Camila Banus (Gabi)
Married To: Marlon Aquino
Since: August 28, 2021
Location: The Castle House Estate in Joshua Tree, CA
What made you pick your location? “I was watching HGTV, and they happened to play a commercial for a winner of a sweepstakes to go to The Castle House Estate. I saw a moment of the estate on HGTV, and I fell in love. I told Marlon, ‘That’s where I want to have our wedding.’ ”
Did anything go wrong on the big day? “Oh, yeah. The day before my wedding, I got a call from my wedding planner. She said, ‘We have a big problem.’ My heart just dropped. She said, ‘Basically, the venue is not ready.’ There were exposed wires and exposed insulation. My wedding coordinator had to scramble to make it safe for everybody. We bought blankets and pillows for areas that weren’t completed. We covered the walls and put up eight-foot canvases.”
What did it feel like when you walked down the aisle? “One of the most special things in my wedding is that I was able to have my grandfather [Esteban Blanco] walk me down the aisle. When I first met him at the top of the aisle, I got extremely emotional. At the moment, he was having a little hard time walking and a little issue with his back. He had a cane with him and came up to me and said, ‘Cane or no cane?’ I said, ‘Whatever you want.’ He took the cane, hid it behind his back, and hobbled with me all the way down the aisle. That was a really emotional, sweet and beautiful moment.”
What moment of the day do you most wish you could relive? “I wish I could relive saying our vows to each other. I was just in complete love, shock, awe; I was in paralysis. I couldn’t move. I was just staring into Marlon’s eyes. Time stopped. It was beautiful.”
What kinds of personal touches did you add to the ceremony/reception? “I love scrapbooking. I had five or six scrapbooks at the wedding, so the guests could flip through them, if they wanted to, and see our first everything. All of our experiences were in there, so everyone could see the history of our relationship — our first Halloween, our first Thanksgiving…. We had the scrapbooks at a special table next to our photo booth.”
What’s your favorite memory of the day? “It has to be when we did our Hora Loca [Crazy Hour]. A party service comes in and hypes up your party. [They bring in] a bunch of little knickknacks, hats and sunglasses, and they liven up the party for an entire hour.”
Carson Boatman (Johnny)
Married To: Julana Dizon
Since: July 23, 2021
Location: Barnes’ Place in Adel, IA
How did you come to pick your location? “My parents had just gone to a wedding a couple of weeks before I proposed to Julana. It happened to be at this venue. They were like, ‘You should check this place out.’ The venue was just so beautiful and, compared to any place L.A.-adjacent, was very cost-efficient.”
Were you more or less emotional on the big day than you thought you would be? “We did a first look before the ceremony, and there were a few tears shed and some quivering hands. I definitely cried like a baby during our vows.”
Did you and Julana write your own vows? “We did. Julana got us both journals to write them in. We have them somewhere in our house. We each wrote our own separate vows and didn’t share them with each other until the day. That was a very emotional and beautiful experience.”
Did you add any personal touches to the wedding or reception? “We each had a cocktail that we named. Julana’s had something to do with the word angel in it. It was a vodka and berry cocktail. Mine was called The Stumbling Cowboy. It was basically an old fashioned, but had a little more smoke to it.”
What did it feel like when you saw Julana walk down the aisle? “It felt so quick. I tried to be there as much as I could so I could remember it. I kept trying to take a deep breath and sustain it permanently in my memory.”
What’s your favorite memory of the day? “There was a no-drinking policy pre-ceremony at this venue. My groomsmen and I snuck in a bottle of Woodford [bourbon] and some flasks. We were hanging out in our room having some drinks before we went out, and the owner of the venue caught us. It’s funny looking back at it.”
What moment of the day do you most wish you could relive? “There was a moment when the ceremony was over and the dinner was over. About halfway through the reception, Julana and I took a minute to ourselves and walked 100 feet away from all the action. It was so beautiful standing there together for the first time as husband and wife, watching all the people who we love the most in this world interact, have a great time, laugh and dance. That entire scene I’ll never forget.”
