We made it to Carmel in the evening, where we checked into the Tradewinds Hotel, then headed down to the beach to take in the beautiful sunset. We ate a delicious dinner at Il Tegamino; I still talk about that meal to this day.

Monday, March 13

Our first order of business was to drive to Salinas and get our wedding license. Once that was secured, we did the 17 Mile Drive in Monterey, stopping at multiple locations to explore and take photos.

We then drove down to the location where our wedding ceremony was to be held, Monastery Beach, to check it out ahead of time. We met up with my parents here, who had driven their RV cross-country and arrived that day.

Mr. Strange and I then headed to Point Lobos for some hiking.

We met up with my parents again for dinner before heading back to Carmel to rest up for the big day.

Tuesday, March 14

Our wedding day!

I had a nail, hair, and make-up appointments scheduled at La Coiffure in Carmel starting at 11:30 am, so I said farewell to Mr. Strange and walked down the road to the salon. The ladies in the salon made me look and feel beautiful! We were done around 2:30 pm or so, and Mr. Strange picked me up to head to the Tickle Pink Inn.

Our flowers (by Paeonina) and photographers (Jeff and Doriana from Sun and Life Photography) arrived soon after we did, and then my parents. Mr. Strange got ready first, then he and Jeff went outside while Doriana stayed to take photos of me getting ready.

Once I was dressed, we headed outside for our first look. After some photos outside the hotel, we got in the car and headed to Garrapata State Park, which was absolutely gorgeous.

Finally, it was time to get married! We climbed back in the car with our photographers and met my parents and the officiant at the large rock at Monastery Beach. The ceremony was perfect. We wrote our own vows and read them to each other in one of the most beautiful settings that I have ever been.

Once the ceremony was over, we took some more photos around the beach, and then headed back to the inn. We kept our wedding attire on and went to eat dinner nearby at Pacific’s Edge. A couple there stopped by our table. They congratulated us and told us it was their 20th anniversary, and then gave us some flowers, which was very sweet.

Wednesday, March 15

Our original plan for this day, before a mudslide took out the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge, was to spend the night at Post Ranch Inn and then make the gorgeous drive through Big Sur down the Pacific Coast Highway. However, it was not to be. We drove down as far as Bixby Bridge, where we stopped and took some photos. Then we backtracked, stopping back by Garrapata State Park, before getting on Highway 101 instead.

We made our way back to Highway 1 around Morro Bay. We could see an odd rock or hill in the distance, so we drove until we found it at Morro Rock Beach. We then continued down Highway 1 to Pismo Beach, where our next hotel, Inn at the Cove, was located.

Thursday, March 16

The next morning we stopped by Dinosaur Cave Park, near our hotel, then continued on through Malibu until we reached Santa Monica. We stopped at the pier here for some photos.

Finally, we arrived back at LAX where we returned our rental car and boarded our flight to Tahiti.