If sequin, peonies (and lots of them), Jenny Packham, Instax pics, French Bulldogs, and the Smog Shoppe in Los Angeles make your heart pitter patter, then Tara might easily become your new bff. The two of them in fact, are that couple you want to bottle up and stick in your pocket for a daily dose of f-u-n. They’re East Coast natives who met and fell in love in LA and admit their love of tiny red cars, Griffith Park, and their French Bulldog, Frankie have turned them into hardcore West-siders – Venice/Santa Monica-siders to be exact. To pull off such a wedding, you’d need someone as equally in love with everything sparkly – enter Sitting in a Tree!
Fun guestbook alternative? A giant canvas painted pink, patterned washi tape, and an Instax Mini Instant Camera for guests to snap cute pics of each other and tape them up with little messages. After realizing how cool the large “LOVE” gold spray painted stencil (bought from Stencil Ease) would come out, Tara added it to the décor by mirroring the napkins with their own little “LOVE” stencils!
So many of our favorite things in this set of photos: A bouquet made of large bloomed peonies wrapped in gold sequin, sequin wands, a feisty French Bulldog ring bearer, and a sparkly Jenny Packham.
Great tip: We chose our music with fun in mind – skipping down the aisle to Prince’s “Kiss” after we tied the knot! And, in general, we just tried to make decisions based on who we are as people and who we are as a couple. Every decision was based on instinct – and it worked!
These two took their paper goods serious. They wanted to make sure it set the tone for the wedding and gave a little wink of what was to come to all their guests. They also “wanted everything from the Save-the-Dates to the invites to the website to the day-of paper products to carry the theme and blend together seamlessly without being too matchy-matchy. Enter Andres Montano. It was a true collaboration – a mix of our ideas and Andres’ imagination. From the initial meeting, he totally understood our vision and then took it to the next level at each and every step of the way. Our color scheme was navy with whites, pinks, peaches and of course sparkle and shimmer – the colors of our Santa Monica sunset…we knew we wanted the design to be big and bold, a bit vintage with an old school beach vibe and it had to have a bit of texture and a whole lot of personality.”
Some added fringe detail for escort cards, oh yes!
Check out that sweet headband… that Tara can get away with wearing well after the wedding! It was a custom piece she created with Erin Cole made of a belt + a brooch.
On loving the Smog Shoppe: I personally knew I wanted our wedding to be at the Smog Shoppe before we even got engaged and it wasn’t hard to convince Ben once he saw the venue. It’s magical! We wanted somewhere where we could have both the ceremony and reception and a venue that instantly set the tone for our F U N wedding – the Smog Shoppe is second to none in this arena. You have no idea when standing outside on the sidewalk what kind of urban oasis lies within – industrial, eclectic, organic, vintage all mixed together in the perfect party atmosphere.
The music: for the processional, Billy Bragg & Wilco’s, California Stars, then Tara walked to Paul McCartney’s, Maybe I’m Amazed. The recessional song, Prince’s Kiss, was cued up to play the second they smooched (I mean, you can’t compete with that beat and we really wanted it to kick off the rest of the night and let our guests know – if they didn’t already – this was going to be a party!). The first dance was to, U2’s Magnificent, and the father/daughter/mother/son dance went to The Beatles, In My Life – sweet and to the point.
These two are definitely a couple we’d love to know and dance with – they’re incredibly adorable and their personalities pop!
Congratulations Tara + Ben!!!
Event planning + coordination + florals: Sitting in a Tree / Photography: EP Love / Venue: Smog Shoppe / Caterers & Cake & Desserts – Whoa Nelly Catering / Save the dates, thanks you cards, invitation design: Andres Montano / Hair & Make up: Nyrie Aitken of Symmetry Beauty / Extra dessert: Maple Bacon Donuts from Semi Sweet Bakery / Videographer: Jeff Fletcher Videography / Rentals: B.T.B. Events / DJ: Ian Gotler of Red Shoe / Bride’s dress: Jenny Packham / Veil: Erin Cole / Earrings: Erin Cole / Shoes: Jimmy Choo / Bridesmaids: Ann Taylor + J.Crew / Maid of Honor: Twelth St by Cynthia Vincent via Piperlime.com / Man of Honor: Brooks Brothers’ shirt, his own vest, Bonobos pants and a Forage bow tie / Groom’s suit: Bonobos / Shoes: John Varvatos / Tie: Penguin
