6.15.19 My favorite day, with my favorite man and all my favorite people.
(All photos are by the insanely talented photographer, Adriana Klas)
Wow. What an unbelievable day. It was so incredibly special to be surrounded by all the people we adore so much while Brant and I made our love official. I wanted to share some of the details of our special day with you all.
We got married at the Ruth Bancroft Garden and the private property behind it. Ruth Bancroft was my grandmother (my mom’s mother) and she created this incredible succulent garden in Walnut Creek, California. It was on this same property that my parents were married in 1977 and my grandparents were married in 1939, so needless to say it has a lot of sentimental connection to my family.
My bridesmaids all arrived in the morning and we got ready together. Most of the girls are actresses and know how to do their hair and makeup, so they all helped each other. It was so much fun getting ready together and spending some quality time with all my bridesmaids before the whirlwind of the wedding. We all wore gorgeous robes from Kim + Ono.
My friend Danielle Badger did my hair, Brant’s sister Caitey’s hair and both our mothers’ hair. She’s incredibly talented!
My sister (and Maid of Honor) Erika did my makeup and my mother's makeup! I’ve had my makeup done in the past by makeup artists before and hated it, so I wanted to have my sister do it. Not only is she super talented with makeup, but we got to do some practices leading up to the wedding.
Meanwhile, Brant and his groomsmen got ready at the hotel before heading over to the house. We had them held in a different area of the house to ensure that Brant didn’t see me and that I didn’t see him.
Brant wouldn’t let me see his custom suit from JB Clothiers before the wedding either!
I gave my bridesmaids personalized gold bar necklaces from GLDN and makeup from Charlotte Tilbury.
Brant gave his groomsmen custom decanters and glasses from Swanky Badger.
My sister helped me get into my gorgeous beaded Pronovias gown. For the ceremony, I wore the Hechizno gown, but had the sleeves simplified.
I was (and still am) obsessed with this gown. Daniella Kurrle did the alterations and made sure my dresses fit like a glove. For the reception I change into the Pronovias Relisa gown. It’s significantly lighter and was perfect for dancing.
Before the ceremony, I took photos with my bridesmaids and Brant took photos with his groomsmen. My bridesmaids all wore gorgeous beaded Adrianna Pappell gowns in shades of gray and the groomsmen were in suits from Generation Tux. Brant’s friend Carlie got her suit on ASOS.
My friends Jenny and Julie did all the flowers! Can you believe they aren’t actually professional florists? I went with them to the flower market and picked out flowers that I liked, and sent them tons of inspiration. I’ve known them both since we were in diapers, so it was fun to include them in this way! They both did flowers at their own weddings, so I knew they had a talent for it.
My grandmother's garden is filled with succulents so I wanted to make sure to include those as well in the bouquets and boutonnieres. I clipped all the succulents from my parents' place a few days leading up to the wedding.
We had about 180 guests. Family, friends we grew up with, our people in Los Angeles, DnD, family friends... it was so amazing to have them all in one place!
Before walking down the aisle, my father and I shared a moment and took a few deep breaths together. The entire day I was very calm, but once everyone lined up fore the ceremony, the reality of the moment hit me. It reminded me of waiting in the wings when I used to do theater! So much nervous and excited energy! It meant so much to spend that time with my dad.
The groomsmen all lined up. My brother Kris escorted my mom down the aisle and Brant escorted his mother.
My brother actually built our wedding arch for us! I sent him an inspo photo and he built exactly what I wanted. It's great to have talented siblings. :)
The bridesmaids all walked down the aisle one by one. My good friend Allie Gonino played the violin and my sister’s boyfriend, Nick Krein, played the classical guitar. For the Bridal party, they played the traditional “Canon in D.” For my entrance, they played an instrumental version of “Dahil Sa Iyo,” a Filipino love song that my parents had at their wedding as well.
Next, Brant’s nephews walked Knuckles down the aisle in an adorable suit. More accurately, Knuckles walked them haha and caused a bit of a traffic jam. The ring bearers and my father all wore Barong Tagalogs, traditional Filipino dress shirts, with their suit pants from Generation Tux.
My godson, Atticus carried our rings down the aisle. No we didn’t use fake ones. He is a very responsible young man and we trusted him with the real bands.
Brant and I went to Robbins Brothers in Glendale to shop for wedding bands and I chose two beautiful platinum diamond bands from Henri Daussi. I wanted to be able to stack them. Brant chose a Robbins Brothers matte yellow gold band. He also got a matte white gold so he could switch them up if he wanted to.
Next, my parents’ neighbor (and unofficial granddaughter) Daphne walked Luna down the aisle. Daphne wore a dress I found on etsy and Luna wore this dress I found on amazon. I just wanted little adorable puff balls walking down the aisle!
