Wild Oak Saddle Club Wedding | Lisa & Nathan

Sonoma Wild Oak Saddle Club Wedding

Most great things take time – just like Nathan and Lisa’s relationship. They first met back in 2016 hiking down in Julian, Ca. However they didn’t start dating until 2019, got engaged in 2021, and their love story is truly one for the books. 

In 2016 they were in a group hiking the Pacific Crest Trail together. Lisa remembers Nathan pulling up to the hike in a bright red Volkswagen and thought he had a great smile. That night they  enjoyed a beautiful sunset, shared laughs over a campfire, and Lisa said she knew Nathan was a stellar human being. 

After that trip, Nathan and Lisa spent three years as friends until things shifted easily and wonderfully towards more on Nathan’s birthday in December of 2019. Nathan was freshly single and this was the first time he had told Lisa he really liked her. 

According to Lisa, Nathan “very smoothly told me over perogies and a martini that he liked me, wanted to be more than friends and start dating.” 

The month prior, Lisa had been feeling their friendship start to shift and she was excited to know that she wasn’t alone in her new feelings towards Nathan. She said she was humming and felt crimson all over (and looked it too) from his declaration, as she had never had a man be so direct and forthcoming about his intentions.

So together, they chose to partake in tradition at Pomegranate Restaurant (where they were having their perogies and martinis) and write their names on the wall. They then cheers’d the new year approaching, because their future looked bright. 

Boy, were they right.

In the years since they became official, they have gone on countless dates riding bikes, visiting family, more hiking and camping of course, and exploring various parts of Mexico. 

Lisa specifically notes that they fell in love over their weekends in Baja walking the beach, playing darts, cooking, swimming, and playing with their dog Rigby. These are the kind of dates Lisa notes as her favorite. Nathan’s favorite date was when they visited the Trevista winery and Fauna restaurant in Valle De Guadalupe. It was on this date when he said he turned to Lisa and told her she was his person.

It was the culmination of all these big and little moments that lead to their grandest to date – April 2021 – when they got engaged in Cabo San Lucas.

Nathan said their trip there “seemed like a perfect setting and energy to pop the question.” He just had to find the right moment. He luckily had some help from the friend they were staying with, who encouraged him to pop the question on the beach with a beautiful sunset as the backdrop.

The whole time he was avoiding hugging Lisa on the side he had the ring tucked into as they walked the beach. Once they found their spot, Nathan mustered the courage to ask the fateful question.

He leaned in and asked her an “inane question” to make her look away, which made him seize the moment, pull out the ring, and drop to one knee. That’s when he said she knew it was on!

Lisa was both surprised and not surprised by Nathan’s proposal. 

They had talked about getting married for a while and what that meant for the both of them, so she knew it was on his radar but Lisa had made it clear that she wanted the proposal itself to be surprising. 

Nathan took her ring shopping in the early spring of 2022 so they could both have a say in the ring. They wanted a ring that would feel special and unique to the both of them. After this escapade, Nathan worked to throw Lisa off the scent by hinting at more ring shopping over the summer, which left Lisa deflated because she thought they had found the perfect piece.

Well, she was obviously right – they had. Now she just had to be patient. 

Lisa’s 40th birthday passed in March, when she thought the proposal would’ve happened so she was making her peace with waiting, so it turns out Nathan’s April plan was PERFECT.

She ended up sensing that something was up when Nathan kept trying to squeeze things in and was rushing her getting ready for the evening. She said by the time they got to the beach she knew it was on because he pointedly would shuffle her across rocks so they could find a special spot to be alone. 

So when he had her look away to see some mythic huge crab, Lisa waited an adequate amount of time before turning back to see her forever waiting for her. 

She obviously said yes and the couple have since been planning their dream nuptials. 

Now, almost a year (or two) after that moment Lisa and Nathan are slated to tie the knot at the gorgeous Wild Oak Saddle Ranch in Santa Rosa, Ca. I feel so honored that they have asked me to capture this coveted day and help them write the next chapter in their love story with them.  

As a Sonoma County Wedding photographer, being a part of moments like this for couples who are so clearly meant to be is such a special part of my job. I love being able to help them and I live for when I get to document happily ever afters. 

To view more Sonoma County weddings visit https://aliciaparksphotography.com/galleries

Till next time,

Alicia Parks