WanderLust Issue 76 - From Perfect Wedding Magazine

“Sophia” lace boho off-the-shoulder
dress with long sleeves from
This Modern Love Bridal

perfect wedding magazine.com 49

FEATURE

“Graal” wedding gown,
Rembo Styling at

Anya Bridal Couture.

50 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

Inspired from the
Pre-Raphaelite art
movements, nature

and innocence,
a series of bridal
portraits featuring
accessories made
from flowers and
natural stones, and

unstructured,
lightweight gowns fit

for the boho bride.

d

“Melodia” wedding gown,
Rembo Styling at
Anya Bridal Couture
Feather and lavender headband.

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FEATURE

“Megan” lace bolero top and tulle skirt
from This Modern Love Bridal.
Purple agate boho bracelet.

52 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

“Graal” wedding gown,
Rembo Styling at
Anya Bridal Couture.
Lavender and crystal head crown,
(amethyst and rose quartz)
Purple agate boho bracelet.

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FEATURE

54 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

Photography & Concept SEPHORY PHOTOGRAPHY www.sephoryphotography.com.au
Wedding Invitations B WEDDING INVITATION www.bweddinginvitations.com
Hair & Make-up SUZY SELA www.suzysela.com
Menu & Place Cards ADORN INVITATIONS www.adorninvitations.co.uk
Stationery Design CATSY CREATIVE www.catsycreative.com.au
Printing INKTANK PRINTING www.inktankprinting.com
Flowers CHLOE LASHAY FLORISTY www.chloelashay.com

Dresses RAFFAELE CIUCA BRIDAL www.raffaeleciuca.com.au and HELENE CONSTANCE BRIDE, BERTA BRIDAL
Cakes MARY EATS CAKE www.maryeatscake.com.au

Jewellery LOVE ON JEWELLERY www.loveonjewellery.com.au
Model @OLIVIAA.WILLIAMS for GIANT MANAGEMENT www.giantmanagement.com

Venue @MONTDUSOLEIL

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FEATURE

56 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

Romantic, French inspired, soft and dreamy,
paired with pure white, blushing pinks,
touches of greenery set in a stunning

European-like venue. A collection of images to
remind couples to never forget about the small

details on their big day as well as in their
relationship every single day.

The bride gracefully wakes on her special day
to gorgeous fresh roses specially handpicked by
the man she is set to spend the rest of her life

with, along with breakfast in bed and a
handwritten love note asking her to
meet him in the courtyard.

Upon seeing him, she is serenaded and
the couple spend a precious moment soaking
in one another’s admiration for each other

before taking a moment to sit down for
an elegant high tea soirée.

Love is to not always be loud and
extravagant, but beautifully understated

and heartfelt.

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FEATURE

58 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

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FEATURE

60 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

perfect wedding magazine.com 61

THE GROOM ROOM

IRRESISTIBLE SCENTS

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GROOM STYLE Inspired by the magical
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62 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

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PERFECT LOVE

Bali, Indonesia

d
Photography
TERRALOGICAL- GIOVINDA RUMI

64 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

HOW THEY MET
Tiago and Lily are both from Brazil but
now they live in California, when they
met Lily was living in Los Angeles and
Tiago in San Diego. The couple met
through a common friend at her wed-
ding. They were both in relationships at
the time so nothing much happened,
but they continued to seen each other in
other occasions and at some point they
were both single and the magic just hap-
pened, they fell in love.

THE PROPOSAL
Tiago surprised Lily by proposing on top
of the Eiffel Tower, in Paris during their
holiday trip to Europe in January 4th,
2015. It was completely unexpected and
magical!

WHY A DESTINATION WEDDING
Every girl has the picture in their mind
of “the perfect wedding”, for Lily, what
she always pictured was a fun get
together with their closest friends and
family that would NOT last one night
only, but instead a couple of days making
memories together, spending some
quality time with all the special people in
their life, having fun at the beach, hang-
ing out by the pool in paradise.

