Real Wedding Interview-Karen & Jorg
1. What are your names and when was the wedding day?
Our names are Karen and Jorg Letkemann, we got married on June 6, 2020 at a very intimate backyard wedding at my mom’s ranch in Central California after COVID was declared a pandemic just a few months before our wedding day.
2. Did Covid-19 affect your wedding plan? If so, how? (wedding date, number of guests, wedding place etc.)
Being married with only 20 guests around us was definitely not in our plans when we first got engaged and began envisioning our wedding day, as our hopes were to have a guest size of over 200, including family members from outside the country, who were unable to join us.
However, that didn’t interfere with the love they were willing to show us during the wedding. We were able to set up a video link with my husband’s family members in South America, two of which were his parents, and they, on their side, set up an entire dinner to join us.
Their set up had our wedding colors and although for them it was already midnight when we were getting married, they stayed up for us and joined our wedding ceremony virtually. It was both beautiful and sad to think of what could have been, but wasn’t.
In regards to the overall wedding party we had already planned and paid for, we decided to push it back and celebrate all together on June 5, 2021. Last June when we decided to push back our party and rescheduled all vendors we were hopeful to celebrate with all our guests our one year anniversary and make it a crazy fun night, but last August we got pregnant and now we are scheduled to be welcoming our little boy on that very day. So, our wedding celebration has been postponed once more.
3. How did you meet?
Our story begins in college; we met at Fresno Pacific University during our Freshman year. I remember being attracted to him from the beginning.
There was something to those colored eyes, spiky hair and blondish hair that drew me in from the start. I remember meeting him in one of our theater classes and thinking to myself. “I’m going to try to get close to him”. However, at the time there was another theater classmate that had her eyes on him. She was very persistent. I remember trying to flirt with Jorg and her always being a step ahead.
It wasn’t until the end of the semester when I saw an opportunity and took it. When we had to find a teammate and act out a scene I rushed to Jorg and asked him to be in my team, he agreed and I MAY have led the planning for our scene so we would have to kiss on stage. I was so excited for my opportunity to get closer to him, but when the moment came I was so nervous to actually kiss him that I chickened out!
For the next few years I thought to myself ” it’s never going to happen” and I let my crazy dreams to kiss that boy fade away. We continued to be in theater together and senior year, around January, he claims I started flirting with him, I wasn’t, but we went to grab some drinks. That night turned into 2, 3,6,20+ nights, those nights became lunches, study dates, and long trips just the two of us.
Before I knew it we had confessed the initial attraction we had shared years back and soon after that he was on one knee asking me to be his girlfriend( when I saw him on a knee I thought he was skipping a whole step and proposing- (thankfully he wasn’t- he’s just a very formal man).
4. Do you have an “our love song” which is special to you?
During our time together my husband has really resonated with the song “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and has dedicated that song to me over and over again. It actually became our walking down the aisle song, and now is very dear to us.
5. How was your wedding look and how did you decide it? (hairstyle, makeup, accessories, dress style etc.)
Our wedding look followed our original Latino tropical theme. We had papel picado and string lights hung above us, us,delicious Mexican food, and lots of palm trees.
My husband purchased a different and much cheaper tux, to use the original tux for our wedding celebration this year, and I purchased a new dress on JJ’sHouse that felt more intimate but still gave me a wow feeling I still wanted to embrace on my wedding day.
The dress was perfect because it was not restrictive at all and made me feel not only comfortable, but also like a bride. When I first saw the dress I seriously could not believe the fabric was so soft and the dress actually looked as it did in the pictures.Given that it was so much cost friendly than all the dresses I had previously tried on I was so surprised by how great it was. To this day I still absolutely love the photos of my dress and the beautiful train it has.
6. What was your favorite moment of the wedding day?
My favorite moment of the wedding day was doing communion with my husband during our ceremony. It felt so intimate and beautiful to unite our lives symbolically in this way, before the eyes of our closest family members and God. This was a moment I did not foresee as being this beautiful but it was and I couldn’t help but cry. Following that moment I can honestly say that having my new in-laws joining us the way they did was the most perfect way to enter into the family. Although they were present through a TV screen, their love for us was very evident and heart-felt.
8. What’s your advice for wedding plan for other couples?
My advice for other couples getting married is to not be concerned too much with what others will want or say if you don’t buy the most expensive items for your wedding day. At the end of the day, what stands out from your wedding day is how you lived it and the joy you felt at the thought of starting your life with your new spouse. Seek to enjoy your time as an engaged couple, seek to connect even deeper with your future spouse. It can make the transition into marriage easier and less scary.
My photographer : https://www.sampaynephoto.com
My social media: https://www.instagram.com/karenvargasphotography/
