twinkle lights) and two tables in our tiny yard around the trumpet flower tree and that was that.”

Words of Advice:

“Time flies, so dig your heels into the dance floor and pay attention. I’d heard/read this everywhere but didn’t really appreciate it till I practically browned out most of my reception. Not due to alcohol intake, mind you; it was simply because I was in shock that it was finally happening and overwhelmed with giddiness. So stay present. Hell, I would even advise getting a little krunk. I think if I’d sauced it up a little more, things might have moved a little slower. Oh and wear a veil (I wish I had) cause you know, when else are you going to get to?”

Wedding Details:

Venue: Felix Kulpa Gallery &  Little Shanghai Restaurant // Event Design & Catering:  We (family, friends, etc.) did it…every damn bit. // Floral Design: Bonny Doon Garden Co & Blue Heron Farm // Dessert: Allbright’s Donut Shoppe // Bride’s Shoes: Diane von Fürstenberg // Bridal Headpiece:  H&M // Bridesmaid Dresses: Ouma // Groom’s Apparel: John Varvatos, Theory // Photography: Us of course // Wedding Featured on East Side Bride