When your husband-to-be hails from Santiago, Chile, it only makes sense to infuse a touch of Latin style to your wedding day design. In the words of the bride, “I knew immediately I wanted to accent with copper since one of Chile’s main exports. We were especially excited to surprise our Chilean guests during the ceremony by having our flower girl and ring bearer walk down the aisle in traditional Chilean clothes.” See how it all turned out with a peek at the images by Gloria Mesa Photography.
From The Bride…Boris and I met at UCLA. Boris and his brother came from Santiago, Chile to study English and then marketing at UCLA Extension and I was an undergraduate studying Spanish and Linguistics at UCLA. It was love at first sight!
After finishing my BA, I went on to get my doctorate. Two years into my doctorate, Boris left Los Angeles to start a business with his brother in Chile. We separated for two years. Finally after finishing my doctor of optometry degree I moved to Chile for one year, teaching English and learning Spanish alongside Boris in Santiago, Chile. We spent one beautiful year together living and traveling through Chile. We visited Patagonia, wine growing regions, and deserts, along with other parts of South America including Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.
I moved back to Los Angeles after a year abroad to start my career as an optometrist and 9 months after coming home, Boris and I were engaged. We immediately picked Quail Ranch in my hometown as our wedding venue for its natural beauty and its peaceful Spanish inspired architecture. We felt quail ranch offered us the perfect mix of elegance and Latin styles.
It was important for us to include many Chilean touches to our wedding since we both love Chile and hold it close to our hearts but live in Santa Monica, California. I knew immediately I wanted to accent with copper since one of Chile’s main exports is copper and is used in Chilean decor. My mother in law helped bring copper plates from Chile for our centerpieces. She also brought table runners from Chile for our accent tables. We were especially excited to surprise our Chilean guests during the ceremony by having my niece and nephew, our flower girl and ring bearer, walk down the aisle in traditional Chilean clothes, that of a Chilean cowboy and girl. We had my mother in law bring their outfits from Chile. We also used copper in our signs throughout the day. Boris and I handmade the copper signs with the copper tubing at our local hardware store.
California and Chile share many similarities and one of them is that both regions we come from have excellent wine. My parents selected red and white wine from Napa, California and my mother and father in law brought red wine from Chile. We encouraged our guests to sample wine from California and Chile during the dinner and reception.
Our escort cards were a nod to Boris and I’s first official date. Boris picked me up outside my apartment and handed me a Ferrero Rocher before we walked to a local coffee shop. We handed each guest a personalized mini cake stand with a Ferrero Rocher inside with their table assignments.
Our ceremony and reception were completely bilingual events, Boris and I each wrote and read our vows in English and Spanish. Our officiant, DJ, and photographer were also bilingual.
Overall, our event was extremely inclusive, intimate and reflective of our cross-cultural values. We were so happy to have our friends and family from both North and South America come celebrate us, together. All of our vendors worked with us smoothly to bring everything alive and our photographer captured the day perfectly!
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Coordination: Kim Paolone Of K. Rae Events | Venue: Quail Ranch | Photography: Gloria Mesa Photography | Floral Design:Unique Floral Designs | Wedding Dress: Vera Wang | Cake: Skiff’s Cakes | Bride’s Shoes: Bloomingdales| Bridesmaids’ Dresses: ASOS | Catering: Command Performance Catering | Hair + Makeup: Cheek to Cheek Artistry | DJ: GTZ Entertainment | Groomsmen Attire: Friar Tux | Officiant: LA Wedding Woman| Groom’ s Attire: Friar Tux | Maid + Matron of Honor Dresses: BHLDN