Venue: Stonebrook Manor
Dress, shoes and veil: The Bridal Collection
DJ: Elite DJ
Cake: Azucar Bakery
Florist: Tanys Strock Floral Designs
Wedding Planner: Touch of Bliss
Photography: Drake Busch Photography (Drake & Dawn Sparks)
How did you two meet each other?
For me (Connie) I was having a less than desirable day January 16th, 2014. My condo which I was trying to sell, did not that day. The deal was dead and I was a little bummed out. However, it just so happened to be my favorite little cousin Nikk's 21st birthday party! The Landry's Seafood Restaurant off Dry Creek Road was where she was going to have it (a Thursday-which is important, but I'll get to that) and I was going to show up with BELLS ON!! HAHA! In other words, let go of my bad day and have a blast with my family. I pulled myself together, got dressed up and got myself to the party!Juan has had a longtime friend that he met in the Army- Jassiel Caraveo, or "C" as we call him. On this particular night C was VERY insistent on getting Juan to go out to eat with him. He even paid! It was All You Can Eat Crab night, (A Thursday! haha!) and if you know Juan, he was going to go. It did take some coaxing though, right C? ; )And, as fate would have it, we both left at the same time- he brazenly asked me for my number and I gave it to him, which is not so much like me. I was a little confused by his thick accent and huge iPad he took out to take my number, but nonetheless, I gave it to him. He properly called a few days later for that date. I don't know, but there was something different about him for sure....So that's it.... we met in a parking lot. Happens to a lot of people, right?Our first date took place on a blizzardy night the following week. He picked me up in his "white horse" the Prius! HAHAHA!! Took me took me to a lovely dinner where we would talk for hours. He brought me home, got a little kiss on the front porch and that was it.The reallllll story begins now- Between our first date and two weeks later A LOT HAPPENED!! It was time for me to sell my house (a lot of you know this) which was a little hard for me (ok, a lot hard for me). This process would include cleaning it up and fixing quite a bit in order to put it on the market. My mom Dottie, dad Mike and sister Amber all rallied for me that Saturday. They came over and got to work cleaning, landscaping, fixing- you name it. Juan sent me a text that afternoon to see what I was up to (we had only been on that one date at this point and not spoken much on the phone) and I let him know that we were working on the house. He replied, "Do you need some help? Can I come over and help you?" I was like, what??!! This guy wants to come help me? He doesn't even know me! I immediately asked my mom what to do- I knew she would give me some good advice! She said, "Tell him to come over! We need help!!" HAHA! This is hilarious to me- I looked horrible that day, seriously. I was in dirty clothes, probably didn't brush my hair and no make-up... really not cute. But I thought, what the hell- we do need help and if he really does like me he won't care (and he didn't). He showed up about 30 minutes later (turns out he was living with Chris Perez-Groomsman- at the time only 5 BLOCKS FROM MY HOUSE. What are the odds?). I am still pretty shocked at this point that he even asked, much less showed up. Now remember my ENTIRE FAMILY is still here on this day. HE MET ALL OF THEM ON OUR SECOND DATE! My mom, dad and sister- geeshhhhh. He will tell you that he was happy to meet them, not nervous and genuinely just wanted to help me. I am thinking, aw geeze this poor guy.... that's a lot to handle on the 20th date, much less the 2nd. But he got right to work! He fixed everything in my house from the smoke detectors that needed to be completely re-wired, to yard work to cleaning my vacuum! I know... so gross, but my dad asked him to do it. Again, this can not be real in my mind. This goes on for the entire day and into the evening. I am so amazed and appreciative I ask him to stay for dinner, the family AM_SCRAYED (meaning gave us some privacy-thank you for that mom and dad) and we continued to get to know each other that night and had a great vegetarian meal I prepared. (Note-I was also a vegetarian at the time. I made the SPICIEST quinoa ever. Juan does NOT like spicy food, but he ate every last bite of it. I think he was starving! lol).... Wait, just wait- it gets better..... He came back the very NEXT DAY and did it ALL OVER AGAIN! My heart pounds thinking about it because I knew that day that he was "The One."We have been inseparable ever since that weekend and we will never be apart again. I love you monkey, so so much.
Obviously, I wrote this (Connie). Juan's version may be a little different, but we both agree that it was fate, luck, timing, God and a lot of good people that brought us together. Had ONE THING been different we would not be here now. We thank God every single day that we found each other.
What was the best memory of your wedding day?
Seeing eachother at the end of the aisle.. it was magical.
What would be some advice you would give to future couples as they plan their wedding day? Enjoy every second because it goes by soooo fast... Don't let all of the little details get in the way of your day and HAVE FUN!!! Oh yea, and be sure to eat a little bit of everything that you paid for!