Southern Weddings

We are so excited to feature the elegant wedding of Angela + Angel! The beautiful bride wore a custom made dress and designed her invitations, programs, table names and place cards herself. Some of the couple’s favorite things included the reception venue, {SLS Hotels at Beverly Hills} and the food, prepared by chef {José Andrés}. The simple floral arrangements by {Bobbe Vagell Floral Design Studio} made a big statement against the white backgrounds at the ceremony and tables at the reception. See more of Angela + Angel’s wedding at {Apertura Photography} and check out more from this wedding on their {Blog}.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. Angel and I first met at the age of fourteen at church in California. We knew each other but weren’t close friends. People at church would make fun of us and how cute it would be if we both get together since we share practically the same name. I, however, did not find it amusing at the time. I moved away at the age of 16 and lived at Virginia and Tennessee for 3 years before I came back to California where we got reconnected. We just happened to end up not only at the same college but also the same Biology and Organic Chemistry classes. I had just gotten out of a relationship and was not looking to enter another one, so it was quite a relief when Angel started talking about his girlfriend at the time. Shortly after Angel and his girlfriend at the time ended their relationship, but I do recall one of the first times he called me was to talk about the break up. Our friendship started with studying together at the library, and then it progressed to studying at coffee shops. Then next thing we knew, we were spending less time studying and more time on getting to know each other. It wasn’t until we began dating did I find out that he has always had a crush on me and could see us being together in the future. We dated for 3 years before we got engaged. Angel wasn’t really happy with the way he proposed the first time around so he surprised me a year later when he proposed again along with upgrading the size of the engagement ring. We had a very long engagement being engaged for 5 ½ years before we finally got married. Everything was worth the wait.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? We wanted our wedding to be sophisticated, modern and chic. We both like the minimalist and very clean look. We wanted a very elegant design without an over abundance of flowers.
Favorite design element of your big day: The organic look of the dark Manzanita braches brought to life by arrangements of fresh green roses.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I’m actually a very picky person. I couldn’t find one dress that I liked fully and since my mom is friends with a wedding dress designer in Indonesia, I decided to have it custom made. The dress was finished within 1 week. When I brought the dress home, I still wasn’t quite happy with the dress so l made quite a few changes to make it just the way I like it. I know I’m terrible.
Describe your wedding flowers: Fresh green roses, green hydrangeas, green cymbidium orchids, miniature calla lily, dark brown Manzanita branches.
Describe your wedding cake: Round 3-tiered European cake with fresh raspberries and Bavarian cream decorated with fresh green hydrangeas between the tiers and on top.
Our favorite aspect(s) of the wedding was/were: It’s hard to pick one, but we narrowed it down to top 3 (not in a particular order of importance): The reception site (SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills) – the service the hotel provided were impeccable. The hotel itself is quite incredible. Dana Linder, the catering manager, was very pleasant to work with. Despite of her busy schedule, she went out of her way to tend to our needs. The executive chef is none other than the world renowned Chef José Andrés and the food was absolutely amazing. It just completed the overall experience at the hotel. We were honored to be the first wedding that was held at SLS Hotel. The florist (Bobbe Vagell Floral Concepts) flower arrangements were gorgeous, we enjoyed working with Bobbe and Todd. It was easy to work with them since we share the same vision and taste. It was nice to see that Bobbe was as excited about our wedding as we were. Photography (Apertura Photography) was one of the only things we had absolutely no reservations about. With plenty of accolades under their belt (including “2009 best top 10 wedding photographers”), we knew we were in good hands. If you check out their Web page, you’ll know exactly what we mean. For those of you who appreciate the idea of “captured moments,” Ray and Erwin are the photographers for you. They were so easy to work with and comfortable to be around. They have the amazing ability to make ordinary things and turn it into extraordinary images. They truly made us the focal point of the day and captured some breath taking photos. Also, one of the best aspects of their work of art is their ability to tell a story with the images they take.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Intimate, personal, and memorable
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? If things don’t go the way you expect (because they won’t), just keep in mind that your guests won’t even know the difference; they will enjoy celebrating with you at your wedding regardless. Appreciate every moment, because it all goes by so fast. Be sure to enjoy the day yourselves and remember what the day is really about (which is marrying the person you love, incase that wasn’t obvious).
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Planning to have a family within the next year or so and dealing with other adulthood dilemmas while keeping a good balance to our playful-at-heart nature. What we look forward most in the future is starting our family and possibly doing some traveling together.
Any DIY items? I designed the invitations and had them made in Indonesia, designed and assembled the church programs, table names, and placement cards.

Congratulations Angela + Angel and the best of luck with starting your new family!