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PERFECT LOVE

THE WEDDING INSPIRATION
Tiago and Lily consider them selves laid
back and they wanted something special
but simple at the same time. “I love the
Bohemia, hip chick look so I started
looking into inspiration. Having set the
wedding in Bali helped a lot because the
vendors had everything I pictured for
our wedding”. - Lily

HER LOOK
Wedding dress ‘Malta’ by Willowby by
Watters
The veil and crown were very special to
the bride because they were handmade
by her mother!
Bare foot sandals were the option, a cute
piece of jewelry around the ankle and
second toe.
A back necklace adorned her bridal look
while the robes for the bride and brides-
maid were personalized by her mother
by adding the Lace to each of them.
Lily got all glammed by Glo Day Spa &
Salon, Sanur.

HIS LOOK
Shirt and pants from Banana Republic

66 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

Bare foot sandals
www.AlexPress.com

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PERFECT LOVE

THEIR HONEYMOON
“We did not have an official honey-
moon, we decided to spend the rest of
our time off (vacation) in Bali with our
family and friends that travelled all the
way there for us”. - Lily
THEIR ADVICE
Stay within your budget as much as pos-
sible, invite the people that really matter
to both of you, do what makes you and
your future spouse happy and not what
the rest of the world says. If you can, hire
a videographer, hire a good event plan-
ner to take the stress away as much as
possible.
MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT
Now, this is a very hard question. It was
so so special that it is impossible to de-
scribe ONE moment. We invite you to
watch our wedding clip and you will un-
derstand why. d

68 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

THE VENDORS
Wedding Planner SAY I DO TO DETAILS - Paola Solomon

www.sayIdotodetails.com
Photography TERRALOGICAL www.terralogical.com

Flowers FLORETTE BALI www.florettebali.com
Cake BUTTER BALI, Canggu www.butterbali.com
Décor BALI EVENT HIRE www.balieventhire.com

Catering and Venue
HOTEL KOMUNE BALI www.komuneresorts.com
Entertainment DJ ADAM BENNETTS/MISTERBENNETTS

www.thephillymix.com
Videography BALI LIGHT CINEMA www.balilightcinema.com
Stationery BLOOMING PAPER www.bloomingpaper.com and

EMPOWER
Rings VERA WANG

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PERFECT LOVE

Catell d’Emporda s/n, Spain
d

Photography
WEDDINGS ART

70 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

HOW THEY MET
Nick and I have known each other for a very long time! I moved
from Colorado to San Diego in 2002 and was the new girl in
eighth grade. His mom told me he came home from school
that day and told her “I’m going to marry that girl.” Years later
after high school, we started dating in college and here we are!

THE PROPOSAL
I’m a big planner. Whether its for birthdays, weekend plans or
even which new restaurants to try …I just like to have plans. So
it drove me crazy when Nick couldn’t decide what he wanted
to do for his birthday. While at work one day, he called and said
he booked a trip for us to Napa (one of our very favorite get-
aways). A couple weeks later we flew up and intended to seek
out wineries that were small, boutique finds off the beaten
path. We spent the first day sipping our way through Napa and
on day two headed to our third winery. Upon arrival the owner
greeted us and offered to give us a tour. She had a camera
around her neck and asked if we wanted photos taken, which
didn’t seem odd since it was a smaller winery. After touring the
vineyard, Nick turned to me, got on one knee and said “so I
actually came here to ask you a question…” After he proposed,
and while I was very much still in shock, I heard a group of peo-
ple yelling but thought it was just the winery staff. After I finally
came back to reality, I realized he had brought my three best
friends and both of our families there to celebrate with us!
Something he had planned out a few months in advance….who
knew my planning skills had rubbed off!? I’m fairly certain it

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PERFECT LOVE took at least two hours for me to grasp
what happened, but when I did we were
72 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018 blissfully smitten in Napa, our “happy
place,” drinking wine with our closest
friends and family. I think you can say he
pretty much nailed it.

WHY A DESTINATION WEDDING
Since Nick and I have known each other
for so long, we have a large group of
friends and both of our parents have at
least six siblings. Needless to say, if we
had it in the States it would have been a
very large celebration. But neither of us
wanted a big wedding. We wanted it to
be much more intimate and a celebra-
tion we could enjoy – not a six-hour
event where we spend most of the time
trying to just say hello to everyone. Since
we live in Southern California, Mexico
seemed like the easy option but it wasn’t
very us. I studied abroad in Barcelona
and always dreamed of getting married
there. One day I jokingly threw out the
idea and to my surprise Nick was in with-
out hesitation (even though he had
never been before). We’re very lucky in
the fact that we were friends before we
started dating, so for our group it wasn’t
going to a wedding just for the bride or
just for the groom – it was for both. I like
to think that had something to do with
how easy it was to convince everyone to
go to Barcelona. They all jumped at the
idea and we made sure to have a long en-
gagement so people could save up if they
needed to. We know Barcelona isn’t a
cheap or easy trip from California and I
think that really helped everyone in the
end.

