Real Wedding | Laure + Jeff

Laure and Jeff had a low-key and heartfelt celebration at an artist friend's studio on the east side of Los Angeles. They got ready together at their house, a 10 minute drive from the venue and their goal was to stay local and enjoy the company and celebrate with their closest friends. Many of the vendors whom were part of Laure and Jeff's wedding are friends, including their photographer Michelle Pullman from Rad + In Love

Laure, an interiors and architecture photographer and Jeff , a commercial composer knew when they got engaged that they wanted some kind of wedding, but nothing that felt like a wedding industrial complex. They didn’t have a big enough house to do have their celebration there and neither did their parents, so they started thinking about unconventional spaces, friends spaces, etc. "Brendan Ravenhill was sweet enough to offer us his space and it ticked all the boxes for us: it felt intimate, it was in our neighbourhood, it could hold 150 people and there was interesting architecture and great lighting."

Laure bought the Heidi Merrick dress before she even got engaged. "It was just the perfect white dress and I knew I didn’t want to wear a ‘wedding dress’ when the time came". Laure's ring is an eternity band from Kathryn Bentley, Jeff’s is a gold band from CatBird and Jeff’s tux was a rental from Black Tux.

The couple wanted a chance to celebrate with friends and family without getting too crazy about a wedding. So they spent a lot of time trying not to get sucked into the tunnel vision of planning a wedding. "We nailed down a date 6 months out and made some decisions about food and flowers then -and then we really didn’t do any planning until about 6 weeks out. I think it saved us a lot of stress!"

Laure and Jeff wanted to incorporate their own traditions into their ceremony and passed their rings around the room for people to bless. "We saw that happen when our friends Jimmy and Jesse got married and really loved it. It brought everyone into the ritual. We were a little unconventional and we also walked in together instead of with our parents. We’ve been together a long time and I think it was important to us to show up as a couple and leave as a stronger couple."

The couple had help from Erika from Politesse-design in planning their wedding. Their chuppah was created by friends from Honeyed Figs and another friend, Joie did the table decor and flora. Laure's bouquet was by Chaparral Studio.

Laure + Jeff's advice for other couples getting married, is one that we cannot love enough! "Focus on the marriage rather than the wedding."