20Jan

Hard Rock Hotel San Diego: An Amazing Race Wedding!

By, January 20, 2012

After writing blogs about so many awesome engagement shoots and weddings, it’s time to share the story of my own big day!  About two years ago, my now-husband and I went on a life-changing adventure around the world on the CBS reality show, The Amazing Race 15.  Being chosen for the Amazing Race was always a dream of ours, and we feel so fortunate to have won the whole thing. Only a few months after winning, we were engaged. We knew exactly who we wanted to photograph our once-in-lifetime celebration – True Photography!  And the story gets better… not long after hiring True for our wedding day, True Photography hired me onto the team! I absolutely love working with all of our brides and grooms, and sharing their weddings on our blog.

Check out the January cover 2012 cover of Exquisite Weddings Magazine to see one of our favorite photos by True Photography! I hope you enjoy the recap of my wedding at the Hard Rock Hotel. Feel free to let us know what you think!

San Diego Wedding Photography: Amazing Race Meghan and Cheyne wedding on the cover of Exquisite Weddings by True Photography

Cheyne and I knew from the beginning that we wanted our wedding to be a party. We wanted our guests to feel like this was an all-out celebration of “Team Meghan and Cheyne!” We chose the Hard Rock because we felt that it was a contemporary venue that optimizes the “rock star” party atmosphere that we were going for.  We stuck to a color palate of dark blues, shades of gray and a touch of white. I wore a Romona Keveza dress and the bouquets by Blush Botanicals were beautiful with white peonies and anemones with deep blue centers.

San Diego Wedding Photography: Meghan and Cheyne Amazing Race Wedding at Hard Rock Hotel weddingA Romona Kaveza wedding dress with a bridal bouquet of white peonies and anemones

We’ve always loved the Beatles, and because our wedding was at the Hard Rock, we incorporated a music theme throughout the festivities. We hinted at the Beatles in our invitations, which were screen printed with guitars and tied with “All you need is love” tags.  There was even a Beatles guitar pick tab on the inside of the invites. We also played “All You Need is Love” as the recessional song during our ceremony. And of course, we couldn’t leave the Hard Rock without Aaron getting a great shot of us in front of the Abbey Road wall.

Beatles themed wedding invitation and All you need is love quoteSan Diego Wedding Photography: Meghan and Cheyne Amazing Race beatles themed wedding at the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego

Cheyne and I were born and raised in San Diego, and have been friends ever since elementary school.  San Diego was an easy choice for the location of our wedding, but we wanted it to be in an energetic atmosphere that was representative of us.  We chose the rooftop of the Hard Rock Hotel, overlooking the buzzing downtown crowds during a Padres game at Petco Park, in the heart of the Gaslamp.

San Diego Wedding Photography: A wedding ceremony in downtown San Diego on the rooftop of the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego Wedding Photography Meghan and Cheyne Amazing Race 15 walking down the aisle

We also wanted to somehow represent our adventures on the reality show at our wedding.  We had clay characters made of us in our backpacks and outfits that we wore on the show to top our cake from Sweet Cheeks Bakery! The escort cards were mini passports that lead guests to their tables, which were named after locations we traveled to on the Race, along with a picture of us completing a challenge. Not to mention, six of the 18 members of our bridal party were contestants we competed against on the show, and have now become friends for life!

Meghan and Cheyne in an Amazing Race themed wedding cake topper, Passport escort cards and funny bridal party photography in downtown San DiegoSan Diego Wedding Photography: Meghan and Cheyne Amazing Race wedding downtown San Diego with bridal partySan Diego Wedding Photography: Photos of bridesmaids at Meghan and Cheyne from Amazing Race wedding at Hard Rock Hotel San DiegoSan Diego Wedding Photography: Photos of groomsmen at Meghan and Cheyne's Amazing Race wedding Hard Rock Hotel San Diego wedding

To add to the party atmosphere, a custom monogram dance floor and dramatic draping was set up in the Legends Ballroom by Concepts Event Design.  Also, Tim Altbaum Productions amped up the excitement with tons of uplighting, a light show, and a video DJ that allowed guests to watch music videos on the big screen as they danced the night away.  Our centerpieces by Blush Botanicals worked perfectly with the feel of the room. Everything was better than we could have imagined, as people of all ages were breakin’ it down on the dance floor!

San Diego Wedding Photographer captures candid photos on the dancefloor with bright colored uplightingSan Diego Wedding Photography: Hard Rock Hotel Wedding of Meghan and Cheyne from the Amazing RaceSan Diego Wedding Photography: Sweet Cheeks Baking Cupcakse and Art Carved Rings  San Diego Wedding

What I’ve always loved about True Photography is the way that color and emotion is captured in each photograph. Because our wedding was in the hands of True Photography and Aaron Feldman, we knew we had nothing to worry about but having fun. I feel so lucky to have these photos to remember the details of our wedding day, and I’m equally proud to be a part of a company that provides that gift to every bride and groom who chooses True Photography.

San Diego Wedding Photographers downtown San Diego Hard Rock Hotel with bright lightsThe bride and grooms first dance at their wedding reception at San Diego's Hard Rock Hotel Bride and groom at Float rooftop lounge pool at the Hard Rock Hotel

To view more images from this Hard Rock Wedding, click here!

Photography: True Photography

Venue: Hard Rock Hotel, San Diego

DJ and Lighting: Tim Altbaum Productions

Decor: Concept Events Design

Florals: Blush Botanicals

Wedding Coordinator: Amore Events, Jennifer Molloy

Cake: Sweat Cheeks Baking Company

Rings: Art Carved

 

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