Fun fact: Nick never went to Spain be-
fore we flew there for our wedding!

THE WEDDING INSPIRATION
We wanted the wedding to reflect the
traditions of Spain but with a modern
twist. We considered a lot of venues in
the city but with a group of 65 in the hus-

tling city of Barcelona, we weren’t find-
ing the intimate setting we were looking
for. I was browsing Instagram one day
and came across a wedding at Castell
d’Emporda and I instantly knew that was
the one. The venue, which also served as
a hotel, was about two hours outside of
Barcelona in Girona, a quaint town in
the Costa Brava. It was a 13th century
castle converted into a modern venue
complete with a Michelin star restau-
rant, two pools, renovated rooms and an
amazing cava (wine cave) where the re-
ception was held. It had everything we
were looking for and gave us an oppor-
tunity to host our friends and family in
Barcelona for a few days before whisking
them away to the countryside where we
essentially had the venue to ourselves.
Unlike Southern California venues that
shut down at 11 pm, we celebrated in
true Spanish fashion dancing the night
away until 4 am!!

HER LOOK
Dress: Sarah Seven
Veil: I actually found my veil on Etsy
from a woman who handmakes them la-
beless and sends them to US bridal bou-
tiques. It was the exact same veil I saw in
stores (which ran for $800+) but under
$200!!
Shoes: Jimmy Choo
Hair & Make-up: Teresa Snowball
www.teresasnowball.com
Bride’s Tip: definitely make time for a
hair and makeup run through before
your big day. It helps ease some of the
things you can control, which isn’t many
with a destination wedding.
Jewellery: Gift from the groom, a dia-
mond necklace

HIS LOOK
Suit: Custom made by Malibu Clothes
Shoes: Hugo Boss
Watch: Movado, a gift from the bride

THEIR HONEYMOON
After the wedding we went back to
Barcelona to catch our breathe and have
one last night in the city. Then we went
to Mallorca for a week, a small island off
the coast of Spain, before heading to
Italy where we spent another two weeks
throughout the Almafi Coast: Sorrento,
Capri, Positano then finally Rome. In
total we were gone for a month. There’s
only one time in your life you can do that
just for fun so we took full advantage!

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PERFECT LOVE

Brianna is a huge fan of all things Spanish so the Mediterranean theme
was very prominent throughout. Local olive and eucalyptus foliage were
the base of the floral arrangements and featured in decorative touches such

as the escort card table arrangement and on the wedding cake.
This tied in wonderfully with the wine theme from the groom’s side (Nick’s
family have a winery in California). The wine corks used to support the
place names were a nod to this, and of course the wine colour in the beauti-
ful palette, which featured in the gorgeous burgundy peonies and dahlias

mixed in with ivory and pale blush roses.Touches of gold in the votives,
flowers and candle sticks, set off the elegant ambience which was perfect

for the castle setting. - LAUREN & ELAINE from A SPANISH DO

74 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

THEIR ADVICE The chefs at the venue were amazing!,
Keep the end goal in mind – it’s YOUR It’s a Michelin star restaurant! - BRIANNA
day with your husband/wife. It’s easy to
get caught up in the details and go down perfect wedding magazine.com 75
the Pinterest rabbit hole, but a lot of the
small details won’t be remembered by
your guests or even by you. Don’t let
those details make it another job. Nick
and I truly enjoyed every step of the wed-
ding process and we’d make events for
each portion of planning. It doesn’t
need to be a chore – plan a wine night
you’re your favorite music for creating
the seating arrangements. Spend a Sun-
day morning in your favorite coffee shop
to pick flowers. Each part of planning
your wedding should be memorable and
only you can make it that way! Also –
plan one thing that you must do on your
wedding day and stick with it. Whether
it’s a first-look, or in our case a moment
to talk to each other and calm your
nerves before walking down the isle
(Nick was insistent he didn’t want to see
me before the ceremony), or having a
memorable entrance song, or having
someone special stand up and speak…
decide it early and work around it.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT
After the ceremony everyone went to the
Apertivo where our Spanish guitarist
played and guest enjoyed hors d’oeuvres
and cocktails. As everyone filed into
their seats for dinner, we had a quite
moment without the cameras flashing,
without anyone around. Just this beauti-
ful sunset and the Spanish guitar player.
It was our first moment being on a date
as a married couple. d

