Meet in the Groundlings. Fall in love. Have epic wedding... Check.
This wedding right here? It's everything. Think a storybook Tahoe setting, beyond dreamy details and a stunning Bride and Groom who also happen to be talented comedians that met in The Groundlings Sunday Company. (Sooo awesome.) Now take that Hollywood star power and pair it up with an amazing team of vendors, including MAP Events, Meg Smith and Creative Lighting Design and the results are pretty and then some. Head to THE VAULT to fall helplessly in love.
From the Bride... Tony is starring on the upcoming "School of Rock" TV series, playing the role Jack Black played in the movie (it premieres in January). I'm a writer-actress and write daily on my comedic lifestyle blog, Heels in the Hills. Tony and I met performing together in the Groundlings Sunday Company, a comedy theater in Los Angeles with alumni that include Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Will Ferrell and Phil Hartman.
We got married at "The Big House," the home of my parents' best friends. It's a gorgeous 10-bedroom estate on the lake that has been in their family for three generations. I spent summers there growing up and Tony proposed there; I dreamed of getting married there my entire life. There have only ever been 2 other weddings there; the owners (my parents' friends - the bride had a replica of Princess Diana's dress made), and their nephew's. And now ours!
That gorgeous setting was the biggest inspiration of all! The home and the lake are so beautiful, I didn't want to do anything to distract from them. Instead, I chose colors and design elements that would complement the house and backdrop of the lake, while still feeling timeless and elegant.
Tony and his dad homemade the table numbers; he bought marble from a scrap yard and gold house numbers, and they had a father-son bonding day cracking the marble and building them.
My friend Carly Kuhn (The Cartorialist, who's drawn for Vogue, Prada and Sarah Jessica Parker) drew the image of us with our three dogs that went on our programs and cocktail napkins.
As a wedding gift, Tony had his two grandmothers' engagement rings turned into a necklace; he used the diamond from one and the setting from the other, and gave it to me the morning of the wedding.
Josh McDermitt (star of "The Walking Dead") officiated the ceremony. He and Tony are writing partners, and created an improv group together years ago and have been making internet comedy videos together since.
Our place cards were slices of blue agate; they looked like mini Lake Tahoes, and were also a way to honor my geologist grandfather, who sadly passed away before the wedding. Our calligrapher, Jenny Sanders, wrote the names and table numbers on them.
Tony's stepsister and her husband sang and played the acoustic guitar for the guest arrivals and the ceremony.
Embracing the groom's comedy background, Tony and the groomsmen arrived to the ceremony via pontoon boat (driven by the owner of the estate/the Father of the Bride's best friend) with The Darkness' "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" blasting while the groomsmen waved heart flags, because they wanted the wedding to reflect the groom's silly, inner 80's-action-star side, too.
Our three rescue dogs (Lucy, Tippi and Maggie) joined in on the first look photos. We named the cocktails after them: Lucy Lemelonade, Tipsy Tippi, Maggie Mocktail.
For my "something borrowed" and "something blue," I wore my grandmother's sapphire wedding ring.
My mom drew the map in our welcome bags; it included helpful information like where the wedding was, but also funny memories, like the spot where Tony accidentally drove my car into a tree once, the spot where he proposed, the spot where my dad almost burned the house down helping set up the proposal, etc.
As a nod to Tony's southern roots, we had an upscale comfort food theme (fried chicken, pimento cheese on green tomatoes, truffle macaroni and cheese, etc), and the caterer made several of my Texas grandmother's recipes. (My dad baked her cheese biscuits himself, which we set out during guest arrivals.)
We had five kinds of cake at the wedding, including the "cake in a jar" favors: red velvet, marble, lemon, strawberry and chocolate peanut butter.
One of our favorite moments of the night was sneaking upstairs to look down and watch our guests rocking out to The Spazmatics, the greatest wedding band of all time. (Other favorite moment: when Tony crowd-surfed.)
I wore a beautiful Vera Wang dress with Kate Spade shoes (and later, to dance all night, white Nike wedge sneakers as a nod to the my favorite film "Father of the Bride"). My jewelry: Grandmother's sapphire wedding ring for something borrowed and something blue. My necklace was a gift from the groom the morning of the wedding - he had it made from the diamonds from both of his grandmothers' engagement rings.
