Beverly Hills Wedding at Greystone Mansion from Duke Photography

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May 7, 2013

I think we can all agree that there's nothing quite like an al fresco affair in sunny CA, so planning a destination soiree in Beverly Hills? Kind of a no-brainer. Which is exactly what these two sweeties did, enlisting the help of the oh-so-talented Bella Destinee to coordinate their French meets English garden dream day at the stunning Greystone Mansion and the fab Luxe Hotel on Rodeo, while they anticipated every last detail from their home in Chicago. The result? A breathtaking vision with crazy gorgeous blooms from Dolce Design Studio and an beautiful moment after another captured by Duke Photography. See it all in the full gallery.

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From the Bride... Knowing that we wanted to have a destination wedding, but not knowing where, I spent a long time reading wedding blogs in search of the perfect venue. I knew I wanted the ceremony to be romantic French/English garden inspired with a unique, modern, glamorous, and intimate atmosphere for the reception. I came across Greystone Mansion and the penthouse at Luxe Hotel on Rodeo in Beverly Hills by chance on Style Me Pretty. We immediately knew they were the perfect wedding venues for us.

Planning a wedding in L.A. from Chicago wasn’t easy but I found a great wedding planner, Katie Lee from Bella Destinee, that made it all stress-free. Drawing from the inspiration of French and English gardens, we brought in vintage furniture from Found Rentals for the ceremony site. Wanting something different, we mixed vintage settees and chairs with gold chiavari chairs. With fashion editorials and bridal photo shoots as my inspirations, I placed a vintage white couch as a prop along the cypress walkway for my wedding portraits. The photos turned out amazing! Guests were asked to take polaroids and write well wishes. These were placed in an album as our guestbook that we will always look back on.

The penthouse terrace at the Luxe Hotel had a unique layout and was a blank space with so much potential. With tents draped of white fabric and chandeliers, I wanted a space that drew inspiration from interior design to make our guests feel as though they were entering our home for a dinner party. Our flowers were not elaborate or over the top, but more simple arrangements and vignettes, used to give the space a pop of color. We wanted each of our guest to be reminded that they played an important role in our life. Each detail had to be personal and we had a lot of fun creating this experience for our family and friends. With my Chinese background and my husband’s Mexican background, we found Don Chow Tacos, a Chinese Mexican fusion taco truck. We ended our night with Don Chow arriving to the hotel to serve our guests.

It may sound cliché, but I’ll never forget us exchanging our vows. We had decided to write our own and I knew it was going to be emotional for me. My husband’s vows were the most beautiful things I have ever heard. In my head, all I kept thinking was “Oh no, my vows aren’t as good as his!” and I could not stop crying, but had no tissues in hand. I saw my husband reach into his jacket pocket, happily thinking he was going to hand me a tissue for my runny nose. Instead, he handed me a tiny blue oil blotting paper. At that moment, I wanted to laugh, because it didn’t help at all. For the rest of the day, our guests told us how amazing his vows were and that it had brought everyone to tears. The day was unforgettable and we are so grateful to all of family and friends who were there for us.

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