THE VENDORS
Wedding Planner
A SPANISH DO
www.aspanishdo.com
Flowers and Décor
PARADISO BARCELONA
@paradisobarcelona
Catering, Venue
CASTELL D’EMPORDA
www.hotelcastellemporda.com
Photography & Videographer
WEDDINGS ART
www.weddingsart.net

Entertainment
Spanish Guitarist PAUL BOSAUDER

www.paulbosauder.com
DJ KAMAL EVENTS
www.kamal.es

PERFECT LOVE

Tulum, Mexico
d

Photography
CITLALLI RICO

76 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

HOW THEY MET
We met on Sat Dec 10, 2011 at Santacon
Festival in San Francisco through our
mutual friend Seth.
Eric was dressed as Superman Santa and
I was Ms. Gingerbread. We instantly con-
nected and were locked in conversation.
Before we knew it a random stranger was
dangling a “mistletoe” on top of our
heads because he thought we are already
a couple. And so our first kiss was under
a mistletoe.
Christmas season is very special to us, we
had our engagement party in Dec and
our wedding in Dec as well, 6 years after
we’d met.

THE PROPOSAL
Eric proposed to me on the eve of my
birthday (Oct 3 2016).
It was absolutely epic. He’d spent an en-
tire year designing & building a fairy
tale proposal book with secret puzzles in-
side every chapter.
I had to solve puzzles about us and our
relationship in order to unlock and open
each chapter.
In the final chapter he had hid the ring
and by the time I got to that chapter he
was kneeling on one knee.
The story of our proposal went viral on
the internet, garnering  millions of views
and features on Huffington Post,  Daily
Mail and YouTube. We were also on the
first Page of Reddit.

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PERFECT LOVE

I blended the best elements of each of our cultures together. I worked
closely with Kristee (our wedding planner) and her incredibly
talented florist (Vanessa Jaimes) to do a ground alter and
sprinkled throughout have little glass bubbles that had the Persian
sofreh elements in it. - SHIRIN

WHY A DESTINATION WEDDING
Our life motto is to live a life of Adven-
ture and Change.
So we knew we couldn’t have a “stan-
dard” wedding at a hotel/resort. It had
to incorporate some sense of adventure
and fun. We wanted all of our friends to
experience a new place with us. A few
years earlier we had been to Tulum for a
friends wedding and we fell in love with
it. We love the gorgeous aqua blue
ocean, the boho/relaxed vibe of Tulum.
We also loved that there was plenty of ad-
ventures our friends could embark on
from kite-surfing to visiting mayan ruins
or swimming in the cenotes.

THE WEDDING INSPIRATION
I wanted something that was a little
unique/different and also rustic/bo-
hemian to fit with the Tulum vibe.
When I saw picture of Pampas Grass
Arrangements I was instantly in love. I
also loved how the bushy pampas grass

78 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

Wedding bands: HER LOOK
Eric and I made our wedding Dress: Romona Keveza
bands together from the same Veil: Bridal Galleria San Francisco
platinum bar. We took a full Shoes: Stuart Weitzman
day workshop with a master Accessories: Saks Fifth Avenue
ring maker who showed us Engagment Ring: Derco Fine Jewlery
how to make the rings. It was
a super fun experience. En-
graved inside the rings is our
life motto of “Live a Life of
Adventure & Change”

reminded me of “Pickles” (our labradoodle puppy’s) furry tail. Even though we weren’t able to bring him to Mexico, I wanted
him to be with us in spirit throughout the day.

