The bride: Amy Crowfoot, 31, was born in San Diego and grew up in L.A. She works as a stand-in and dialogue coach for a major network television show.
The groom: Joe Ames, 31, is originally from Philadelphia. He works for Warner Bros.
The couple lives in Sherman Oaks. They were married Oct. 17 at Paradise Point Resort Hotel on Mission Bay and honeymooned on a Mediterranean cruise. This is a first marriage for both.
When did you start thinking about marriage?
Joe: We dated for 11½ years before we actually got married.
Amy: Neither of us was in any hurry to get married. We were happy with the way things were. It was nine years between when we started dating (in college) and the proposal.
And how did that proposal finally come about?
Joe: We took a trip together through Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I proposed at the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. At that point Amy could read me like a book, but this I actually kept as a surprise. We were up at the castle on a rope suspension bridge and I got down on one knee. Amy said, "What are you doing?" I'm told that happens a lot in that situation.
Why did you decide to get married in San Diego?
Amy: We were originally planning to get married in Venice, Italy, but discovered it was really difficult to get around and very expensive. We wanted a location that was more exotic than L.A., and we wanted people to be able to make it a destination weekend. So we chose San Diego.
Do you get the impression San Diego is becoming popular for destination weddings?
Amy: Definitely. I visited Bridalinsider.com, which is a Web site for San Diego (and Bay area) brides. There were people on that site from New York that were planning to be married in San Diego; people from Arizona.
Did you have help planning the wedding?
Amy: I'm kind of a DIY (do-it-yourself) girl, I guess, so we did a lot of stuff ourselves. We wanted to pull off a $100,000 wedding for a lot less money. I estimate our invitations took about 80 manhours. And I made up a mock drawing of a Wonderland cake, colored it in, and gave it to French Gourmet.
So you were both holding down full-time jobs and planning a destination wedding? How did you manage?
Amy: We had a coordinator for the day from Something Savvy. It was amazing help – I didn't have to think about anything. When we did the hora (a traditional Jewish wedding dance), my friend dropped me off the chair and my bustle broke. One of (the coordinators) ran in with safety pins. And after the wedding they had decorated our hotel room with flowers, put petals on the floor; even the toilet had flowers.
So I take it your wedding was a multicultural affair?
Amy: We're from two different religious backgrounds – I'm some form of Christian and Joe's mother walked him down the aisle in the Jewish tradition. Both my parents walked me down the aisle. We broke a glass and we had an archway that was supposed to represent a chupa. And we had a great officiant – Minister Jerry Bryant. He was wonderful and charismatic, and he made everyone very happy to be there. We heard a lot of really good comments about the ceremony, and you never hear about that.
Aside from the busted bustle, were there any other mishaps at your wedding?
Joe: You might remember that was the period when the news was reporting there were 182 days without rain in San Diego. Well, it poured the morning of our wedding. But it cleared up to be a beautiful afternoon. That was another one of the reasons we chose to have it in San Diego, because we knew we could have the wedding outdoors.
What advice would you give other couples who are planning a wedding?
Amy: Make sure you're comfortable with all your vendors and like them as people, especially if they're going to be there the day of the wedding. Also, any accommodation that you want, don't be afraid to ask. Everything we asked for we pretty much got.
Joe: If you're having out-of-town guests, doing it somewhere where it's all in one place makes it a lot easier. It alleviates the stress of having to go and run around and be with different groups.
Amy: And have a Web site. Nobody called us with any questions because they could find it all on the site.
Do you think you'll make it back to San Diego soon?
Joe: Sure. And I'd like to retire there.
Amy: Hey, if you could move the film industry to San Diego, we'd be there in a second.
If you would like to talk about the planning and outcome of your wedding, please contact Tiffany Lee-Youngren at tiffany.leeyoungren@uniontrib.com
