Jeremy and Maqaiya's Green and Gold Glamorous Boho Wedding in California by True Photography

Happy Friday everyone, I hope you are all well and happy and looking forward to the weekend ahead. After a busy two weeks, the first spent in Disneyland Paris and the second at Camp Bestival in Dorset I am looking forward to a weekend at home. We are off to York on Saturday and then back Saturday night for a family get together. Sunday I have a day in the office trying to catch up on my work and get some life admin sorted. What about you? To end the week I have this gorgeous glamorous Boho wedding from California. The couple went for a green and gold colour scheme and mixed it up with pampas grass, feathers and some beautiful flowers. The outdoor ceremony is stunning and the reception is full of the most gorgeous decoration. Big thanks to True Photography for the lovely images.

Our wedding day was a beautiful timeless celebration of two worlds combining together. We were surrounded by family, friends, love, tears of joy, peace, laughter and that was all we could ever want or need.

Maqaiya and Jeremy were married on 11th April 2025 at Fallbrook, CA Grand Tradition Estate & Gardens- Arbor Terrace. ‘Jeremy loves the water and I love the mountains. California gave us the best of both worlds. Originally Ohio was our #1 choice but something about it did not feel complete. Jeremy had joked about getting married in California but initially it was hard for me to wrap my head around traveling across the country to get married (we live in Indiana). Jeremy requested a brochure from Grand Tradition Estate & Gardens and we both fell in love. So much so that I cancelled our trip to Ohio and booked our wedding with Grand Tradition. We were set to leave one Friday evening after work to Ohio but when Jeremy came home from work that Thursday, I said “Honey we aren’t going to Ohio tomorrow. I booked the venue in California!” We had 114 guests and it took 2 years to plan.’

How they met
Jeremy and I both transferred to Ball State University Fall of 2017. Jeremy is originally from Wisconsin and I am from Indiana. We met in the very first class of the semester, Anatomy lecture at 9am. We both quickly realized that we would need to study for this class so we exchanged phone numbers and began studying together. Although we were friends and studying partners, we did not start dating until the following year 2018. Over Fall break in 2018 we both decided to stay on campus and bonded the entire weekend. We have been together almost 7 years, October 2025 making our 7th year together.

The proposal
About 8 months before I graduated Jeremy asked what I wanted as a graduation gift and my answer was an engagement ring. I was joking but he took it literally! We had talked about engagement and marriage plenty of times but we both decided waiting was the best option. Jeremy proposed the day I graduated from Nursing School July 23, 2022. After the graduation ceremony we all went out to dinner at Cooper’s Hawk in Indianapolis. Jeremy had intentions of asking me at dinner but he left the ring back in our apartment on campus! So thinking quickly he drove back to Muncie, which is about a 45 minute drive. He literally disappeared without saying a word to me. Being worried and confused, I called him. He told me he had to go back to our apartment for dog food and he would meet us at a cousin’s house. As I was reading his graduation card to me, he was behind me on one knee. I cried like a baby and said YES! There was not a dry eye in that room.

How did you allocate your budget?
Being completely honest here: we did not have a budget. After during research on the cost of weddings, we were saving a lot of money by booking with Grand Tradition because there was so much included in the wedding package. The venue in itself is breath taking so decor was not something I put effort into initially. Outside of the cost of the venue, I knew I wanted most of our “budget” to go towards florals and photography.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We splurged on the invitations, florals, photography, and wedding fragrances. Our invitations came from etsy, a beautiful emerald green and gold acrylic framed invitation. Florals were provided by Pink Poppy. True Photography and Video did our engagement photos and wedding day photos and video. Our fragrances were Bond No. 9 and Maison Francis Kurkdjian. We saved a lot on wedding favours. Instead of having favours at our wedding, we gave each guest a welcome bag upon checking into their hotel room. We also saved a ton by not hiring a wedding planner. Included in our wedding package we had a day of coordinator, Molly, that helped us throughout our planning. She was absolutely wonderful. She provided us with worksheets and deadlines to help us organize.

How did you choose your photographer?
Grand Tradition gave us a list of recommended vendors and we went through the photographer section multiple times. It really came down to quality and professionalism. We wanted to look back at our wedding day photos and feel like we were still in that moment. After researching the knot, the recommended vendors provided by the venue, and Instagram we felt that True Photography and Video captured raw, quality, uplifting photos. From the time of booking to the editing of our wedding video, the entire team at True was patient, caring, open minded and helped us through every step of our planning process. We felt we had gained a new family working with True Photography.

The dress
My wedding dress was designed by Galia Lahav. Headpiece and Earrings by Maria Elena. Shoes by Jimmy Choo. Veil by Erica Koesler

The suit and bridesmaids
Jeremy’s suit was made by Daniel George in Chicago. The bridesmaids dresses were from Birdy Grey

Theme or colour scheme
We never had a set theme but I was going for a glamorous boho look. Our colours were emerald green, gold, beige and English rose.

Flowers
Pampas grass, feathers, roses, carnations, chrysanthemums and greenery

Decoration
Our florals were the star of the show for decor! Aside from that we rented our sweetheart table, sweetheart chairs, and welcome sign from Madam Palooza. We purchased blown up pictures from our engagement photos to stand by the welcome sign and in the cocktail hour area.

Food
For cocktail hour we had tuna tartare, shrimp cocktail, vegetable spring rolls, cheese and crackers, and vegetable tray. We opted for the buffet style with our venue and there was so much food! Prime rib, Mahi Mahi, shrimp pasta, greek salad, caesar salad, garlic and herb mashed potatoes, vegetable medley

Wedding cake
We travelled to California to tour the venue and do cake tastings. We tried 3 bakers and decided to go with Debbie at Cakes to Celebrate in Temecula, CA. We had a 3 tier cake with marbled emerald green and gold fondant. Our cake layers were Bourbon Pecan Praline cake with cream cheese filling and Limoncello Cake with raspberry and cream cheese filling

Entertainment
During our ceremony we had a quartet by OC Strings. For the reception we were fortunate enough to bring our favorite hometown DJ to California with us (DJ KCeaser).

Who supplied the stationery?
Esty: invitations and table numbers. Zazzle: ceremony programs, name cards, save the dates, direction cards

Where are you going on your honeymoon?
We will be taking our honeymoon in 2026 in Thailand

Personal touches
We created our table setting one month before our wedding. I was so concerned that the setting would not match our florals but I reached out to Beck at Pink Poppy and she assured me it would be gorgeous!

Special moments
The first touch and reading our private vows was one of the special moments. It was our first time touching one another and hearing each others voice in 2 days. Another special moment was during our ceremony when we recited our Pastor’s vows in front of our guests. The vows he wrote for us were almost identical to the vows we read privately. And the cherry on top for us was that he had just written the final vows the night before the wedding.

Advice for other couples
Planning a destination wedding can be extremely stressful and challenging. Don’t be afraid to ask the silly questions! When planning is not going the way you imagined, step away for a second and be present in the right now with your partner. Continue to date, have fun and relax! When the big day comes everything will be perfect and no one will notice the small details. Have fun!

Biggest surprise
The biggest surprise of the day was during our unity ceremony. We decided to do washing of the feet and the water felt below zero. I was not expecting freezing water but it grounded us and allowed us to be present in that moment. Our pictures from the unity ceremony are priceless!