For our alter, I also wanted to have something that would blend our two cultures. I’m from Iran and the traditional Persian wed-
dings are with a “sofreh aghd”. There are many symbolic items which make up the sofreh aghd spread, all in which represent an
element of the couple’s new life together. It was important to me that our alter represents our union of two very different cultures
coming together. As such I didn’t want a traditional American alter nor a traditional Iranian Sofreh.

perfect wedding magazine.com 79

PERFECT LOVE

THEIR HONEYMOON
Vietnam to hike/sleep overnight for 5
days and 4 nights in the worlds largest
Cave “ Son Doong Cave”. The cave was
first explored in 2009 and only a hand-
ful of people in the world have been
there since it was first discovered. We
feel incredibly lucky to be able to do this.
Our honeymoon was gifted to us by
Eric’s grandmother who passed a way
just a few years ago. We will cherish this
gift forever. After the cave we are going
to Railay Beach in Thailand for so much
needed R&R and a bit of rock climbing
( have to have some adventure in there!)

THEIR ADVICE
Hire a great wedding planner that will
take a lot of the stress.
Take time to figure out what is most im-
portant to you and optimize around that
( for some people it’s about the flowers,
food, etc…) for us it was all about our
friends and how we could create a once
in a lifetime experience we would all
cherish. We planned a Sailing Trip
aboard a catamaya as our rehearsal party
to create a great start to the weekend.

80 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT
We wanted to remember and savor all
the moments so Eric and I made a rule
that whenever we encountered a mo-
ment we want to cherish we would take
two deep breaths together and savor it
all.
When I first arrived down the isle.
When we just finished our vows.

When we hugged our two best friends
and officiants right after the ceremony.

When we arrived into the reception, re-
alizing that we loved every single face we
saw ( it was important to us that every
single person that got an invite was
someone we really loved, we wanted a
small/intimate wedding w our closest
friends/family)

When we were surrounded by our
friends jumping up and down/ dancing
on the palapa floor ( we could feel the
beat of the music all the way through the
floor)All of these and so many many
more. d

THE VENDORS
Wedding Planner and Cake

FRESA WEDDINGS
www.fresaweddings.com
Flowers and Décor VANESSA JAIMES
www.vanessajaimes.com
Rentals ARCHIVE MEXICO
www.archiverentals.com
Catering and Venue AKIIN BEACH

www.akiintulum.com
Entertainment DJ Taha from LA

@deejay_taha
Photography CITLALLI RICO

www.citlalliricoblog.com
Videography REELOVE

www.reelove.com
Rehearsal Party On a Sail boat,
CATAMAYA SAILING CRUISES

www.catamaya.com

perfect wedding magazine.com 81

PERFECT LOVE

Tuscany, Italy
d

Photography
JULES BOWER

82 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

HOW THEY MET
Four years ago, one of my best friends started working at a new
company and sang Chris’s praises almost immediately. A few
months later she surprised (bamboozled?) me by bringing him
to what was supposed to be a Girls Night Out one night after
work at a restaurant (Spasso) in the West Village in New York
City. Chris and I hit it off and wound up chatting that entire
night. Unfortunately, due to some (a lot!) missed signals we
didn’t actually go on our first date until a month later and the
rest they say is history…

THE PROPOSAL
Chris put a lot of thought and effort into what was truly a
spectacular proposal on Christmas Eve. I love Christmas and
so we started at the place where we wound up on our 2nd date
– the top of the Empire State Building. At Christmas, the ge-
nius folks at the Empire State Building time the building’s
Christmas themed light show to Mariah Carey’s All I Want for
Christmas Is You. From there we hopped into an Uber and
unbeknownst to me, started heading downtown to the restau-
rant location that we first met. Sadly, that restaurant is now
closed but the storefront is still there. While we were walking
across the street to the corner the restaurant was on, Chris
pulled out a cartoon booklet he had made which documented
our entire relationship until this point. With tears welling up
in my eyes, I read through the book and Chris stopped me right
before I got to the end (which I soon learned was a proposal).
I looked up and then down because he was on one knee asking
me to be his wife! That’s when he placed the most gorgeous
custom designed ring on my ring finger & I said yes!

