Jackie and Mike’s Reef Restaurant wedding in Long Beach California was absolutely perfect in every way. Starting with their love story, we were swooning when we first heard how long these two childhood friends have known each other. Jackie and Mike met in KINDERGARTEN! How cute is that?! To make their story even better, the ceremony location they chose for their wedding day is actually the church where they first met! (We also got to take photos at the same lunch table where they first met!)
Jackie looked absolutely stunning in her lace gown from Dresser Bridal. Her graceful and elegant ‘do by Aly Mckinnon of The Parlor Hair Boutique framed her bright smile and showed off the gorgeous back of the dress. To complete her look, she carried a perfectly crafted blooming white bouquet from The Petal Exchange.
Mike awaited his beautiful bride at the end of the aisle in a navy blue suit from Friar Tux, with his groomsmen matching and standing by his side. Jackie’s bride tribe was dressed in flowing pastel blue dresses and paired perfectly with the rest of the crew.
Their reception at The Reef Restaurant was a beautiful celebration of love with all of their closest friends and family. DJ Tempoe set the perfect tempo for an amazing party, while The Reef catered to the guests with some delicious dinner! Before the lovely couple made it onto the dance floor, the scrumptious Sweet, and Saucy cake was cut and served!
Mike, Jackie, their wedding party, and their family and guests were SO much fun to celebrate with! The laughter that rang and smiles that were shared throughout the entire day showed how evident the love and joy these two carry truly is!
We are so thankful to have been a part of their lovely wedding day! Mike and Jackie, we wish you the best and we can’t wait to follow along with all your future adventures!
Mike and Jackie’s Love Story:
1) How did you both meet? Who liked who first?
We went to school together from K-8, but we technically didn’t really become friends until 6/7th grade. We actually traded off liking each other at different times. Mike liked Jackie, but Jackie didn’t reciprocate, and vice versa. We both finally got on the same page in 8th grade.
2) Tell us about your first date. Who was more nervous? What did you guys do?
We can’t really pinpoint a “first date,” but we reference our first trip alone to Disneyland as our first date. We were in high school and had yet to spend a ton of spending all day alone together. So it was a pretty big deal. Mike recalls being very excited and Jackie recalls being excited but also pretty nervous. The date went great!
3) What’s the proposal story? Give us all the details! Who cried first?
Christmas Morning, 2017. Mike bought a mini Christmas tree and filled it with both of our special ornaments. Both of our families were over at Mike’s house for Christmas morning to exchange presents before the rest of the extended family came over. Mike and Jackie were exchanging ornaments and when we were done Mike said there was one more present in the garage. He brought out the tree, which was already a bit of a surprise because we had done the same thing a few years prior. While our parents took pictures of us smiling with the tree, Mike took off the tree topper (which was a moose btw lol), to reveal the engagement ring on the top branch. The cameras already being out was the perfect excuse to be able to capture the moment when Jackie saw the ring for the first time. Mike took the ring off the tree and dropped to one knee to propose to the love of his life. Jackie almost immediately started crying which was very sweet to Mike.
4) As you approach the wedding day, what have you both enjoyed most about the wedding planning process?
Thinking together about little details to make our day special, and the small moments when we realize that after all of the crazy is over we will finally be married!
5) What has been the hardest part about planning your wedding?
The small details and long to-do lists.
6) Why did you choose your particular wedding and reception venue?
The reception location was probably the decision that the most time was spent on. The Reef was the perfect combination of size, location, view, and amenities. Both of us really loved the fact that our wedding would be Long Beach-centric because that has been our home and the setting
for our relationship.
7) Where did you draw some of your inspiration for your wedding day?
We tried to draw as much inspiration from our relationship and our lives as we could. The church is where we met, the Reef has a beautiful view of Long Beach (where we grew up), the cake topper, toasting glasses, and cake cutter all have a touch of Disney (which we love!), the colors
are our two favorite colors, the favors are playing cards because we love to play games, and the “late-night snack” is a cereal bar because that is our favorite late-night snack!
8) Where are you going for the honeymoon? Are you excited? Why did you choose that
destination?
We are going to the island of Mo’orea for our honeymoon, which is in French Polynesia. We can’t wait. We chose this location because we wanted to relax but also to go somewhere that we had never been before. We bounced around and looked into a lot of places and finally decided for a once in a lifetime event you have to go with a once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon!
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Vendors used for Mike and Jackie’s gorgeous Reef Restaurant Wedding:
VENUE: Reef Long Beach
PHOTO: Three16 Photography
COORDINATING: Devon Mercurio
FLOWERS: The Petal Exchange
CHARGERS: Knotted Aesthetic
DJ: DJ Tempoe
CAKE: Sweet N Saucy Shop
DRESS: The Dresser Bridal
GROOM’S SUIT: Friar Tux
HAIR: Alyssa Mckinnon at The Parlor Hair Boutique
VIDEO: Jared Fisher
CATERING: Reef Long Beach
INVITATIONS: Basic Invite
We were honored to work with so many amazing wedding vendors for this Reef Restaurant Wedding!
Loved reading about Jackie and Mike’s story? Show it some love by liking and commenting below! Also, check out our other recent blog posts like this NOOR Pasadena Wedding and this Villa Del Sol Engagement photography session!
