Orange County Professional Photographer
As an Orange County Professional Photographer, I just adore the couples we meet, whether it’s to photograph their engagement session, their wedding, various stages of their family life, or any combination of any of those, each one of them is truly great to work with. But perhaps our favorite part is to hear their stories. This is especially true for Grace and Trent and their Marina Park Community Center Wedding. A truly wonderful couple that we had the pleasure of photographing on their wedding day here in Orange County.
Grace and Trent’s story is a beautiful one as you can see below in their Love Story. Once engaged, they spent only six months planning out their dream wedding as their aim was to tie the knot on Cinco de Mayo! However, they still needed to find that perfect beach-like atmosphere for their wedding venue. After driving up and down the Southern California coast, they discovered Marina Park and fell in love! It was everything they were hoping for.
They opted to go with a first-look photo session, where they take their wedding photos prior to the actual wedding. This allows the time for photography between the ceremony and the reception to be shorter so that the guests are not waiting as long for the reception to begin.
Their first-look photo session took place at Lido House Hotel in Newport Beach. It had some of the sweetest moments of laughter and tears of joy! Afterward, they moved to the stunning outdoor ceremony location at Marina Park Community Center. With a background view of the blue marina and a flower-covered circular arch as the focus, it was the perfect setting for their dream beachy wedding that Grace longed for. Their bridal party even made a grand entrance by arriving by boat!
Grace was a stunning bride and had heads turning all day in a modern and elegant lace and intricately beaded gown, along with her gorgeous and perfectly curled hair, as well as flawless make-up. Her handsome groom was dressed in a light gray suit, matching his groomsmen. Pairing nicely with the light gray suits were the elegant blush bridal party gowns that brought in the touch of pink that Grace envisioned for their wedding day.
We would really like to thank Grace and Trent for allowing Three16 Photography to be part of your special day. We wish you many years of love and happiness.
Check out their love story. We hope you enjoy it, and their photos, as much as we do.
Grace and Trent’s Love Story
Q: How did you both meet?
A: Truthfully, Grace and I met on Tinder, or as we say “social media” to get off the hot spot. We talked for about two years prior to ever meeting up in person. At the time Trent was working full-time, about 50 hours a week, at Ruby’s Diner in Laguna Beach and going to school. Trent worked with a few younger students from Laguna Beach High School down to San Clemente. It just so happens that Grace transferred to Laguna Beach High School her junior year and was classmates with one of Trent’s co-workers.
Trent was coaching and mentoring Jake on how to improve his physical well-being. During the time they were working out with each other, Trent had a tattoo on his chest that says, “Veni Vidi Vici”, which means “We Came, We Saw, We Conquered.” One day Grace was at school hanging out and talking with her classmate, who happened to be Jake, and they were both talking about a guy they knew that has a particular tattoo on his chest, “Veni Vidi Vici.” Grace knew I had this tattoo from one of my manly photos I had on my Tinder profile. Jake came into work the same day and told Trent immediately about a girl who knew me from my tattoo.
Grace messaged me via Facebook, and we started talking about meeting up. We finally met up on July 11, 2016 and it was love at first sight… sorry to sound cliché! Since the best day of our lives, we’ve spent literally everyday by each other’s side.
Q: Who liked whom first?
A: Grace always had a crush on Trent through social media, and Grace caught his eye because she looked very exotic. Trent said, “I LOVE YOU” First.
Q: Tell us about your first date. Who was more nervous and what did you guys do?
A: Our first date took place on July 18th. Trent picked up Grace, but before heading out, he met Grace’s parents first. Then he took her to RA Sushi in Tustin at The District.
Grace was very shy and nervous. She was thinking to herself, “what should I say? What should I talk about? How should I act?” All these thoughts racing through her head as he picked her up and drove to the restaurant. Trent was being himself and made her feel special and as comfortable as she could be. We talked about each other and had a ton of food. Grace was vegan at the time and that’s why Trent took her there. RA (pronounced RAW) has plenty of vegan options that are delicious. Trent was vegan for about four months prior to ever meeting Grace, which is one of the reasons Grace even attempted to talk to him on Tinder.
Q: What’s the proposal story? Give us all the details and tell us, who cried first?
A: Grace and Trent flew over to Hungary for her sister’s wedding. Trent had been planning the engagement for 4-6 months prior but wanted to wait until after the wedding to ask so he didn’t steal Joyce’s spotlight. Trent had his dad make a 10ft x 5ft banner that said, “Grace will you marry me?” on it and he snuck it there in the bottom of his suitcase in a pillowcase. He got Grace’s cousin, Ester, and her husband Mark, to help with the banner and the engagement. She never knew anything was going on.