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PERFECT LOVE

WHY A DESTINATION WEDDING
It was really Chris’s idea to have a destination wedding. I always thought I would
have a big New York City wedding. While we did explore a few NYC venues, he won
me over with the idea of a multi-day event surrounded by all of our loved ones.
A weekend where everyone gets to hang out together and really get to know one
another…and then at the end of the weekend there just happens to be a wedding! It
turned out to be the fairytale wedding I didn’t even know I wanted!
THE WEDDING INSPIRATION
We really wanted our guests to have a fun filled and stress free weekend in a beautiful
corner of Tuscany. At the same time, we wanted all of the weekend’s events to have
a simple elegance. Villa Catureglio is a gorgeous estate in the northwestern part
of Tuscany. Comfortable elegance was a piece of cake because of this villa and the
wonderful team there. The majority of our guests stayed at the villa and, with
the exception of the rehearsal dinner which was in Lucca, all of the other wedding
weekend festivities happened at the villa.
HER LOOK
Dress: Marchesa from Gabriella Bridal in NYC
Veil: My something borrowed from a friend who sadly couldn’t attend.
Shoes: Jimmy Choo

84 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

Jewellery: Vintage J. Crew
Rings: Custom designed with Cantor Jewelry in NYC
Hair & Make-Up: Costanza Scornaienchi
www.costanzascornaienchi.com
HIS LOOK
Suit: Two different suits from Suit Supply pieced together
for the two-toned effect Chris wanted.
Shoes: Duke & Dextor
Ring: Custom designed with Cantor Jewelry in NYC

THEIR HONEYMOON
Since we had a destination wedding, we only took a mini-moon
after the wedding. We spent a few blissful days on the isle of
Capri at the gorgeous Capri Tiberio Palace. Later this year we
plan to take a proper honeymoon and unplug for a few weeks
while on African Safari.

THEIR ADVICE
Start with doing a lot of research on your own to figure out
your budget and the vision you’re looking for. Ask friends and
friends of friends for recommendations to hone your vendor
list. Ask those vendor’s a million & one questions. Take regu-
larly scheduled deep breaths. Most importantly have a partner
who knows when it’s time to pour you a glass of wine when the
stress of it all is about to drive you insane.

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PERFECT LOVE

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT
There are two and both are because Chris and I were able to
have a few glorious minutes just to ourselves.
The first moment is when we had our first look just before the
ceremony. It was just Chris and me holding hands and taking
a deep breath together before the craziness of our wedding un-
folded.
The second is when we stepped away from dinner to practice
our first dance. I really wanted to have a choreographed first
dance and basically forced Chris, who was proverbially kicking
and screaming the entire time, to go to lessons. We snuck away
and up to the second floor of the villa and practiced our waltz
while looking down on the candle lit dinner that was set-up on
the lawn behind the villa. As a side note, I completely blanked
when it came time to show off our waltz to our guests. Never-
theless, Chris gallantly led me through the entire dance that
he didn’t even want to do in the first place. Now that is a good
partner! d

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THE VENDORS
Wedding Planner & Décor
Barbara Platt & Stefania Nencioni
WEDDINGS INTERNATIONAL
www.italianwedding.com
Flowers JARDIN DIVERS

www.jardindivers.it
Cake Melanie Secciani
TUSCAN WEDDING CAKES
www.tuscanweddingcakes.com

Catering GALATEO
www.galateoricevimenti.com
Venue VILLA CATUREGLIO

www.catureglio.com
Entertainment TRULY MEDLEY DEEPLY

from London.
www.trulymedleydeeply.com
Photography JULES BOWER
www.jules-photographer.com
Videography MARCO ABBA VIDEOGRAPHY