My favorite moment or part of the day...Too many to list, every minute was my favorite! But here are a few: Seeing Tony's face, holding back tears, as we said our vows. Our officiant hilariously taking a selfie mid-ceremony. Tony crowd-surfing to The Spazmatics. When I got too hot from dancing, my mom and I went upstairs and she braided my hair and pinned it up, just like when I was a little girl; such a beautiful, unexpected and unplanned mother-daughter moment that I'll never forget. And Tony and I sneaking upstairs to look down on the house we love so much, seeing all our friends having the time of their lives on the dance floor while we danced, just the two of us, in the window, was one of the happiest moments of my life. The wedding at "The Big House" that I'd dreamed of since I was a little girl came true.
We got married at "The Big House," the home of my parents' best friends. It's a gorgeous 10-bedroom estate on the lake that has been in their family for three generations. I spent summers there growing up and Tony proposed there; I dreamed of getting married there my entire life. There have only ever been 2 other weddings there; the owners (my parents' friends - the bride had a replica of Princess Diana's dress made), and their nephew's. And now ours!
That gorgeous setting was the biggest inspiration of all! The home and the lake are so beautiful, I didn't want to do anything to distract from them. Instead, I chose colors and design elements that would complement the house and backdrop of the lake, while still feeling timeless and elegant.
Tony and his dad homemade the table numbers; he bought marble from a scrap yard and gold house numbers, and they had a father-son bonding day cracking the marble and building them.
My friend Carly Kuhn (The Cartorialist, who's drawn for Vogue, Prada and Sarah Jessica Parker) drew the image of us with our three dogs that went on our programs and cocktail napkins.
As a wedding gift, Tony had his two grandmothers' engagement rings turned into a necklace; he used the diamond from one and the setting from the other, and gave it to me the morning of the wedding.
Josh McDermitt (star of "The Walking Dead") officiated the ceremony. He and Tony are writing partners, and created an improv group together years ago and have been making internet comedy videos together since.
Our place cards were slices of blue agate; they looked like mini Lake Tahoes, and were also a way to honor my geologist grandfather, who sadly passed away before the wedding. Our calligrapher, Jenny Sanders, wrote the names and table numbers on them.
Tony's stepsister and her husband sang and played the acoustic guitar for the guest arrivals and the ceremony.
Embracing the groom's comedy background, Tony and the groomsmen arrived to the ceremony via pontoon boat (driven by the owner of the estate/the Father of the Bride's best friend) with The Darkness' "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" blasting while the groomsmen waved heart flags, because they wanted the wedding to reflect the groom's silly, inner 80's-action-star side, too.
Our three rescue dogs (Lucy, Tippi and Maggie) joined in on the first look photos. We named the cocktails after them: Lucy Lemelonade, Tipsy Tippi, Maggie Mocktail.
For my "something borrowed" and "something blue," I wore my grandmother's sapphire wedding ring.
My mom drew the map in our welcome bags; it included helpful information like where the wedding was, but also funny memories, like the spot where Tony accidentally drove my car into a tree once, the spot where he proposed, the spot where my dad almost burned the house down helping set up the proposal, etc.
As a nod to Tony's southern roots, we had an upscale comfort food theme (fried chicken, pimento cheese on green tomatoes, truffle macaroni and cheese, etc), and the caterer made several of my Texas grandmother's recipes. (My dad baked her cheese biscuits himself, which we set out during guest arrivals.)
We had five kinds of cake at the wedding, including the "cake in a jar" favors: red velvet, marble, lemon, strawberry and chocolate peanut butter.
One of our favorite moments of the night was sneaking upstairs to look down and watch our guests rocking out to The Spazmatics, the greatest wedding band of all time. (Other favorite moment: when Tony crowd-surfed.)
I wore a beautiful Vera Wang dress with Kate Spade shoes (and later, to dance all night, white Nike wedge sneakers as a nod to the my favorite film "Father of the Bride"). My jewelry: Grandmother's sapphire wedding ring for something borrowed and something blue. My necklace was a gift from the groom the morning of the wedding - he had it made from the diamonds from both of his grandmothers' engagement rings.
My favorite moment or part of the day...Too many to list, every minute was my favorite! But here are a few: Seeing Tony's face, holding back tears, as we said our vows. Our officiant hilariously taking a selfie mid-ceremony. Tony crowd-surfing to The Spazmatics. When I got too hot from dancing, my mom and I went upstairs and she braided my hair and pinned it up, just like when I was a little girl; such a beautiful, unexpected and unplanned mother-daughter moment that I'll never forget. And Tony and I sneaking upstairs to look down on the house we love so much, seeing all our friends having the time of their lives on the dance floor while we danced, just the two of us, in the window, was one of the happiest moments of my life. The wedding at "The Big House" that I'd dreamed of since I was a little girl came true.