The bride took one look at the 24 carat gold ceiling of El Cortez and knew it was the perfect place for her Old Hollywood wedding. Forget that Ginger Rogers and Clark Gable had once danced the night away in the same room – this fabulous couple comfortably took center stage, and rightly so. They chose a superb team to help their wedding dreams come true – Isari Floral Studio for the fabulous floral design, Brightly Designed to announce the big day, Crown Weddings to pull everything together flawlessly, and Schnack Studios to capture it all. Plus SO many other fabulous vendors. Click here to see the affair in it’s entirety in the gallery!
Joe proposed while on vacation in Turks and Caicos. Our first night on the island, Joe insisted that we take a stroll on the beach before dinner. I was extremely hesitant (it was dark out!) and hungry (everyone knows how stubborn I get when hungry), but reluctantly I agreed. He suggested we take a picture with his brand new camera, so he walked over to a beach lounger to set up the automatic shot. As he walked back towards me, I noticed the red light wasn’t blinking – which meant it wasn’t actually taking a timed picture. Little did I know, he was recording the whole thing! Just as I was about to yell at him for setting it up wrong, he got down on one knee and recited all of the reasons he loved me, and then (of course) asked me to marry him.
Part of our inspiration for the wedding comes from the origin of the diamond he proposed with. The diamond is a family heirloom from his great-grandmother’s 1920s art deco-inspired cocktail ring. So as we started the whole planning process, we were focusing on a classic, old-hollywood vibe. The first and only venue that we visited was the historical Don Room at El Cortez. Located in Downtown San Diego, El Cortez has hosted some of the finest old-hollywood stars including Clark Gable and Ginger Rogers. Once we took at look at the 24-karat gold ceiling, we were hooked!
After we chose the venue, I couldn’t believe how fast things started to unfold! I knew from the minute Joe proposed, that I would need some wedding planning help, so I turned to Style Me Pretty’s Little Black Book and found Susanne Duffy from Crown Weddings! She was excellent and helped make my dreams turn into a reality. And more importantly – the actual day of the wedding felt flawless. After hearing some of my poorly thought-out decorative ideas, she pointed me in the direction of Tam Ashworth at Isari Flower Stuidio. Tam was able to read me like a book and extract what I was envisioning for my big day like a mind-reader.
Our top three priorities for the wedding were photography, food and music. And we could not have ended up with better vendors for each of these. John Schnack, our photographer, captured our day exquisitely and gave us some of the most beautiful memories to look back on. Barry Layne from Coast Catering designed a mouth-watering menu for us including New Zealand lamb, macadamia nut-crusted sea bass and a dessert bar filled with Baileys shooters and peanut butter chocolate bombs. The band, NDEMAND, was the biggest hit of all! Our friends and family (young and old) were able to rock out on the dance floor. I swear it felt like we were at a private concert.
Wedding Coordinator: Susanne Duffy, Crown Weddings / Florist: Tam Ashworth, Isari Flower Studio / Caterer: Coast Catering / Church: St Josephs Cathedral / Hair and Makeup: Love Struck Makeup / Photographer: Schnack Studios / Venue: El Cortez / Ceremony Music: Caprice Strings / Cocktail Music: Anthony Garcia Flamenco Guitar / China, Glassware, Silverware: Event Party Rentals / Linens, Napkins, Furniture: Concepts Event Design / Wedding Cak: Twiggs / Lighting: AV Works / Dinner Music: Jordan Entertainment, N Demand / Invitations: Brightly Designed / Dress: The White Flower Boutique / Transportation: Avant-Garde