www.marcoabba.com
Stationery MINTED
www.minted.com
Rings CANTOR JEWELRY in NYC

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Paris, France
d

Photography
LE SECRET D’AUDREY

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HOW THEY MET Anyways, while all the logistics of the proposal were detailed
We met when we were both 17, the spring of our Senior year with rather Swiss precision, the actual execution was a little
of high school. We were both from the same town, Belmont, fraught—I was nervous. I figured some little thing would go
MA and knew of each other—Kara’s dad and my mom were wrong—and, for once in my life, we got to the bridge exactly
friends. Kara went to the local high school, Belmont High, and ten minutes before we were supposed to be there—right on
I went to the all boy’s school in the town, Belmont Hill School. time in a sense. I didn’t see the photographer so I demanded
Kara’s best female friend was long-dating one of my good Bel- we wander the riverbank aimlessly.
mont Hill friends, Dave. Dave introduced the two of us at a When I saw the photographed—we made eye contact—and we
random underage basement party—the basement of the strolled into position. That part of the bridge seemed to mag-
Marois would prove a big step up. - Alex ically clear of people and I got down on one knee and asked
her to marry me. Kara initially let loose some sort of sound
THE PROPOSAL and then stood in silence. Finally said, “Are you serious?” More
We’d been dating and living together for a long time so we silence. Finally, I pleaded, “There’s a photographed taking
were both on alert that a proposal was on the horizon and photos of us. You need to give me an answer.” She said “yes.”
Paris, as a city, had meaning for us. I had set a time and date.
I had engaged a photographer to document the event and she THE WEDDING INSPIRATION
had helped select the specific window, based on the light con- We wanted something both French and American, an affair to
ditions. I wanted the proposal to be staged on the Pont Alexan- be classic, the setting to be a neoclassical Parisian mansion
dre III because, asides from the undeniable aesthetic. filled with candles and white flowers, the attire to be black tie
and yet, we also wanted it to be Bohemian on a certain level.

perfect wedding magazine.com 89

PERFECT LOVE

I wore an emerald ring that had
belonged to Alex’s grandmother
and been given to me a few
months before - KARA

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT HER LOOK
First, our short, sweet, and personal ceremony, we opted to Dress: Oscar de la Renta
have my twin cousins perform it. Shoes: Valentino

Second, I was completely overwhelmed the day-of. I guess I HIS LOOK
should have understood what I was getting into, in terms of the Tom Ford
feel of the event, when I looked over the RSVP list, but I was Windsor tuxedo
complete bowled over by the ultimate reality and the sheer
weight of a room full of the hundred-plus people who mattered
to us the most. They represented all eras of our lives. They had
come from the four corners of the earth. And the concentrated
power of that really did render me somewhat speechless.

Third, Kara’s father-of-the-bride speech was shocking in, what
I rated, its near perfection. Jimmy’s was one of the sincerest
and most poignant speeches I’ve ever heard and I didn’t see a
dry eye in the room.

THEIR ADVICE
Have a vision and by “vision,” I mean reach a definition of vic-
tory. Our stated goal was that our friends have a really good
time attending our wedding and we really targeted all the parts
of the average wedding experience we felt could be improved,
shortened, eliminated, etc. That aspiration framed our ensuing
prioritization and allocation of resources.

Understand the context, particularly the political-family
context in which you are planning your event. Your wedding is
about you. Have a vision and execute against it, but first,
understand what roadblocks might lie ahead so you don’t get

90 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

Kara & Alex chose to get married in a historic pri-
vate mansion in Paris. The timeless, sophisticated
ceremony took place on the grand staircase. They
celebrated with their friends and family in a salon
filled with white roses, hydrangeas and curly willow.

- FÊTE IN FRANCE

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PERFECT LOVE

surprised mid-process. What’s the
budget? Whose parents are going to be
involved and to what extent? What are
the sensitive issues? We did all of those.
Our decision to host the wedding in
France—aspirational on one level—
coupled with a Catholic ceremony in
Cambridge prior was ultimately prag-
matic, a call reinforced by our estima-
tion of the budget and proactive
engagement in constituency manage-
ment on day one (e.g., lowering the
costs, targeting and cutting the guest list,
disempowering parental voices on
France while appeasing them with Cam-
bridge). Whatever the constraints, if you
know them at the outset, you can work
to mitigate them in a strategic way. Too
few couples think hard or are realistic
about this, particularly about how fami-
lies engage with/in the process, and it’s
hard to say “no” to families if you’ve
already surrendered the choice of battle-
field.
Get on the same page. What’s important
to both parties? Where will you dis-
agree? Kara and I clashed over a couple
small issues, but really it was guest list
and seating chart. It’s best to have those
out in the open so they don’t distract or,
worse, lead to a discussion of who’s
“doing more, etc.”
Share responsibility. Related to the
above, I think it’s important to have a

92 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

division of labor. I think it’s silly that one The couple selected
half of a couple often dominates the Château Boston, a
process. Keep each other in the know— French Bordeaux wine,
if perhaps, not overburdened by micro- as a fun nod to their
decisions, etc. Play to each other’s hometown.
strengths and weaknesses. Kara doesn’t
like making financial decisions, I condi- perfect wedding magazine.com 93
tioned to do it. I’m not stylish, Kara is.
Kara likes sketching the concept and I
like making sure the trains run on time.
We had a pretty productive division
between concept design and execution.

