Although this is summer time now but we still can’t get over Whitney & Evans’s “Something Tahoe Blue” themed winter wedding in South Lake Tahoe, California! And Whitney totally rocked her amazing mermaid gown in silver cloud, which perfectly fit for her wedding theme! Keep reading to find out all the details of their amazing day!
All photos were taken by Reaney Photography.
Wedding Dress Style: Customized Version of #COLT1300F
Q: Any advice or tips for future Mrs.?
Don’t feel like you HAVE to invite every single coworker, acquaintance, friends of friends, friends of parents, etc. The guest list will get away from you very quickly, and it will be a whirlwind at the reception with SO many people to talk to – you want to be able to actually enjoy your reception, eat a little food, and maybe sneak in a dance besides your First Dance. Invite the people you truly cannot imagine that day without, and it will be a much more intimate. At the end of that crazy, fun, stressful, exciting day, it was so comforting to have the people we knew cared the most for us surrounding us!
Q: What was the inspiration behind your wedding theme?
We originally didn’t have a theme per say, just knew we wanted to get married in the winter because we wanted to spend the weekend after our wedding going snowboarding. We also loved the beautiful backdrop the snow in the mountains would provide for photos, and it helps that winter is not the typical “wedding season” and we knew we’d be able to save money on different costs. We got married at a church summer camp in Lake Tahoe that my family and I have attended throughout our lives. It was an hour from my parents’ home, and had very special memories for all of us. We ended up choosing various shades of blue for our colors because of winter, because we both love blue, and because our first dance would be to a song by our favorite band, Blue October. That combined with the beautiful blues of Tahoe, the theme Something Tahoe Blue just seemed to come about naturally!
Q: Tell us your love story! Where & How did he propose?
“Sweetie, do you want to take off your jacket?” He looked hot and uncomfortable in the airplane seat with his large, black peacoat on. “No, I’m fine.” He responded, and settled down to take a nap on our 6am flight from Oklahoma City. I shrugged it off as Evans just being his particular self, and focused on our dachshund who was in a carrier at my feet. Little did I know, Evans had a ring box in one of those coat pockets and he was not letting it out of his sight, let alone off his body. We were headed to see my parents for Christmas in Reno, NV, where I was originally from. He was from El Reno, OK and we had met at an Oklahoma arts college 12 years prior. We had dated for two weeks a year after we initially met, but the timing hadn’t been right for either of us. We ended up going our separate ways and didn’t end up seeing or touching base for almost 4 years, until one day we bumped into each other by chance. We were both in relationships with other people at the time and when those eventually ran their courses 6 months later, we started hanging out and before we knew it had fallen into a natural relationship. We were planning on taking a nice long vacation in Reno, and my gift to him this year was taking him snowboarding for 3 days. I had grown up skiing and snowboarding and had always loved it.
When I took Evans for the first time in 2012, he loved it as much as I did (and was great at it!) and it became something we did every time we went to NV. We had been to several different mountains and resorts, but this year we were going back to the same place from 2012, Mt. Rose. The next day, December 19, 2017, we were on the mountain and strapping on our boards to go down a few Green runs to get our feet back under us. On the first lift ride up, Evans casually asked, “So which lift goes to the very top of the mountain?” I pointed over my shoulder to the lift farthest away from us, and reminded him that the runs from that lift were all Blues and Black Diamonds. We had 3 days and it had been two years since we’d been snowboarding, no sense in killing ourselves the first day before we were all warmed up. He agreed, but then throughout the morning kept asking, “Which lift goes to the top again? That one? Why aren’t we on that one? Can we go on that one?” Finally he reminded me that we took pictures from the top of Mt. Rose the first time we came here, and he wanted to have some pictures of us from this year to frame together. I happily agreed, and promised to find some nice, easy Blues for us to ride down afterward.
Once at the top we took several pictures near the lift by some trees, but Evans felt there were too many people in the background. He pointed down the first run to a smaller, secluded hill covered in trees, rocks, and snow with a great view of the valley, “How about down there?” “Sure. You know we’ll have to HIKE up there, right… ?” “Yeah.” “Okay, cool.” It was a little hill off the trail that I’d always thought about climbing up and exploring as a kid but had never done so – this would be fun! After riding down the small trail to the base of the hill, we unhooked our boards and began climbing to take pictures. As we did I thought to myself, “Aaaw, this would be such a cute place to -” and then stopped myself. There had been a few times over the past two years where I thought Evans was going to propose, and when it didn’t happen I was disappointed in what was already a sweet moment, because something else I expected hadn’t happened. I was not going to do that to myself this time. I was going to enjoy this moment for what it was: another great snowboarding trip with my boyfriend. After getting to the top of the hill we took a few moments to admire the whole view of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Ranges, then started taking pictures of the view and each other.