While in Hungary, Trent planned a date with Grace in Budapest. We started out getting some food at the Hard Rock Café. Then we walked up, what felt like a billion stairs (exaggerated since it was maybe 2000). During our walk, Trent stopped Grace about four times to take photos of her, as well as message her family to make sure everyone was good to go for the special moment.
We finally got to the first set of stairs on Fisherman’s Bastion, the Monument, and Historical Castle. Trent’s Heart was racing, and she had no clue what was going on. We stopped to take some photos and asked a random tourist passing by to take our photo. I thought she would know something was up by feeling my heart pounding out my chest. We finally walked up the fourth set of stairs going straight up the castle where you can see the whole city. As we got halfway up, Grace’s cousin and husband dropped the banner from the top of the castle where they were hidden. Grace turned to me, as I was on one knee gazing into her eyes waiting for the special moment to finally happen. She grabbed my face and kissed me with tears flowing down her face and hugged me while I was still down on one knee. Then I stood back up to my feet to plant our foundation together as soon to be ONE. It was very romantic and passionate. Also, the most important part, she said, “YES!” All of her family screamed and yelled, while hundreds of tourists and those passing by were all hollering, whistling, and taking photos of this once in a lifetime fairytale-like proposal. We took photos and then planned our dinner to celebrate with the family.
Q: As you approach the wedding day, what have you both enjoyed most about the wedding planning process?
A: We enjoy being able to create a very beautiful wedding together. We are very excited and can’t wait for the day to come. It’s been stressful, but it will all be worth it! I love watching Grace pick things she loves and likes as her picture-perfect wedding. I’m her biggest fan and support!
Q: What has been the hardest part about planning your wedding?
A: It’s been very stressful throughout the months of research, planning, and preparation. We are still finishing up the final details. We had some curveballs here and there, which were unexpected, and Grace had to take on more responsibilities while still working 40-hour weeks.
Q: Why did you choose your particular wedding and reception venue?
A: Grace has her mind on having a “beach” like vibe for the wedding with touches of rose gold and pink everywhere…. Oh, and don’t forget the flowers. So, we looked for the right spot and spent countless hours driving up and down Pacific Coast Highway looking for the perfect spot within our budget. Eventually, we found Marina Park/Bay Lighthouse and were immediately stoked to see what a great job they have done in the past.
Q: Where did you draw some of your inspiration from for your wedding day?
A: Grace was the mastermind in planning the wedding. Her mom was an interior designer, so Grace picked up on her traits and looked up her favorite weddings that were classy, elegant, yet modern with just the right touch of LOVE.
Q: Where are you going for your honeymoon? Are you excited and why did you choose that destination?
A: At first, Grace and I were planning on going to Hawaii. Then Trent got this random idea to go to Singapore and explore the world together finally as one. We ended up deciding the 24-hour flight wasn’t worth the cost and time we want to spend together. So, we ended up booking a flight to Cancun, but found out how dangerous it is to be there at this time and decided to cancel. Since the tickets are non-refundable, we are either going to fake a health reason to get our refund or we are going to go anyway and be extremely careful. Or we will go with our original plan and head to some tropical beach.
Vendors used for Grace and Trent’s Marina Park Community Center Wedding:
Venue:
Ceremony & Reception: Marina Park Community Center / Sailing Center
Address: 1600 West Balboa Blvd., Newport Beach, CA 92663
Vendors:
PHOTOGRAPHY: Three16 Photography
FLORIST: La Mirada Flowers 4 Less
DJ: Bouquet Sound
CATERER
Company: Lighthouse Bayview Cafe
CAKE: Sweet Art
HAIR & MAKE-UP
Company: Gods & Heroes
Name of Person: Alec Tenace (Make-Up) / Caroline Tenace (Hair)
DRESS: Bellasposa Bridal & Photography
GROOM’S SUIT: Hollywood Suit
WEDDING INVITATIONS: Elegant Wedding Invites
PASTOR/OFFICIANT: Free Chapel, Tom Anderson
Loved reading about Grace and Trent’s Marina Park Community Center wedding? Show them some love by liking and commenting below! Also check out some of our other recent blog posts like Mauricio and Yoselin’s Wedding on a Gondola, and Alan and Dominique’s Winery Wedding.
