This Modern Day Cinderella Story Will Sweep You off Your Feet!

Lauren Megerdichian
October 28, 2021
Categories: Real Weddings, The Blog, Whimsical

This modern fairytale wedding planned by Center of Attention Events in the not so far away land of Oakridge Farmhouse was a dream come true — with an English garden and Cinderella inspiration that’ll sweep you off your feet! The natural & symbolic beauty of Moonlight Floral Co.’s flowers were a focal point while the pastel rainbow palette added a vibrancy to the day’s magic. This love story wouldn’t be complete without the bridal look fit for a princess — a dreamy ball gown and baby blue Bella Belle ballet flats. Stop by the full gallery, captured by Mallory Dawn Photography, to be enchanted by sheer storybook romance!

From the Bride… Sam and I first met in 2008, but didn’t actually start dating until 2012, when we were both 21. We had been talking for a few years before Sam finally worked up the courage to take me to a movie. Unfortunately the movie we wanted to see wasn’t playing where we went, so we had to hop around Hollywood until we found the right theater. Nothing went to plan, but everything went right, because we couldn’t stay apart after that. A few years later Sam left for Santa Cruz to finish school and I stayed in LA to pursue my career, which was the beginning of our long-distance relationship. What was supposed to be 2 years turned into 5 when Sam was hired for his dream job in Cupertino. It was difficult being so far apart for so long, but Sam would drive down to LA basically every other weekend. By the time of our wedding he had logged 100,000 miles just to be with me.

After 7 years together, Sam proposed with a truly Hollywood date. We started at Madame Tussauds to take pictures with all the stars, followed by a movie at the El Capitan theater. After the most magical dinner at Providence, Sam took me 71 stories above LA to propose over the city lights with a fairytale book he wrote about our relationship with the last page, of course, asking to marry me.

I had always dreamed of a fairytale wedding, and one of my biggest inspirations was the 2018 version of Cinderella. I love the English secret garden theme, and really tried to show that through the venue, florals, decor and dress. We found a perfect outdoor venue that really captured the vibe we wanted, Oakridge Farmhouse in Murrieta CA, with that English countryside feel and cliffside views of the Pacific Ocean and the surrounding wine country.

Flowers were an important part of the wedding not only because they add so much beauty and elegance, but also because of all they represent and mean to our relationship. Just like it takes a lot of time, effort and care to grow beautiful flowers, the same was true for us spending 5 years long-distance. We always made sure to put each other first and support one another no matter how far apart we were, and all of our late-night phone calls, long drives, sleepless weekends and social sacrifice blossomed into something truly amazing.

We wanted to represent the romance and vibrancy of spring and summer through our pastel rainbow of blues, pinks, purples, yellows and greens. Moonlight Florals provided the flowers and created a magical ceremony site with wildflowers at every corner of the wedding, from daisies to peonies to feverfew and larkspur for height. We wanted a colorful approach to the florals, so we had wild, seasonal flowers that appeared to be growing out of the ground down the aisles and up to the chuppah, like a modern fairytale. The chuppah was built by Sam’s father and adorned with his grandfather’s tallit. A chuppah represents a new home that the newlyweds build together. We wanted our chuppah to have all of our favorite colorful summer wildflowers growing from the ground up above our heads, with our family watching over us.

I’ve always been inspired by fairytales. For the dress I drew inspiration from the 19th century, and 21st century, and the lace gown with floral appliques represented the simplicity of the princess-to-be as if it were a story book from my childhood. After going to countless boutiques, I went with the first dress I tried on at Kinsley James Couture Bridal. I knew the minute I tried it on it was perfect. Alyne by Rita Vinieris is a sleeveless A-line ball gown with V-neckline and floral details all over the dress. It was simple yet sophisticated and I felt the Cinderella inspired wedding wouldn’t have been complete without baby blue floral lace flats from Bella Belle Shoes.

I wanted the veil to capture our story in a subtle way, so I spent six months designing it as a special surprise for Sam. The flowers embroidered around the veil had our wedding colors of pink, blue, purple, yellow and green. The train of the dress included two bluebirds to represent Sam and I, both holding green leaves from their beaks that were sewn with our first date and now wedding date. I chose bluebirds to represent us because they are symbols of hope, love, and renewal. My baby blue bouquet ribbon carried the floral theme by having the line “Love is the flower you let grow” drawn in calligraphy. Something I again wanted to surprise Sam with to show our long love story kept growing enough to create a garden.

We wrote our vows on these beautiful custom Vow books drawn by Maria Jose Santome from Wildflower Estudio. We combined our favorite cliffside view from the venue with the flowers. We read them to each other prior to the ceremony during our first look.

