When The Estradas Met The Saavedras
For the past (almost) four months, I haven’t been able to post anything new here on our website. Bernie and I both were inundated with work and family stuff.
Even though the word “inundated” is synonymous to overwhelm or overload, we are most definitely not complaining. In fact, during this time, something truly amazing and beautiful happened.
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Sometime in May, Bernie’s family met my family—specifically, my cousin Tess (you’ve met her here on the website… she’s my Matron of Honor), and her daughter Lauren.
Tess first flew in from Virginia with her son Michael back in April to take care of personal matters. This was around the same time when Bernie and I scheduled our cake tasting. In fact, I shared in a previous post that Tess and Michael helped us choose our cake flavor. But we didn’t get the chance to introduce them to Bernie’s family because they were only in California for a week and their schedule was already full.
So Tess came back towards the end of May with her daughter Lauren to meet the rest of the Estradas.
Tess and Lauren got to meet three (out of four) of Bernie’s brothers—Santiago, Eric, and Dugaldo who was visiting from New York at the time. Unfortunately, Christian, the youngest of the brothers, lives in Amsterdam and couldn’t be here. Tess and Lauren also got to meet Eric’s wife, Jeanette, their kids, my daughter Arra’s beau, Cristian, and Santiago’s girlfriend, Anita.
Bernie and I consider this event as our “Official Wedding Kickstarter”. We started with late lunch at Ponte Winery in Temecula on June 6th, and then we moved to Lake Oak Meadows (yes, our wedding venue!) where we also got to enjoy some live music.
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Introducing them to each other was one of the most rewarding experiences Bernie and I had together as a couple. Seeing them in the same room having a great time and laughing together was glorious!
How many times have we heard stories about the bride and groom’s families not getting along, or worse, hating each other? I certainly don’t wish that upon anyone. No couple should have to deal with that kind of stress and drama, especially in the midst of what should’ve been a beautiful and happy moment.
That’s why I’m utterly grateful to God that the Estradas and the Saavedras got along so well…
… like RICE AND BEANS! 😜
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Below are some of the photos we took during my family’s visit to California. They say that images speak louder than words, but these images can’t accurately convey the joy that filled my heart having my family around for an entire week and seeing the Estradas and the Saavedras hit it off so naturally. It was a week full of genuine love, satisfying laughter, and even tear-inducing heartfelt conversations.
Even though our wedding is about us, the bride and the groom, it is also a homage to our families—the very people who helped shape our character and contributed to our success. ❤️