After several pictures I turned away from the sun to take off my goggles and put my gloves in my pockets, and as I did I saw his shadow go down behind me (he had been waiting for me to turn around so he could pull the ring box out incognito!). For a second my heart leapt but I silenced it again, “You stop that! You’re going to feel REAL dumb if you turn around and he’s just picking up a glove he dropped!” I could see it now: “I Do! Want… that… glove… ” *Awkward silence* *Face Palm* However when I turned around and said, “Okay, now a picture of us!” he was down on one knee with a big smile and a beautiful sapphire ring, and said, “How about this first? Whitney Diana Hendricks, will you marry me?” Evans said I went went blank faced on him at this moment – can you blame me?! I’d been convincing myself for the last 15 minutes that this moment WASN’T happening! My brain had to play catch up! I put out a shaking hand for him to put the ring on and then suddenly we were both on our knees in the snow kissing, which fortunately he took to mean ‘Yes!’ P.S. I did actually say the word “Yes” after we rode down the hill to get a celebratory drink!
Q: How would you define the message “Dare to Love”?
I would define “Dare to Love” as daring to fully love the whole person you are marrying. That may sound easy, but each person can bring just as many cons as pros to the table in a relationship. Loving and accepting that person for who they are, and not expecting them to change once you say “I do” is a very daring thing. And allowing yourself to be loved the same way in return can also be daring, because it means accepting yourself the way you are (flaws and all) and knowing that you are deserving of your partner’s love.
Q: What was the best/most memorable part of the day?
There were SO many! From the first look, to the release of nerves as we walked out of the church, to the Bohemian Rhapsody sing along, there were so many moments that were so sweet, wonderful, and perfect. I’ll go with the funniest part of the day: Evans and I were worried about the garter toss because there were only 5 single guys at the wedding, 2 of which were our brothers and we had a feeling they weren’t going to want to catch my garter! We didn’t want to make anyone feel awkward, but also wanted to make sure the single guys got on the dance floor so we asked our DJ to make an announcement that there was a gift card for whoever caught the garter. When the time came, Evans sat me down and proceeded to rummage around under my dress for the garter. After a few seconds he came out and and whispered that he couldn’t find it. We made a big show of being panicked and searching for it: I stood up and jumped up and down like I was trying to dislodge the garter, checked in my bra, checked in his coat pockets, checked under the chair, etc. Our reception party looked confused and then started giggling, realizing something was up. When we finally pulled up Evans’ pant leg to reveal the garter at the base of his knee, we looked “shocked” and the entire reception party started laughing and applauding. Evans put his leg on the chair for me to sexily slip the garter off, and then shot it over his head to the single guys – my brother caught it! It was perfectly hilarious!
Q: What did you love most about your #CocoMelody dress (es)?
What DIDN’T I love about my wedding dress? The quality of the beadwork and embroidery was amazing, the fabric was high quality and gorgeous, and the boning and build of the bodice was so secure. I didn’t expect to find a dress that I would LOVE when I started looking, but this dress truly made me feel sexy, gorgeous, and elegant all at the same time. Every time I put it on for a hemming or to show my girlfriends, I didn’t want to take it off. I loved the color I custom ordered it in, Silver Cloud, because it still looked bridal but wintry at the same time, and helped me stand out again the snow for our photos. I especially loved that there was an elastic band inside the dress to clip around my ribcage for extra security throughout the day and while dancing – no slippage! This also meant that I didn’t have to hold the dress up while my girls were lacing my corset up, but could continue putting on my jewelry and perfume, and could grab a few bites of food!
Q: What do you think about CocoMelody and the customer service?
I think CocoMelody is great. At first it seemed to good to be true – there was no way I could get a wedding dress this affordable, and I was worried it was a scam. I’m still amazed, and tell every girl I know getting married to check them out. The customer service reps were so helpful and thorough helping me customize the dress and answering any questions I had. I feel like I had a great experience and would definitely recommend them time and again!
