Real Bride: Karina Samaniego

Karina & Jose had a beautiful spring Beauty and The Beast themed wedding! This one is a totally different take on the theme from our last Beauty and Beast Wedding! This one is navy and blush, with soft and beautiful colors! It's so cool to see how the same theme can translate so differently! Check out the other wedding here. Karina looked like a total princess on her wedding day!

Your name: Karina Samaniego

Grooms name: Jose Samaniego

Wedding date: May 27, 2017

City, State: Corona, California

Tell us more about you!

How long have you been together?

We have been together for twelve years! We met in sixth grade!

How did he propose? (Or how did you propose!)

He proposed at the end of Crystal Cove pier in San Diego with a flash mob! Our video is on Youtube!

What was your favorite part of the wedding?

I loved every part of our wedding, it’s so hard to choose! My top two favorite parts were the moment the church doors opened and I saw my husband staring and smiling back at me, and I also loved our first dance as husband and wife.

What went wrong with your wedding?

Our day went smoothly. The only thing that went wrong was that our table numbers did not get put out. Luckily, we had open seating so it did not cause a problem. I just got the table numbers for décor.

Did you find any tricks to save you money?

I did as many DIY things as I possibly could. I went to Hobby Lobby and Michaels every couple of weeks to see what new wedding things they had. Pinterest and a group called The Wedding Connection gave me a lot of ideas on how to save money and projects I could complete myself.

If you could go back and redo it, would you change anything and what?

There is not much I would change from our wedding. It was truly the most magical day of my life! If I had the opportunity to redo anything, I would probably try to get more creative with our guest book and do an alternative.

Do you have any advice for new brides?

I would advise future brides not to stress out over little things. It is so easy to get caught up in making sure every single little detail is perfected, but it is more important to prepare for a beautiful marriage. I strongly suggest doing premarital counseling; my husband and I loved our time during our premarital counseling. If things go wrong during the day of the wedding, LET IT GO! It is not worth stressing over little things that won’t matter a year from now. Enjoy every moment of the day because it flies by! Have fun with the planning and don’t try to please everyone, it’s impossible! Remember that you are the bride and at the end of the day what matters most is that you get to marry the man of your dreams!

Did any of your vendors knock your socks off?

My wedding dress designer and our venue for sure!

What was one (or more!) special element in your wedding that isn’t in most?

Our wedding theme was Beauty and the Beast. My bridal gown was inspired by Belle’s gown and our centerpieces were the enchanted rose from the movie. Another special element from our wedding is that my husband and I got married in the same church that my parents got married in 27 years ago.

What do you wish you’d spent more on (whether you were able to or not)?

I wish I was able to spend more on hiring a videographer. We had an issue with ours last minute and we were unable to hire another one with such short notice.

Where do you feel like you could have saved money or overspent?

I splurged on my own bouquet. I designed it myself and it was pretty costly, but honestly, I wouldn't change it for the world! It was perfect.