Tell us a little about yourselves!
Isaac and I met at my best friend's birthday party. We had a ton of mutual friends, and I had heard about him prior but we had never met until then. We stayed at the party until 4am and I noticed that he was laughing at all my jokes and making really intense eye contact with me which I was very intrigued by. I poked him on Facebook the next day, he poked back, and that led to our first date.
We got engaged on Christmas day in 2020, it was very cute and intimate. Isaac got down on one knee and proposed on our balcony while watching the sunset.
Why did you decide to get married where you did?
We wanted to get married in Los Angeles, just where we live and have most of our family and friends out here. We wanted a small restaurant vibe, something that felt more intimate and casual than a normal wedding venue. Isaac checked out a couple restaurants around town and we just liked Edendale the best. Was a great size, we loved the atmosphere, the staff was great. They made a full vegan menu for us which we really loved. Just felt like the right spot.
How many guests did you have?
We had about 95 guests in attendance.
Tell us about your outfits.
I ordered 23 wedding dresses online from Lulus, Reformation and Asos. I invited a few friends over to help me try them all on and make a decision. I loved two of them so much I decided to wear both! My ceremony dress was from Lulu's and a small veil I got from Etsy. My reception dress was from Asos, a faux fur shawl I got off of Amazon and a tiara from Etsy. I spent under $500 for all the pieces.
I also rented designer jewelry from Rent The Runway and Vivrelle. I had 3 pairs of shoes! I don't remember exactly the brand of the ceremony shoes, but I got them from The Real Real. The reception shoes were Steve Madden and I ended the night with sparkly sneakers from Betsey Johnson.
Isaac rented his tux from P.M. Jacoy Menswear in San Marino.
What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?
I actually used to shoot weddings a long time ago so I had been to a lot of weddings previously and had a lot of ideas. We really wanted something untraditional - I did not change my name (in fact we agreed our children will have my name!). I wanted to walk down the aisle with my husband to be as I find it a misogynist tradition to have your father give you away. We didn't have a wedding party as we felt that all of our friends and family invited were equally important.
We also wanted to celebrate our diverse cultures. We had a traditional Jewish ceremony with a Rabbi, Isaac wore his tallit he wore on his bar mitzvah, he smashed the glass. We also had a horah which was so much fun. We had a salsa band play, my father is Colombian and I grew up listening to and dancing to salsa music. My father and my first dance song was to "Una Aventura" by Grupo Niche, it was so special to dance salsa with my dad.
We're also big Star Trek fans, me and Isaac's first dance song was from Star Trek Deep Space Nine. The song is "I'll be Seeing You" originally sang by Billie Holiday, so it's this beautiful jazz-y ballad, but also from Star Trek. We practiced how to waltz for the dance. Our cake also had a Star Trek topper. We had an all vegan meal and cake - my whole family is vegan and we wanted to respect that.
We wanted our wedding to feel fully like us, and not have anything that you're 'supposed' to have at a wedding if it didn't feel fully like what we wanted.
Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?
I loved the vows, we wrote our own, and it was so lovely to hear what we wrote about each other. I loved the salsa band, the dance floor was completely full the entire time they played. The horah was so much fun and I especially loved that my chair was lifted only by women (not planned)! It was also the week of Christmas, so I especially loved that the restaurant still had all the Christmas decor up (and because we got engaged on Christmas the year before!).
I loved that the bar made a 'Bride' drink and 'Groom' drink guests could order. Isaac's was a custom cocktail he invented and mine was a mocktail because I don't drink alcohol. It was a nice added detail that we loved!
Any tips for couples getting married, particularly during the pandemic?
All your plans will probably change! Just go with the flow and accept that it's part of it. I was crying on the floor the day before the wedding because we had 40 cancelations that week due to everyone getting Covid. It was peak Omicron week and we had SO many Covid cases. Luckily none of my family or closest friends got it. But even though I was freaking out over it before, it ended up being truly one of the most special and fun days of my life. Also get your friends and family to help out as much as you can! You don't want to have to worry about the flow of the day or anything at all on your wedding day. Because I enlisted so many duties to other people (who loved doing it! it made them feel more a part of the big day), I was able to just enjoy and not worry about how anything would play out.
Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?
We absolutely LOVED our salsa band Colombian Latin Soul that was one of the huge highlights of the evening. They were so kind, accommodating, flexible to changes and so much fun. The dance floor was full the entire time they played. They also helped MC a bit during the first dances. We are so grateful to have had them at the wedding, I'd really love to give them a shout out on the blog post.
We also loved our Rabbi, Rabbi Barry Tuchman. He was so sweet and funny and made our ceremony so special.
Oh and of course our wedding photographer Mandee Johnson Photography! She went completely above and beyond. She immediately felt like a family friend as soon as she walked in the door. She helped me with my jewelry, drove us to the location (we had planned to take an Uber), and did so much more. The photos were absolutely gorgeous and captured the day perfectly. We're so grateful to have found her.
My hair and makeup artist Danielle Haxton. We've worked together on photo shoots before and she's always amazing. She did my hair/makeup and my mother and sisters. We all felt absolutely beautiful all night long. Lashes stayed on perfectly until 8AM the next day (didn't go to sleep until then!)
Photographer : Mandee Johnson Photography @mandeephoto | Ceremony + Reception Location : Edendale @theedendale | Celebrant : Rabbi Barry Tuchman @weddingsandketubahs | Entertainment : Colombian Latin Soul @colombianlatinsoul | Makeup : Danielle Haxton @daniellehaxtonmua | Cake : Lêberry Bakery @leberrybakery | Dresses : Lulu's @lulus + ASOS @asos | Suit : P.M. Jacoy Menswear @pmjacoymenswear