The NYE Wedding of Natalya Ferdinandi
& Adam Stirrup

Some love stories announce themselves loudly. Others wait—quietly, patiently—until timing, place, and people align. For Natalya Ferdinandi and Adam Stirrup, it was the latter: a relationship rooted first in friendship, family, and familiarity long before it ever turned romantic. Both attorneys by trade—Natalya at Baker Manock & Jensen, PC and Adam at Paboojian, Inc.—they’re fluent in arguments and evidence, but when it came to love, the case unfolded slowly, deliberately, and right on time.

“We’ve been friends for a long time,” Adam explains. “Her brothers are friends of mine … she lived on the Central Coast, worked in the DA’s office, and I was here. She’d come back to Fresno, we’d hang out, and then she’d go back.” Life moved forward—careers, cities, seasons—but the connection lingered. “Once everything kind of clicked together,” Adam says, “it all made sense… everything happens when it’s supposed to happen.”

That clarity arrived in 2024. Natalya had moved back home, and the timing finally felt right. “I think I want to start dating Adam,” she remembers thinking. “He’s perfect. I just want to go for it and see what happens.” With a little help from her siblings (particularly her brother AJ and sister-in-law Katie, who proudly claim responsibility for “building this marriage into existence”), Natalya put the idea into the universe.

Adam got the message. While Natalya was traveling for her birthday, she returned to a surprise that felt unmistakably intentional. “I came back to the most beautiful flowers at work,” she says. “I call them funeral flowers because they were just extravagant. It was a statement for sure.” Adam followed with a text that set everything in motion: I’m looking forward to getting to know you more. I love hanging out with you. I like you. I always have. “And that was it,” Natalya says simply. “We were inseparable ever since.”

For both, certainty didn’t arrive with fireworks—it arrived with calm. “My heart always knew, but my head didn’t,” Natalya reflects. “The moment I met Adam, I knew he was special.” Adam agrees. “She was the one for a long time for me. Once everything kind of fell together, you knew it was meant to be.”

What followed was a relationship built on teamwork, shared values, and an ease that made big decisions feel obvious. “We got to the point where we were like, what are we waiting for?” Adam says. “We’re both so happy.” They dated, moved in together, and by June, Adam was planning a proposal—one that would reflect not just their relationship, but their families and community.

The engagement unfolded at San Joaquin Country Club, a place layered with personal and generational significance. Adam quietly designed the ring with 5th Avenue Jewelers’ Rob Hancer (who also created the couple’s wedding bands) working alongside his sister Carin DeCosta and Natalya’s sister Anna. “She sent ideas to her sister that were completely different than anything she’d ever told me,” Adam laughs. “So the three of us worked with Rob and designed the engagement ring together.”

Natalya knew a proposal was coming, but not when, and not how. On what she was told was an “outgoing board dinner” (on the hottest day of the year), Adam rerouted their golf cart, changed the music to Marry Me, and led her toward a sign tucked near the course that read “Marry Me.” Photographer Justy Bolin was waiting, capturing the moment as Adam proposed.

What Natalya didn’t know was that 200 guests (including siblings who were supposedly in New York and Nashville) had already gathered nearby. “They switched their locations to their iPads and left them with friends posting stories,” Adam explains. “There was no way she thought they were going to be there.” When the couple rounded the corner and entered the crowd, the surprise was complete. “It was the first of many parties,” Adam says. “And a great one.”

Natalya and Adam wanted to tie the knot as soon as possible—preferably by the end of the year. The first call they made was to Thousand Hills Ranch in Pismo Beach, which happened to have New Year’s Eve available. Remarkably, Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was also available for the ceremony that same Wednesday, December 31st.

The couple’s priorities were clear: Natalya wanted a Catholic ceremony and Adam wanted everyone invited. And everyone truly was—523 guests, including 49 children. “It was really important to us to have kids there,” Natalya says. “Adam is known as Uncle Adam all around town.” With Something Blue by Katie Baca orchestrating the details, the rest soon fell into place. The wedding planner’s mom, Karen Phillips, even agreed to make their wedding cake.

But this wasn’t the first time these two families had celebrated together—another Fresno full-circle moment. Adam was especially moved by the wedding’s unmistakably multi-generational nature. Many of the same friends and family members who had gathered for the bride’s parents’ wedding 34 years earlier were present again, now celebrating Natalya and Adam. “Seeing people who were there then, and who are still part of our lives now, was really special,” Adam shared.

“I’m the past president of San Joaquin Country Club and have been around for a long time, and those people are my friends independent of the Ferdinandi family,” he adds. “So it was kind of fun to see all these people being invited again—not only as our friends, but as long-time friends of her parents.” It was a reminder that their marriage wasn’t beginning in isolation, but within a legacy of relationships that had endured and shown up again, decades later.

To welcome guests, the couple created a custom wedding newspaper, which proudly declared “Love at Full Blast” as the headline. Styled like a classic hometown paper, it featured their love story, family notes (including the multi-generational wedding connection), weekend highlights, and recommendations on where to eat and explore. “We wanted everyone to feel included and informed,” Natalya says. “It felt like the best way to share our story with everyone who showed up for us.” The rehearsal dinner was held at Beso Cocina & Cocktails in Nipomo.

