A Bel Air Bay Club Wedding in Malibu, California
Love Story: We met ten years ago and were in and out of each others lives for the first several years. We truly believe we are soulmates that were connected through divine intervention. We are so lucky to have found each other.
Inspiration: “All you need is love.” – We wanted to incorporate all the wonderful things in life that make us happy, but keep it simple at the same time. We wanted our love for one another to be the main focus. A few components that were important to include were: the beach, family/friends, faith, food, good music and the place we met, Santa Monica
It was important to us that the day was personal. Of course we wanted a beautiful wedding, but more than that, we wanted the wedding to be a reflection of our relationship and personalities, so there were many things we incorporated into the day. Since Jake’s mom passed a few years ago, we wanted to make sure we included her, so we had a large vase of her favorite flowers on our escort table to welcome our guests. We also had our cantor sing “I Can Only Imagine” as one of our preludes at the ceremony, which was her favorite song. When we did our final walk through at our venue the week before the wedding, we were practicing our first dance, and when we stopped, we looked down and found a penny at our feet. The club had been closed for renovations for nearly a month and nobody was there, so we couldn’t believe we found it in the middle of the floor. We framed the “penny from heaven” and also had it on our escort table by her tulips. My dad did the floral arrangement in the fountain on the patio at our reception venue which was so special to me since I grew up with him always gardening and keeping our yard beautiful. I have always loved the idea of hanging florals, so the chandelier details done by our florist were perfect. In lieu of traditional wedding favors, we made a donation to the PMP Research Foundation which funds research for appendix cancer. Jake was diagnosed with appendix cancer a few days after our engagement, so we spent the past sixteen months surrounded by our PMP “family” and felt it was only appropriate to donate to a foundation that helped to save his life. We didn’t want to make the day about that by any means, but it has been a huge part of our life and we will never forget the many blessings and miracles we’ve experienced the past year and a half, so it was important to give back.
Favorite Moment: The whole thing! It’s hard to pick one moment, but when I saw Jake for the first time walking down the aisle, I was overwhelmed with emotion. I also loved when we were saying our vows – the entire ceremony was so special.
Advice: Enjoy the planning process and take in the day as much as possible. Also, make sure the wedding and vendors fit your personality, there are so many different styles that people will share with you and that you’ll discover on Pinterest, and it’s hard to sort through them and figure out what your vision is. We had such an amazing connection with all our vendors and we felt like they fit our style and personalities. We met with other vendors that didn’t have the same vision as us, and I knew if we had chosen them, I would have been more stressed than I was. I knew that no matter what our vendors did, I trusted it would be amazing, which helped us sit back and enjoy the process and our special day.
Musical Choices
Prelude: Ave Marie, I Can Only Imagine | Processional: Canon In D, Wedding March | Recessional: All You Need is Love
First Dance: Make You Feel My Love – Adele | Father/Daughter Dance: Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
We had the BEST vendors!!
Photographer: We Heart Photography | Photobooth: The Heartbooth | Church: St. Monica, Santa Monica | Reception: Bel-Air Bay Club, Pacific Palisades
DJ: VOX DJs | Florist: Sweet Marie Designs | Bridesmaid Dresses: Natalie Deayala | Bride’s Dress: Panache Pasadena | Lighting and Curtain: Stage Labs
Day of Coordinator: Niche Weddings and Events | Transportation: Five Diamonds Limousine | Videographer: Buckley Videography