Classic, timeless and all around perfect, this Pacific Palisades beauty is one for the books. It’s backyard meets black tie and the result couldn’t be prettier if it tried. Desi Baytan Photograph was on hand to make sure the day was captured in a stunning fashion, and you can see every gorgeous moment here.
From the Bride…I fell in love with Josh when I was a teenager and we were counselors at a day camp in our hometown of pacific palisades. The setting was idyllic – making lanyards with our campers, sneaking away to the woods for moments together, even his boys group awarding me babe of the week!
I knew at 17 I wanted to marry him, so after 9 years of a wonderful life together (college, law school, first jobs, first homes) when he proposed on the bluffs overlooking the ocean in our hometown I was the happiest girl alive. With my mom in the wedding industry, working with brides and planners every day, I had already dreamt up my dream wedding to a tee. But making it come to life really took a village (or a small suburb in Los Angeles 🙂
Josh and I knew we didn’t want a hotel or country club wedding. While beautiful, it just didn’t feel like us. We wanted something personal, and something in the town where our story began. It was by a stroke of fate that we ran into our family friend the day we had looked at numerous wedding venues that just didn’t fit us. She graciously offered her beautiful home for our wedding and the rest was history.
Even though it was outside, I dreamt of a formal affair with men in tuxedos and women in formal gowns. I wanted to create an atmosphere of easy elegance where everyone looked beautiful, but was comfortable enough to have the best night of their summer. With a stationer mom, the save the dates and wedding invitations set the tone of classic with a kick. Our engraved invites were on gorgeous 4 ply bristol stock with hand gilded edging, but with mix and match fonts to bring the look of timeless elegance into 2013!
Josh and I are huge foodies and wine lovers, so having a formal seated dinner experience with great wine to match was paramount. We even picked the poured champagne from a bottle we tried on one of our anniversary trips. The theme and colors of the wedding also perfectly reflected us. Any friend of mine will tell you that my favorite colors are black and white, and that twinkle lights make me happy in a way that is typically reserved only for cake! With our last names being black and green – keeping the wedding colors black and white against the lush green backyard was the perfect option. The only accent we wanted was LIGHT to create a romantic, twinkling evening – so we incorporated mercury glass, candles, lanterns, and twinkle lights all throughout the space.
Once the look of the environment was set – we knew we needed to set the tone. It was important for us to have live music at our wedding, so we worked with organic string quartet to curate a list of contemporary songs to play on their strings at the cocktail hour. But what was most special is that they learned a song for me to walk down the aisle to – “I miss you” by incubus, which is a song that Josh and I used to text each other lyrics from when we were dating long distance. If the start to the ceremony wasn’t personal enough, we also had our best family friend and neighbor officiate our wedding, whose personal perspective on our lives together set the stage for the evening ahead.
We also worked closely with our amazing DJ Pasha to put together playlists for dinner (everything from frank Sinatra standards to Allen stone crooning over the speakers) and songs for the BEST dance party I have ever been to. The night was perfect – elegant, but so fun that people were sweating on the dance floor. It all ended with, what else! More lights! A beautiful sparkler exit capped off the best day of our lives!
Photography: Desi Baytan Photography | Cinematography: New Classic Films | Wedding Dress: Monique Lhuillier | Wedding Gown: Monique Lhuillier | Floral Design: Commerce Flowers | Cake: Takes the Cake | Invitations: Black Ink | Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka | Bridesmaids Dresses: Vera Wang | Bridesmaids Dresses: Vera Wang | Catering: About Thyme Cafe And Market | Event Planning: Hilary Hamer Weddings & Events | Make Up: Amy Rittiner | Hair: Lee Rittiner | Lighting: Peterson Event Lighting | DJ: DJ Pasha Entertainment | DJ: DJ Pasha Entertainment | Men’s Shoes: Ferragamo | Ceremony Music: Organic String Quartet | String Quartet: Organic String Quartet | Bride Shoes: Badgley Mischka | Hotel: Viceroy | Hotel: Viceroy | Linens: Premier Party Rents | Rentals: Premier Party Rents | Tuxedo: Ermenegildo Zenga | Tuxedo: Zenga
© Style Me Pretty, 2014. |
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