Southern Weddings

Ahhhh, those swags behind the group portrait get me every time!  Perfect, no?  Similar to the adorable sign post, and the ridiculously awesome, massive barn doors, and the ribbon-bedecked photo wall.  Luckily for you, we’ve got a bit more coming up from this wedding, photographed by Jon and planned by Lauren at Elements Event Design (one of the bride’s dear friends, just like the florist)!  Lisa + Ben chose to hold their reception at the Sundance Resort, and I’d say that was a pretty good choice.  Two thumbs up from the SW office!

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: This was a hard task for me, as a stylist, all my friends and family were all telling me they were dying to see what I would pick out. I had seen the dress I ended up buying about a year before and I loved the look of it, but was not engaged or ready to go dress shopping. My mom and I went wedding dress shopping in Los Angeles, and while I was looking through the racks of gorgeous gowns, there was the one I loved the previous year. Of course I tried it on, along with many more, and it ended up being my favorite.
Describe your wedding flowers: My wedding planner, and one of my dearest friends Lauren, worked closely with my florist (another dear friend) to create the amazing centerpieces and bouquets. I am not really into matching, so each table had subtle differences, and I loved it. Also, we used many different color flowers in addition to the flowers and ribbon in our wedding colors. I think using colors that complemented our wedding colors of coral and aqua, helped it from looking like a sea of matching decorations and flowers.
Describe your wedding cake: Our wedding cake was based on a pattern in a wedding magazine I saw, but we changed up the colors a bit. My favorite part was it tasted delicious. I love the look of fondant, but I wanted a cake that tasted good, as well as looked good. All of the frosting was buttercream, and we loved it. I just wish we had more than the one bite we fed to each other!

I really love the colors in this wedding.  Like, really.  Actually (secret fact), I would be perfectly happy if my house were decked out in them.  (On a side note… does anyone else do that?  Interior decorate based on a wedding?  Oh you do? Good.  Thought it was just me.)  MOVING ON.  Jonathan Canlas’ photography is, as usual, stunning.  Way to go, Jon!  And, speaking of stunning, Lisa and Ben are looking pretty spiffy themselves.  Lisa is wearing a Vera Wang gown, a Shauna Lewis headpiece, and Miu Miu shoes.  Allyson Didlake of Heritage Flowers is responsible for the blooms (including that bouquet!), and whoa nelly aren’t they gorgeous?

How did the two of you meet?  We met in March of 2007 while working together. Our first date was on April 24, which is also Lisa’s parents’ anniversary. A couple weeks after our first date, Lisa moved to New York for a summer program and then to LA to start school at FIDM. We didn’t intend for our relationship to be long distance, but we just could not stop calling each other! Luckily she moved back to Utah soon after finishing school so we could finally live in the same state again.
Describe the proposal. On December 14, 2009, Ben proposed to me. I was not expecting it at all, and it was perfect. We spent the day together doing completely ordinary things, but I remember thinking the day was really special. Around 9:00 pm, he drove us up to our special spot (where he first told me he loved me, where we watched fireworks together for the first time, where he first told me he wanted to get married to me), and we were looking at the lights of the city. The city lights, combined with the Christmas lights and the winter snow created a perfect moment…then I ruined it by saying, “You know Ben, if you had a ring, now would be a perfect time to give it to me.” I didn’t realize at that moment he already was pulling a ring box out of his pocket. He put the box in my hand, and got down on his knee. I was in complete shock as he was saying the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me, and at the end he asked me to marry him. He stood up, we hugged in the cold weather, and at some point between the tears and smiles, I said “yes.” Obviously. We then called our parents who basically told us, “It was about time.”
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Perfect, sublime, fast.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The photo station, we loved seeing everyone’s pictures after, and seeing how much fun everyone had taking their pictures. 

Designing the florals for her big day apparently was the bride’s favorite part of the planning process, and after seeing the crisp white blooms from BeBuds Florist, we totally can see why!  Something we think we would have loved (both designing + eating)?  The couple’s classic three-tier round cake from Portos Bakery.  The Swiss dot pattern is light and whimsical, and the gray ribbon detailing subtly sophisticated.  Sugar perfection!  For more details from F + L’s LA wedding, visit Stephanie Williams’ blog here!

Describe your wedding flowers: Picking the flowers was probably one of the most enjoyable parts of the planning process, for me at least!  Once we chose our wedding colors (white, slate grey and green), we decided to go with all-white flowers while utilizing the natural greens from the leaves and stems. We wanted the flowers to be simple, beautiful and have a touch of vintage. The bridal bouquet included my  favorite flowers: white peonies and ranunculus with some vintage elements accented by the dusty miller leaves and slate grey satin ribbon wrap. The five bridesmaids bouquets were unique arrangements of different white flowers.  The same flowers were reflected throughout the wedding in everything from the ceremony arch to the centerpieces. 
Describe your wedding cake: There were three layers to the cake: Cuban-style with custard and raspberry filling, red velvet and chocolate!  The cake was beautifully designed by Porto’s Bakery in Glendale by a wonderful lady named Lulu.  We came in with a picture of a wedding cake and she designed it with our own customization.  It turned out better than we imagined, and so delicious!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding?  Details, details, details.  We thought we were prepared two weeks before the big day, but we were still taking care of details up to the day before! Last minute RSVPs, table changes and alterations to the dress… the list went on.  But we overcame the challenge by staying as calm as possible and knowing that we had each other’s support.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? The most memorable moment was seeing all our family and friends in one place and having a good time! We both come from close families and it was very important to us that they had a great time.  We were also so happy to finally be united as one!
Did you write your own vows?  If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? Yes, we both wrote our own personal vows to give it a special and meaningful touch.  My favorite line from Leonard’s vows was: I promise that when we are old and wrinkly, we will still hold hands, make each other laugh, kiss each other on the lips and go on dates. Leonard’s favorite phrase from mine was: Never did I imagine myself marrying a Venezuelan-born Korean-American, tri-lingual speaking individual, who plays over 5 instruments and balances work, school and personal life – all seamlessly and successfully without a strand of white hair.
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future?  We are now looking to buy a home in Southern California and looking forward to starting a family soon.  In the future, we hope to travel the world and continue enjoying our close relationships with our family and friends.

Congratulations, Fannie + Leonard!  Thank you for sharing your gorgeous wedding with us!