One of the great things about Three16 Photography is that I pride myself on our company’s ability to provide quality service and photography in multiple places at the same time. While I lead one team for a wedding in Lynden, Washington, we had another team in Orange County photographing Melissa and Phil’s beautiful wedding, which took place at The Red Horse Barn in Huntington Beach, where we have shot photography many times.
Melissa and Phil are two joy-filled individuals (who were referred to us by a friend!) who chose to say their “I do’s” in a rustic and traditional celebration at The Red Horse Barn in Huntington Beach, California. The incredible coordinators at An All-Inclusive Event did an amazing job at bringing every single detail of the day together perfectly. Melissa’s beautiful purple bouquet was crafted by Floral Design by Melia Carlson and paired perfectly with her bridesmaid’s purple knee-length gowns. Melissa’s makeup was done by Maven Artists Agency, and while she wore a gorgeous tulle trumpet gown from David’s Bridal, Phil was dressed in an all-black suit and tie. (Cue Justin Timberlake!) His groomsmen were matching him in all black, but changed it up a bit with bow ties! The whole bridal party looked like they were ready to be featured in a James Bond movie!
Vows were exchanged at the outdoor ceremony site which was in a lush green courtyard, with a wooden arch altar. At the reception, the newlyweds and their guests enjoyed a white fondant cake prepared by Cinderella Cakes, and music from Fly By Night DJs.
There’s no doubt these two love each other a lot, and it was so much fun for the team at Three16 Photography to capture this authentic love!
Melissa and Phil’s Love Story….
Melissa and Phil met the old fashion way…. in a bar. These days you don’t hear that as much as you used to. They just happened to be sitting there next to each other up at the bar at Gallagher’s Pub in Huntington Beach and just started talking. They hit it off immediately as evidenced by their first date to Second Floor, also located in Huntington Beach. And the rest is history.
For Phil’s proposal to Melissa, they went to Santa Barbara for the weekend. For the first night, they chose to camp as opposed to a hotel. On the first day of camping, they decided to go on a hike. Phil had been waiting for the right moment and thought he might find it on the hike. Then just two minutes into their hike, Melissa fell and twisted her ankle. Although Melissa was hurt, she refused to stop hiking. Phil realized that this was not the right time.
The next day they went into town and stayed in a hotel for the night. They simply just hung out and walked around the area, stopped and grabbed some food, and then walked down to the pier. While on the pier, Phil asked a couple of ladies to take their picture. The ladies said they were about to ask Phil to do the same for them, so he took theirs’ first. Then it was their turn. Melissa was preoccupied as she started to fix her hair, and then she starts to pose for the picture by grabbing Phil’s waist while still looking forward and not at him. But Phil was facing her, not the camera. Melissa looked at Phil and realized that he was dropping down to one knee. Phil proposed and Melissa, in COMPLETE shock, said, “Yes, of course!”
Melissa found out later that all the parents knew what was going to take place in Santa Barbara. Phil had asked her parents for permission and Phil’s parents helped him figure out what kind of ring to get. Melissa had had no idea Phil had been up to so much planning. She had NO idea!!!!!
As their wedding day was approaching, Melissa and Phil found that they just had a lot of fun exploring different wedding venues and sharing ideas with each other about how each one envisioned their wedding together would be like. They also had fun going out and grabbing food and drinks after they went to meet with vendors or are out doing wedding errands. The anticipation of spending time together eating and drinking after each visit and running errands is a lot more fun and tolerable. The hardest part about planning their wedding was simply, time. They only had 11 months from the engagement to the wedding and that time disappeared quickly. The months flew by and they tried to make sure it was all put together and done in time, which turned out to be a much more difficult task than they thought. It was rough trying to get all the details of everything done before the big day.
After going all over Orange County for three months searching for venues as their special spot, they found it. When they saw the Red Horse Barn’s website, they almost didn’t think too much of it. It was in the middle of Huntington Beach, so how could it not be surrounded by buildings? Not to mention, it was only two blocks away from where they lived. There’s no way they’d get that lucky having it so conveniently close. They went to visit the venue and happened to come across Michael Leitao, who was there showing another couple the venue. He showed them around as well and by the time they left that day, even before pulling out onto the street, they looked at each other and said, “That was the one.”
Melissa and Phil’s choice for a honeymoon is Martinique in the Caribbean. They could not be more excited!!!!!!!!!!
We hope you enjoyed Melissa and Phil’s Red Horse Barn Wedding!