I wanted my garden party girls to have dresses that were graceful and elegant, while matching their individual personalities. I found dresses from Jenny Yoo, Dear Cleo and Birdy Grey to mix and match styles and colors to keep it on theme. Sam donned a navy blue tuxedo with a black bow-tie and his groomsmen sported matching grey tuxedos. The bow ties set them apart, each one sporting a pastel color from the wedding to match the garden party.

Being able to walk down the aisle to “Secret Garden” from Cinderella played by the wonderful Tang Instrumentals really completed the storybook feel. Having strings to play instrumental versions of all our favorite songs really helped make us feel like we were royalty in an English garden.

One of the most special parts of our wedding day was the Ketubah Signing, or Jewish marriage contract. The artist Annie Aqua gave us two intertwining fruit trees filled with pomegranates, which represent the Torah and fertility, and lemons, which represent longevity and purity. With wildflowers growing in abundance and majestic animals like deer, fox, rabbit, butterflies, hummingbirds and our blue birds all frolicking about it really captures who we are and what we want for our future.

The rest of the designs were drawn by my brother, Jacob Kalisch. Being able to collaborate with him on the invitation was particularly special. He hand drew every flower, bird, bee, and butterfly and made us something truly unique and meaningful. The design included all our favorite flowers: daisies, carnations, peonies, hydrangeas, and lavender in the wedding colors. He also drew our bar menus, which featured portraits of our pets, and our guestbook, 81 unique flowers for each of our guests to sign beneath.

We love our puns and wanted to have that represented at our wedding, so we decided to make all 12 floral puns to go with our table numbers. I ain’t dandelion at all. Mint is our favorite flavor, though it took a little convincing to get Sam to believe that. Our bar sign represented that fact because it was simply mint to be.

We wanted the rest of the night to be filled with drinks, dinner, cake and dancing underneath the stars. It was really amazing to finally get the opportunity to be around so many of our loved ones that we hadn’t been able to see due to COVID for so long. We added special touches with our cocktail menu, serving as an ode to our loving animals and floral theme. Our first cocktail, “The Daisy,” was a strawberry mint, and whisky cocktail that Sam would always make me after being apart for weeks at a time, the drink is named after my sister’s Maltese. Our second cocktail, called “The Lily,” added a refreshing twist of gin, crème de violette, and lemon juice which is my favorite color and named after Sam’s tortoiseshell cat. We had mocktails as well, “The Tootsie”, a strawberry lemonade, named after my family’s 20-year-old cockatiel and “The Binx,” an Arnold Palmer, named after our Egyptian Mau cat.

Our wedding cake was a Hazeltino, 3 Layers of Hazelnuts sponge cake with Hazelnut mousse and chocolate cream, inspired by our favorite Ferrero Rocher chocolate and Nutella Hazelnut spread, and baked by the Kosher patisserie Delice Bakery.

We are also so thankful to have our special day captured by Mallory Dawn Photography and Rob from Analog Cabin Wedding Films. We loved the aesthetic and the feel of film photographs, and Mallory really brings an amazing eye and a unique talent. Her and her team were amazing and really captured the day beautifully. Similarly, Rob was a one-man machine. He spent the whole day with us and set up multiple cameras to capture every moment.

We also wouldn’t have had this beautiful wedding of our dreams without the help of our families. Their love, help and support was key in being able to have a successful event. Planning a wedding long distance during a pandemic was truly a unique challenge, but in the end we were able to create the beautiful night of our dreams that we will remember forever. Of course the most exciting part of the wedding was the end of our long distance relationship, as I moved up to the Bay Area to live with Sam. We are so excited for the journey we are about to embark on and our wedding, with all the help from so many amazing people, was the perfect way to begin…

…our happily ever after.

From Mallory Dawn Photography… Jacky & Sam’s wedding was overflowing with tradition. It was important to the couple and their families to incorporate their Jewish faith throughout their wedding day. Some of these Jewish formalities included the signing of the Ketubah, a beautifully decorated Chuppah, Hora, and many more. Jacky and Sam decided to say their personal vows privately immediately following their first look, which was very special, and a quiet time for the two of them to enjoy before the ceremony. They wanted the wedding to feel like a romantic garden party with fun, bright colors, and gorgeous views. The florals pieces, created by the talented Moonlight Floral Designs really helped bring this vision to life. Each bridesmaid had a different color bouquet to hold and Jacky’s was a mix of mostly light pinks, purple, yellow, and white. Throughout the wedding, there were elegant touches of blue including the bouquet ribbon, the bride’s Bella Belle flats, candles, ring box, wax seals, and the groom’s kippah. Jacky wore a Rita Vinieris gown with a cathedral-length veil. Guests were presented with breathtakingly beautiful views in every direction.