Our other flower girl, Ava, had a basket of jasmine flowers to throw. Unfortunately, she wasn’t feeling it, poor girl, but here's another photo of her in better spirits and another one of Luna!
My dad also wore a Barong Tagalog, although he wore different pants than I’d picked out for him haha. Way to make a switcheroo, Dad. He still looked great! :)
My favorite moment of the whole day was seeing Brant down that aisle. He always knows how to make me feel special and loved. The look on his face melted my heart.
Brant’s long time friend Clare Agra officiated our ceremony. We wanted something short and sweet. So the whole thing didn’t last more than 15 minutes.
We exchanged personalized vows. Brant revealed that he knew I was “the one” on our first date and I revealed to him that I had sent myself an email after our second date that said “I’m going to marry Brant.” They say when you know you know and I guess we knew! We then exchanged rings and were ready to party!
While we took photos with our families and the wedding party, the rest of the guests went to cocktail hour in the dry garden. We had open bar all night and tray passed appetizers from Elegant Occasions Catering. We got paper parasols off of DHgate. It was 100 degrees a few days before the wedding, so we wanted to make sure people had some shade. Luckily, on our wedding day it was a windy 76 degrees.
We took photos with our entire bridal party! Knuckles was being a clown as usual.
Our wedding weekend was also the first time that my family got to meet Brant’s family! They all got along beautifully, which wasn’t a surprise, but it was so incredibly special to have everyone together.
Brant’s extended family travelled in from Ohio and all over the country! This was my first time meeting them and they were all lovely and such a fun time.
All of my family is from the Bay Area so it was less of a trek for them to make it out.
Rayna Hess at Eventfully Yours did the wedding design and her company Chairs for Affairs did all the rentals. Magic Entertainment did the lighting and Marcella Camille Events coordinated. Many of the succulents, vines and olive branches were cuttings from my parents’ yard!
Elegant Occasions catered the event. For cocktail hour, we had tray passed appetizers of: mint, melon & prosciutto skewers, vegan bruschetta, apricot chicken skewers, feta stuffed mushroom caps and cheese canapés. For dinner we did a family style meal with blackberry and goat cheese salad, mixed breads, roasted potatoes, roasted vegetables, salmon with chimichurri topper and a steak with a pan-dripping sauce. My dad's absolute favorite wine, Rombauer Vineyards, provided wine for both the rehearsal and wedding dinner!
I had my friend Brian Dare emcee the evening. Instead of having the DJ do it, I preferred to have another good friend included. During dinner, we had heartwarming and joyful toasts from Brant’s best man, Chris Peterson and my maid of honor/sister, Erika. We’re so lucky to have all these amazing people in our lives.
After dinner, we snuck away to take some gorgeous sunset photos. My cousin Phil let us use his Lincoln for our getaway car! I didn’t know this when I asked him, but turns out it was the same car my parents did their getaway in as well!
For dessert, we had a delicious and beautiful strawberry chiffon cake from Pegah Couture Treats. The cake cutters were 1905 silver, a gift from our family friend, Marilyn Sardonis. Pegah even made some vegan and gluten free cake for me!
Brant and I had our first dance to a cover of La Vie en Rose, sung by Daniela Andrade. Like our ceremony, we went with “short and sweet” for all of the dances. My father and I danced to a shortened version of “Brown Eyed Girl” and Brant and his mother danced to “Fly me to the Moon.”
Once the dance floor opened, it was starting to get cold and the wind was chilly, so I think everyone was ready to dance. Because it had been so hot leading up to the day, no one was prepared for the cold. Luckily, my bridesmaids and I all found vintage coats in my grandmother's closet to wear (see photo below)!
Both our DJ, Martin Hodge, and our videographer, Aaron Texeira, were from A Perfect Impression. I wanted to go with local vendors whenever possible to support the Bay Area!
My friend, Kelen, caught the bouquet! Our flower girl Daphne told my sister she should have jumped for it. :)
The rest of the evening was full of dancing, drinks, cake, laughing and huddling around the two fire pits! The fire pit was Rayna’s idea and it was such a hit!
We also had a photo booth from Citybay Photobooths. That was a gift from my Uncle Mario.
As the evening wound down, we had cookie party favors from Milk Bar for our guests to take home with them. Due to ordinances, we ended before 10pm and did a sparkler exit!
My cousin then drove us to the hotel, The Renaissance Club Sport in Walnut Creek. They kept their bar open and we had an after party in the lobby bar. It was a great time to get to catch up with all of our out-of-town guests and have real conversations after the whirlwind of the wedding. Also, someone gave me McDonald’s fries and my wedding night was complete.
It meant so much to have everyone there and we wish we could have spent more time with each person who attended. Brant and I had such an incredible day and we have to thank my parents, Kathy and Loreto, for throwing us such a special wedding and Brant’s mother, Mary Beth, for hosting the Rehearsal dinner. We love you all so much.
Comments