The bridal party reflected the same closeness and intention that defined the entire celebration. Made up of siblings, lifelong friends, and people who had been present long before the romance officially began, the group felt more like an extension of family than a formal lineup. “Everyone standing up there with us has been part of our story in a real way,” Natalya says. Adam agrees, noting that their energy set the tone for the entire weekend: relaxed, celebratory, and grounded in genuine connection.

Food, handled by Natalya’s parents through Central Coast Restaurant Group, anchored the celebration in family and tradition. “It was important to us that it was family style,” Natalya explains. “Being Italian, I wanted that moment.” The menu featured short ribs, pasta, burrata, meatballs, and charcuterie, followed by late-night Me-n-Ed’s pizza with its famous ranch dressing, mini sliders, donuts from the Crave Mini Donuts truck, the SLO Roasted Coffee cart, and Central Coast Tacos. “The food just kept coming all night,” Adam recalls.

For Natalya, Me-n-Ed’s Pizza isn’t just a late-night favorite—it’s family history. Founded by her grandfather, the beloved brand is deeply tied to her family’s legacy in the Central Valley and along the Central Coast. Including it in the celebration felt natural, nostalgic, and deeply personal.

A New Year’s Eve wedding called for drama, and guests delivered. “I wanted glitz and glam,” Natalya says. “Wear red, wear bright pink, wear sequins. Everyone has something in their closet they’re waiting to wear.” Velvet jackets, sparkle, feathers, and showstopping looks filled the room. Many guests stayed and prepared together at Dolphin Bay Resort & Spa.

Natalya’s wedding dress and headpiece came from Kinsley Couture Bridal, with a second look by Self-Portrait. Her veil was custom-made by Joseph Jamkochian of Creative Alterations. Her cousin, Gianna Hoover—owner of Waves Salon—did her hair, while beauty prep was shared between The Spa at Fig Garden Village, CK Beauty & Aesthetics, and ME Aesthetics & Wellness.

Adam and the groomsmen wore tuxedos from Patrick James, then added a twist: white-and-black Air Jordans gifted to the groomsmen—and the priests, Father Rod Craig and Monsignor Rob Wenzinger. “I told everyone no Jordans at the church,” Natalya laughs. “Then the priests wore them during Mass.” Both Natalya and Adam’s wedding Rolexes came from Valley Watch Firm.

All-night favorites included a 1920s speakeasy craft cocktail bar, Bunny’s famous biscotti at the dessert table, and a Stirrup merch station. Italian biscotti, handmade by Natalya’s 87-year-old grandmother Betty “Bunny” Ann Roque, were prepared by the thousands. “She’s everyone’s grandma,” Natalya says. “No matter who you are, you’re her grandchild.” Custom “Stirrup Approved” stickers and sweatshirts—designed with family and printed locally—quickly became keepsakes seen across the Central Coast and back home in the Central Valley.

Natalya’s bouquet carried her something old, borrowed, blue, and new all attached together. A white linen handkerchief from Portugal, specifically saved for her wedding by Bunny. A rosary. An American flag pin from her other grandmother, Jane Ferdinandi. And a borrowed pin from her sister, finished with a dangling blue heart. “All of this represented the most important things to me as I entered my marriage,” Natalya says. “God, family, country.”

They skipped traditions that didn’t feel right—no bouquet toss, no public cake cutting—and leaned into moments that did, including sibling dances and a midnight balloon drop by Central Coast Balloon Babes as the New Year arrived. The couple even arranged IV services from I VIE Infusions for guests and the wedding party throughout the celebration vacation.

It rained—but not when it mattered most. “Nothing could ruin this day,” Natalya remembers telling her planner. Guests adapted, spirits stayed high, and the church doors opened without rain as the couple exited together. “All I wanted was for it not to rain when we walked out of the church, and it didn’t.”

Looking back, what stands out most isn’t a single detail—it’s the collective presence. “Walking into the church and seeing every seat filled,” Adam says. “They said it was the fullest that the mission has ever been for a wedding,” Natalya adds. “Seeing everybody there was pretty, pretty special.” For Natalya and Adam, their wedding wasn’t just a celebration—it was a reflection of a life already shared, surrounded by the people who helped bring it there. And like their love story itself, it felt exactly right—right on time.

Editorial Director Lauren Barisic
Photographer ANDJUSTYTOOKTHIS By Justy Bolin
Wedding Planner Something Blue
Event Assistance Central Coast Party Helpers
Venues Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa (Ceremony) & Thousand Hills Ranch (Reception)
Accommodations Dolphin Bay Resort & Spa
Hair The Queen’s Bees
Makeup Makeup by Mattie
Caterer Central Coast Restaurant Group
Wine O’Neill Vintners & Distillers
Florist Lori Boe Floral
Band Lucky Devils
Transportation SLO Safe Ride
Photobooth Bessy the Foto Booth
Rentals Embellish Vintage Rentals & Got You Covered
Marquee Lights Lola Letters Central Coast
Lighting/Disco Ball Décor Draping by Kim
Registry Vonda’s & Holiday Boutique