Photography

We are happy to announce we have found our photographer.

More details to come...

Wedding Coordinator

This weekend Joanne got to spend time with her good friend Sasha. Sasha has been in Joanne's life since Joanne started working at the courts in 2005 & has been dogsitting for her ever since.

We are happy to announce that she will be our wedding coordinator. She is very knowledgeable about wedding functionality and has a great knack for being organized and controlling chaos. Joanne believes she will be able to thoroughly enjoy herself on the big day knowing everything will be taken care of by someone she trusts.

We are very excited she happily agreed to take on the job. We don't think we could have found a better person.

Ticket's Booked

We officially bought our plane tickets for our honeymoon! Costa Rica here we come. We originally wanted to go to Australia but going to Costa Rica is half the cost...in almost everything. The adventures in the forests is what we will look forward to most of all. We both speak enough Spanish to get by, the basics mostly, so that will be a bonus. Joanne speaks more than Joel, but we're sure Costa Rica is used to English speaking tourists and our American Dollar.

We probably won't register for a lot of "things", so we can have more spending money for our honeymoon (*hint, hint*). If you have any travel tips, feel free to let us know.

We are so stoked!

7 Months to go!

We can't believe how fast time is flying right by us! We officially have 7 months to go till our big day. We have mailed our save the dates and are looking for a photographer, DJ, and a caterer.

Joanne has a photographer in mind, but hasn't gotten around to asking them yet. She also has a family member who is a DJ that she is thinking about using, so that's a blessing.

This time is so exciting and so busy for us. We have a lot to plan, but we are on schedule and are making the best of what we can do for now.

Can't wait to see you all in 7 months!

Wedding Dress

Today, Joanne officially bought her wedding gown. She and her friend Kelly went to Trudy's in Campbell for a 10:00 am appointment. Her wedding dress consultant, Diane, who happened to be the fashion director of the store, has worked at Trudy's for 8 1/2 years.

By 11:00 am, Joanne had tried on 6 dresses and picked the dress of her dreams and was at the register purchasing it. It is a gorgeous dress and was below her budget (which is always a plus plus).

When purchasing her dress, she got to meet Trudy herself, and was pleased with her good spirits which made her love her purchase even more.

Weather and Other Information

GROUNDS

Our wedding reception is going to be held on the same grounds as our wedding ceremony. One of our goals is to make sure we have a wedding where all of our guests can feel comfortable and not rushed. We also are going to make sure you are all well fed and have lots of leg room.

We are lucky to have a venue that gives our guests the option of being indoor or outdoor. The inside of the house will have a dance floor, a bar, and lounging areas. Since our venue is a Santa Cruz County Park, you have the option of exploring the parks grounds before or after the wedding ceremony.

WEATHER

Records and Averages on June 11th in Ben Lomond, CA
Average Low 51°
Average High 72°
Record Low 43° (1952)
Record High 88° (2008)

The Proposal

On February 20, 2010, we went backpacking in Henry W. Coe State park, in Morgan Hill, CA. The weather turned out to be rainy and cold, but we still pushed forward. We ended up hiking down (literally) to Madrone Soda Springs. We set up our lightweight 3 season tent, our water filter, and our two-burner Coleman propane stove. We had a backpackers dinner (just add water) and read books and avoided getting wet from the rain. Unfortunately, our 3 season tent didn't include the rain season so we basically got no sleep, woke up cold and soaking wet. We trekked up (literally) back to our car.

On February 21, 2010, we got home to discover Joanne had a tick sticking out of the middle of her chest. Joel tweezed the tick out which left a reddish/purple bulls eye smack dab in the middle. Joanne was sore, tired, and freaked out from getting lyme disease from the awful tick. When she got out from here needed hot shower, Joel was on bended knee at the bathroom door with ring in hand and proposed. He explained how he had many ideas of proposing, but due to the weather and timing none fell through. Joanne stood there shaking and happily accepted, the timing to her couldn't have been more perfect.

To celebrate, we went with our friend, Rich, to La Victoria's only to get into a car accident. Someone hit our car, it was dark and raining and some lady hit us while we were making a u-turn. Joanne's car was basically totaled and not driveable. We were both safe, but our car was not.

