Miki & Mitchell’s Lakewold Gardens Elopement

A charming Lakewold Gardens elopement that is filled with glowing light & joy! Miki and Mitchell’s original plans were rearranged due to unforeseen circumstances, so an intimate ceremony was created & they took their vows surrounded by their two closest friends & fur baby. This redirection was not something they could have known was coming but they made it work in the most beautiful way possible!

Any special ways you incorporated your family or family history into your wedding day? “I’m an RN and covid really hit close to home because I take care of patients who are diagnosed with it from time to time. I really didn’t want to put anyone at risk, so we didn’t invite any family members and live streamed everything instead. On that note, my grandfather was supposed to walk me down the aisle along side my dad and my other grandfather. It was really hard that that moment was taken away from me, so what we ended up doing was attaching a charm to my bouquet with his face on it so that he could be there in spirit while I walked down the aisle. What we also did since we were very cautious about covid and we didn’t have any of our family during our elopement, is we incorporated a floral drawing made by our amazing vendor Crystal (The Fancy Cat Studio). She created a piece with a bouquet consisting of 4 stems. Each stem representing a different side family (IE my dads side, my moms side, and Mitchell’s side). Each floral stem included grandparents first names and then their children’s last names.

In Crystals words while we were corresponding (which we felt was a beautiful description): “For the floral art piece, when I was drawing it, I thought about how not only the names have meaning, but the arrangement does as well: -Bouquet arrangement vs one stalk- represents multiple families coming together through marriage to form one unit, in a sense -The single bud on the right- represents new beginnings and exciting things to come in the future” This ended up being very special to us and one of our favorite aspects of our wedding day. It helped to incorporate all of those who helped raise us and in this way, we felt like we had them all there in spirit!”

What part of your wedding day was/is most important to you? “I think the small touches like the small charm, and the incorporation of the floral piece was the most important and most special part.”

How did you two meet? What were your first impressions of one another? “We met when we were in Kindergarten and grew up together (all the way until we graduated high school) so it’s hard to say what our first impressions were of each other. We didn’t start dating until towards the end of high school.”

What is the best thing you’ve learned from one another? “To be patient and to always be kind, even when you don’t want to. To never go to bed upset with one another. We strive to figure out our issues before we go to sleep. It helps us start fresh the next day!”

“Miki and Mitchell planned to get married in November of last year. After the unexpected passing of Miki’s grandfather, they decided to postpone until August of 2020. As their August date approached, it became clear that a 150 guest wedding wouldn’t be safe due to COVID-19. So an intimate micro wedding was designed at the beautiful Lakewold Gardens. With only their two best friends and sweet fur baby in tow, they said “I Do!” and celebrated with an intimate dinner and cake. It was an honor to create a magical day for Miki & Mitchell!” – Emily Muddiman of Rose Andrew Events

Tell us a funny story relating to your wedding day or relationship! “We were late to our elopement day because of traffic and felt terrible for it! But Emily (wedding planner) and Tanya (photographer) got it all together and we loved every minute of it!”

What was your favorite part about planning your wedding? “My favorite thing was planning everything and watching it come to life! I love the creative aspect of planning a wedding and making it your own! We had a tremendous amount of help with our wedding planner and she really executed our vision in a way that we could have only ever dreamed of!”

Describe a hurdle you had to overcome in your relationship or during your wedding planning. “We originally were going to be married in California and had most of our wedding planned out for May 2020, however we got news that my (Miki/bride) grandfather in the Philippines passed away in November 2019. We put a lot of the money saved for our wedding into traveling back and forth to the Philippines and back to the US, and as well as helping my grandmother financially with funeral costs and living expenses that we decided it wasn’t right for us to have a wedding during such a difficult season (emotionally, financially). We decided to postpone our wedding for August 2020. Fast forward later into 2020 and corona virus. We tossed and turned about our wedding plans. Whether to cancel or postpone.. that’s when we found Emily and her team! We decided eloping was the best plan! It’s about us as a couple, not the wedding event and the pressures that come with that. After 7 years together, we just wanted to be married.”

What is the most honest thing you can say about love? “Love is not easy but what’s beautiful about love is that you’ll always have someone there to work with you, to help you, and to lift you up to be the best person you can be.”