At the ceremony, Ms. Rivera, in a long white gown with a halter top and sweetheart neckline, walked down the garden’s tiered steps alone, holding a bright bouquet with a white rose tucked behind her ear. A hundred vaccinated guests stood to watch as Ms. Rivera’s daughter, her maid of honor, met her at an altar overlooking a lush thicket of rosebushes, then kissed the bride and Mr. Alonzo, in a blue suit, for good luck.
Before Frank Kennamer, a longtime friend and Universal Life Church minister, the couple read handwritten vows. “Thank you for seeing me, for loving me, for enhancing me,” Ms. Rivera told Mr. Alonzo. “I love you.” Mr. Alonzo thanked Ms. Rivera for dancing with him at his cousin’s birthday party in 2014. “I feel lucky to be your partner every day,” he said. “I feel lucky to look at you.”
On This Day
When Nov. 20, 2021
Where Berkeley Rose Garden, Berkeley, Calif.
Tacos and Cake At the reception, guests dined on birria tacos catered by the La Santa Torta taco truck and a tiered carrot cake with cream cheese frosting made by Tamara Durley, a friend of the couple.
Dress Fiasco Ms. Rivera’s wedding dress was hand embroidered in Mexico; she ordered it in 2019 just after Mr. Alonzo proposed. Because of the pandemic, she wasn’t able to fly to Mexico for in-person alterations until the summer of 2021. By then, the dress didn’t fit. After more alterations in Mexico and a month of waiting, the dress arrived in California. It still didn’t fit. Weeks before the ceremony, Veda Ambeau, a seamstress and the owner of Shirley’s Designs & Alterations in Oakland, came to the rescue and completed the final adjustments.
When it Rains Ahead of her nuptials, Ms. Rivera celebrated her daughter’s engagement: Ms. Calderon-Rivera’s fiancé proposed on July 24. They have not yet set a wedding date.
