When I see Honey Honey Photography flash across my screen, I know loads of pretty are about to be delivered my way—and not just darling details, but ever so beautiful moments stolen in time, too. This classic affair at The Culver Hotel is filled to the brim with them and I can’t stop staring. Plus, the Bride and Groom, who dated for 10 years and then planned their wedding in just three months are my new heroes. See just how lovely their day was right here in the full gallery.
From the Bride… “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” -When Harry Met Sally
Sean and I have been together for ten years. We started dating while I was still in high school and he was a shockingly older college man of 19. Although we were just kids, we can truly say we fell in love right from the beginning. There was so much growth to be experienced on both sides, and we never wanted to rush into anything. Over the years we’ve seen each other grow so much, slowly becoming the people we want to be. We had waited to get engaged, but it was the right time for us in our lives. We dove in, and decided to plan our wedding in just three months. Call us crazy, but at the very end we were extremely happy with our timeline. When you know you want to be with somebody… sometimes it’s just time to grab life by the horns and make it happen.
Our thoughtful choices for venue and vendors truly shaped our experience for the day. As a couple, we appreciate things that are an interesting mix of modern and classic. While Sean leans more toward modern tastes and I favor the vintage side of things, we certainly meet in the middle and appreciate all things that are timeless. We share a love of jazz, classic cocktails, and clean white spaces. The only venue I truly wanted to visit was the historic Culver Hotel, built in 1925. Their modern vintage vibe for our intimate wedding was perfection. Looking at the front entrance, you would never know if the hotel was from the 40s or the present, in LA or London or New York. Timeless. With a venue so full of personality, there was no need to choose strong colors or create a theme for the night- much of the decor took care of itself.
In hindsight, I was much more stressed leading up to the wedding than I needed to be. One of the smartest moves I made was choosing a venue that included ALL catering and rentals. At the end of the night we were all able to toddle upstairs to our rooms! I must say the Culver Hotel and Maureen, our on-site coordinator, did a FABULOUS job making sure that everything was EXACTLY how I had wanted it. From the details of the reception layout to the perfectly packed items at the end of the night, everything was spectacular. Maureen and the wait staff truly outdid themselves. We trusted our photographer wholeheartedly, I loved my hair and makeup team and we knew we had chosen the BEST cake ever (Funfetti flavor!). Because we had chosen our vendors carefully, we were able to coast through the day to a certain degree.
As a general rule in life, Sean and I prefer to emphasize quality over quantity. With a very specific budget in mind, we agreed to spend our money where it counted, while shaving off costs in other places. Sean and I hit up the LA Flower Mart at 6am on Friday and enlisted the wonderful floral talents of our mothers to pull together ALL of the florals for the day! Culver Hotel had a wonderful built-in sound system, so we were able to have Sean’s cousin act as DJ with Spotify and our playlists. It was extremely easy to put in a song request! With our shortened timeline, we even sent out our Save the Dates over email- it eased our minds as well as our pocketbooks!
We can admit that all things didn’t get done in a timely fashion. Some pieces were late. We didn’t have an officiant until about 8 days before the wedding! However, we were so blessed to be connected with Walter when we were. He was a wonderfully grounding pastor and made our wedding ceremony articulate, measured, and truly meaningful. Once I walked down that aisle, nothing was rushed here. We wrote our own vows to complement the traditional ones- and in true Sean and Lizzie fashion, we were finishing them up only hours before the ceremony. Yet honestly, there was nothing better to do the morning of my wedding than write a forever love letter to my soon-to-be husband. Things fell into place when they needed to.
Our day was perfect. I can honestly look someone in the face and say that with all sincerity- but perfection truly wasn’t my intention in the beginning! In the end, we trusted that God would allow the important pieces to stand out, and everything that didn’t matter would fall away. Sean and I had stayed loyal to what we really wanted, and it all came together with the help of our loved ones. I’m thankful for every moment and every helping hand that put together the start of the rest of our lives together.
My best piece of advice? Don’t stress. I know there are so many pieces to put together- make your lists, check off your tasks and ENJOY. Choose vendors that you TRUST and make the process easier for you. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from those who LOVE you- they are waiting for a chance to be helpful. Trust the work that you’ve put into the day, and don’t expect it to be perfect. Just enjoy.
Photography: Ether & Smith | Flowers: Mothers Of The Bride And Groom | Wedding Dress: BHLDN | Cake: Fantasy Frostings | Invitations: Minted | Rings: Jewels By Joe | Makeup: Make Me Up Alex | Hair: Hair By Tonia Day | Groom's Attire: Men's Wearhouse | Hotel: The Culver Hotel | Rentals, Catering, And Bar: The Culver Hotel | Topiaries : Take 1 Greens