My Whirlwind Wedding Engagement: From The Cliff House to Las Vegas, In 4 Months and 3 Dresses!

All photos featured in this blog article are the sole property of Roxanne Rodriguez, if not cited otherwise.

Dress #1. May 2015, The Proposal.

This past spring, in the spring of 2015, when I was finishing up my senior year of Fashion Design College, I came across some yellow and green fabric in a fabric donation bin, and I used this fabric to create a day dress as one of my final projects for my Pattern Drafting II class.

I absolutely love this dress and happily received a high grade on the assignment. The bodice of the dress features a lapel collar, and is made in a yellow and green floral printed fabric. I then used a solid yellow linen fabric for the skirt. The skirt has an exposed lining at the hemline, showing the bright green lining beneath. The dress fits me perfect.

Roxanne Rodriguez Day Dress with Lapel Collar

As May approached, and my final day of college arrived, Javier and I planned to enjoy a lovely weekend trip to the city of Napa. The two of us left immediately from my last class at my college campus in Sacramento.  We enjoyed a delicious lunch and then headed North West to Napa!  Javier had already suggested that we would be dressing up that Sunday, so I brought a few dresses, including my new yellow and green dress, in addition to skirts and blouses.

Javier and I enjoying a lovely weekend in Napa, California.

Wine tasting, bike riding, and dinning! Then as Sunday approached, you can imagine my surprise when Javi told me that he would be taking me to The Cliff House in San Francisco! We left Napa dressed in our finest for an early champagne brunch in San Francisco!

The Cliff House, San Francisco

An amazing panoramic view, taken by Javier Rangel: myself gazing upon The Cliff House and the Pacific Ocean.

I had never been to The Cliff House before this day, nor had I been to this particular area of San Francisco's Land's End before. If you have not visited this area yourself, I highly recommend that you do! If you have been here before, it may be time to visit again!

The Cliff House prior to its destruction in 1894. www.cliffhouseproject.com

Myself walking towards The Cliff House in May 2015. The structure that stands today was built in 1909, and mimics the simple architecture of the original Cliff House built in 1863.

Interestingly, The Cliff House is rich in history. The original Cliff House building was built at this location in the year of 1863. Tragedy soon struck this dwelling, causing it to become severely damaged in 1887, then becoming destroyed completely due to a chimney fire in 1894. The Cliff House was re-built and became the beautiful massive structure shown in the illustration pictured above.

Unfortunately, this building too was soon destroyed by fire in 1907. The Cliff House was re-built, yet again, this time in 1909, and in a similar style to that of the simple original Cliff House building. Today it stands as a very beautiful neo-classical building, situated next to the ancient and decaying Sutro Bath Ruins.

Now, back to the romance at hand...
Javier and I had been dating for a little over three years at this point, and things were quite serious. I had a feeling that he might propose marriage to me during this particular romantically planned weekend, but I was still very surprised when he actually did!

The food at The Cliff House brunch was amazing! The champagne was really good too! A harpist played music while the waves of the Pacific Ocean crashed around just outside the windows overlooking the sea. We had an amazing time... which we always do when with each other... I was feeling the champagne...I think Javi was too... But the endless seafood, water, and coffee was helping dull the effect slightly to a sensation just beyond utter contentment.

I excused myself to the restroom, and giggled out of sight. When I returned, Javi proposed! He had the ring placed in the bottom of my champagne glass, and when I noticed, he asked. My solitaire black sapphire ring was so pretty. How could I say or think anything other than yes! We drank more champagne, talked endlessly, and ate more food & desserts, and then we headed happily together down to the Sutro Bath Ruins, and then to the beach!

Javier and I enjoy our "Engagement Day" at The Cliff House.

Dress #2: July 2015, Our Garlic Love Story.

Javier and I began to discuss the date we would plan our wedding to be on. One day, as I was reading some Northern California event news, I came across an advertisement for the Gilroy Garlic Festival Dream Wedding Give-A-Way Contest. The contest advertised a “Dream Wedding Give-A-Way”, in which a winning couple would be chosen to win an all-expense paid wedding ceremony, along with cake, Gilroy Garden tickets, and a year supply of garlic!

This contest sounded great, and since we were planning to be married soon, this contest seamed made for us! Javier and I looked up the entry form, and began to get together the requirements needed for our submittal. Although not required, a video was recommended to tell our “Garlic Love Story” to the judges. As we thought about our love story, I thought about making a garlic inspired dress, perhaps for the wedding! Then one of my friends suggested that I make a garlic themed dress for the video filming instead! Why, that’s genius! So that’s what I did!

My Garlic Inspired Day Dress concept and supplies.

Myself with my finished Garlic Inspired Day Dress!

You can watch our “Garlic Love Story” by clicking on this link: Enjoy!

Roxanne and Javi during the filming of "The Garlic Love Story".

Much to our dismay, it was announced that Javier and I were not even contestants for the Gilroy Garlic Dream Wedding Give-A-Way contest! It was very surprising! We stopped eating garlic for a while, picked our wedding date, and began booking our venue and reservations for a wedding in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada!

Dress #3: September 2015, Our Perfect Las Vegas Wedding.

Dress #3, is not a dress at all, but a Formal Ball Skirt that I created especially for my wedding. When Javier proposed to me, I knew I would design and create my own wedding dress. As I started brain storming ideas, I continually was drawn to the concept of a formal ball skirt, paired with a charming blouse.

Completely untraditional, I selected a gold satin fabric, and then I layered grey netting, for a truly unique look. The skirt features a hand beaded design, all designed, constructed, and sewn by me! However, time began to run out as our wedding day quickly approached. Instead of making my wedding blouse (as planned), I happily found a blouse, beyond perfect, on the sale rack at Wet Seal, just days before our wedding, while in Las Vegas!

Getting ready for our big day, at the Wynn Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.

My family and I on our way to the chapel, we pause to take a photo in the lovely lobby garden of the Wynn Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Rangel Wedding, A Special Memory Wedding Chapel, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bride's hair and make-up by Stevee Danielle Hair and Make Up Salon, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Our Wedding Day experience was truly perfect! Everything planned went accordingly. The ceremony was held at the Our Special Memory Wedding Chapel, in Las Vegas, followed by a dinner reception at The Fremont Hotel's Paradise Buffet. We then enjoyed a wonderful honeymoon night at the Wynn Hotel and Casino, before departing to The Grand Canyon!

I loved being able to design and create the three outfits that I wore for my wedding and pre-wedding occasions! Creating my own bridal wear allowed me to be the unique, fashionable bride that I wanted to be!

If you have any of your own special occasions in the future, contact me regarding your custom outfit!

Related Links: 

A Fashionable Pregnancy: My Maternity Style- Part I

A Fashionable Pregnancy: My Maternity Style- Part II

A Fashionable Motherhood! Part 1- My Breastfeeding Friendly Wardrobe with Ease and In-Style