Villa Montalvo at the Montalvo Arts Center

Wedding Day

Ceremony

Reception

Nergis & Cem

Our Wedding

Nergis and Cem grew up within 1 mile radius in Turkey, shared friendships, went to neighboring sports clubs, and possibly crossed paths in multiple occasions but never met. Many years later, they separately moved to Bay Area, hoping to start a new life what they would later call “home away from home”. Nergis’ and Cem’s love story started with an encounter at a professional networking event: Nergis still remembers how Cem could not help but smile mouth-to-mouth during their conversation, awed by her beauty and charisma. Fast-forward several months, and romantic-comedy worthy coincidental encounters, including bumping into each other at their favorite dining spot in Santa Cruz, they started dating in late 2019. Their relationship evolved into a solid partnership that was even more solidified during the two-year covid quarantine. They share the same love to Aegean Sea, they can survive on sea food forever, they are aspired travelers, and most importantly, they value each other’s presence in every chance they get. Them being only children in their families, they value family, and friends immensely and they see their friends as acquired family members. Villa Montalvo, a true Mediterranean gem as they see it, is not only a place that hosted one of their first dates, but also is the place where Cem met Nergis’ parents for the first time. They both feel deeply connected to this place and always dreamed that this would be the place that they would share their oath for their eternal love with their loved ones. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Our Story 

Photos

Parking: Lot 2 and Lot 3Ceremony: Love TempleCocktail: Spanish CourtyardReception: Historic VillaParty: Oval Garden For a full size map and more information, follow <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.montalvoarts.org/uploads/documents/2014/June/Montalvo%20Map_small929.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this link</a>.

Venue Details