Definitely a proposal we both won't ever forget.

Ceremony and Reception Location

We are getting married at Highlands Park in Ben Lomand, CA.

Highlands Park is a historical mansion from the early 1900's (see "History" below). We instantly fell in love with this place because of the house that comes with the property and the green open lawn it has for us to get married. Though we would have preferred more redwoods and other trees surrounding us, it has an open space that allows for people to stretch their legs and go for a stroll. You can take a virtual tour here if you want a sneak peak.

Address:
8500 Highway 9
Ben Lomond, CA 95005-9707

History
In the early 1900's, Lord and Lady Anderson, of England, bought the 43 acres which now make up Highlands Park. They built an English-style mansion on the property and named it "The Highlands," in honor of Lord Anderson's Scottish heritage. When his wife died, Lord Anderson sold the land.

It was in the hands of developers until the Nasser family bought it in the late 1930's. The Nassers tore down the aging Anderson mansion and built the home which is still on the property today. The Nasser family, being entrepreneurs in the entertainment/filming business, regularly enjoyed entertaining guests in the house.

Santa Cruz County Parks purchased the property in 1974, and the park opened as San Lorenzo Valley park in 1977. The name was later changed to Highlands Park in memory of Lord and Lady Anderson.

Wedding Colors

Our wedding colors are a four part set: Chocolate brown, Tropical Blue (or Tiffany), Clover, and Champagne (see sample picture above, but missing chocolate brown). Joanne originally just was set on having chocolate brown and clover, but figured since she is having an outdoor wedding, she wanted some bright colors to give some contrast.

Engagement Ring

Joanne's engagement ring has a vintage trilogy style setting. It has 36 diamond facets surrounding the center three main diamonds. Trilogy rings are very special because of the meaning, it symbolizes the past, present and future. The ring is saying "Joanne is Joel's life - his past, present and future is all with her."

The middle stone represents the present. Christian couples, like us, attach a different meaning when the two side stones represent us and the center stone represents God who is the core of the relationship.

Since we have a mature relationship, the meaning of the middle stone also represents commitment and the diamonds on either side promise trust and respect.

Handmade Save the Dates

Last week, we picked out the materials we are going to be using for our save the dates. Joel helped pick out a green card stock with leaves embossed into it. The reason behind his choice was because we are getting married outdoors. Perfect!! Joanne picked out the rest, but with Joel's approval of course.

With material picked and with Joanne's new obsession of crafting, our save the dates will be handcrafted. The only thing we are waiting for is for our photos to be taken. Our goal is to get them out next week.

How to contact us.

You can contact us by emailing us at joelandjoanne@gmail.com.

Love at first site.

This is the story of how we started dating...

Joanne was in her pre-blossoming (frizzy hair, thick bangs, and thick framed glasses) stage in her early teenage years when she spotted Joel sitting in the balcony across from her one evening at church. The pastor had introduced his family as new members and she was very interested in their tall lanky teenage son. Joanne told her friend, who was sitting next to her that day in church, that the boy who just stood with the family would be her future husband. Joanne was dreaming, or so she thought...

The Coons enrolled their sons (Joel, Josh, and Jorel) to start attending the church's private school, where Joanne was attending. In high school, they started to write notes to each other and soon hung out on their lunch breaks together. Best friends they became. They did everything together and were soon inseparable.

On February 23, 2000, church ended and as always, Joel and Joanne stood talking to each other in the foyer's balcony. The conversation led to Joel finally telling Joanne “You know you’re my girlfriend, right?” Yes, Joel never officially asked, but TOLD Joanne that they were a couple.

...and the rest is history.

Wedding Date

So it is official, we have picked our wedding date. Originally Joanne's idea was to have it in May, but with this strange wedding pattern and me wanting to have it outdoors, May is out. We wanted to decide on a day we would both be able to remember something easy to say as well. So we both picked June 11, 2011 (06-11-11).

Now to start planning even more. We hope to decide on our venue soon that way we can start on the little details which most likely will be many do-it-yourself projects.

We are so excited!

About Us

After ten years together, we are finally going to make the ultimate commitment to each other: marriage. Please join us in celebrating our love with our family and friends on our special day.