Get help. All of the above only works if
you’re operating reasonably within your
constraints. Of course, everyone thinks
about money as a big limiting factor, but
time is also a constraint. On-the-ground
intelligence is a constraint. Kara and I
were both busy with full-time jobs. We
had a lot of experiencing evaluating
other’s wedding, but knew relatively
little about throwing our own wedding
in Boston, let alone in France. Post our
nuptials, I often hear complaints from
others in the process on “wedding plan-
ning” and I always think to myself,
“Wow, ours was nothing like that it…it
was sort of fun and kind of easy…yes,
writing cheques can be stressful, but the
rest…” But then I remember, we had
Anne and Nancy. d

THE VENDORS
Photography

LE SECRET D’AUDREY
www.lesecretdaudrey.com
Event planning and design

FÊTE IN FRANCE
www.feteinfrance.com

Florals
SOL Y FLOR
www.solyflor.fr

Venue
MAISON FRANCE AMÉRIQUE

www.france-ameriques.fr
Stationery

STUDIO FRENCH BLUE
www.studiofrenchblue.com

DJ
DASHA - INSPIRATION
www.inspiration-music.com

Hair & Makeup
HAROLD JAMES
www.jmsbyjames.com

TRAVEL

Island TIME
Written & Photographed by Gordon S. Cooper
Paradise in the heart of the Caribbean. It may take a visitor two or
three planes to get there but the effort is well worth the prize of the
sun, sand, surf and friendliness of the Dominican Republic.

94 Perfect Wedding Magazine WanderLust / Summer 2018

Recently renovated with over 3.6 million dollars in improve-
ments, the Occidental Punta Cana boasts 860 wonderful
rooms and suites next to one of the nicest beaches in the world.
Swim in the warm Caribbean Sea or enjoy your leisure
time next to any of the four amazing pools. Do yourself
a favour and upgrade to the Royal Level for many bonuses
including exclusive access to the private ARENA beach club
and all its benefits.

I can imagine, as I was only able to stay here for one night, that
Honeymooning at Occidental Punta Cana would surely be fan-
tastic, but why limit yourself to a post-nuptial escape for two?
The resort has almost endless possibilities for producing the
wedding of your dreams. Beautiful landscaped gardens, sexy
and sophisticated poolside locations, one incredible ‘must-
experience’ beach…all can be used for your event! Start plan-
ning your ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ that everyone will talk about for
years to come! Contact ARISQUELMIS ROSARIO, the wed-
ding and event coordinator at Occidental Grand Punta Cana.

perfect wedding magazine.com 95

TRAVEL

A short 20 minute drive from Punta Cana’s International Air-
port is the Barceló Bávaro Beach Resort for adults. Recently
renovated, the hotel was specifically redesigned with adult
relaxation and entertainment in mind. If you travel with
children the family-friendly Barceló Bavaró Palace Deluxe is
right next door. Together, the resorts line nearly two miles of
white-sand Caribbean beach.
Vacationers and wedding clients alike can enhance their expe-
rience by upgrading to Club Premium. Members are treated to
private check-in at the Club Premium lounge, that of which is
stocked with light food and beverages.

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Three internationally inspired restau-
rants provide a wide range of offerings.
From the a la carte international Chez
Gourmet to the Caribbean buffet restau-
rant and the beachfront La Brisa, Bávaro
Beach’s dining options provide guests
with fresh gourmet meals. Diners are
also allowed complimentary access to the
steak house and seafood restaurants
located nearby at Barceló Bávaro Palace
Deluxe. Bávaro Beach guests can enjoy
a meal at Palace Deluxe’s additional
five a la carte fine dining restaurants
for a small fee, while Club Premium
members can add access to their list of
complimentary upgrades.

The entertainment options include
a championship 18-hole golf course
designed by P.B. Dye, multiple bars, a
16-store shopping promenade, spa,
Vegas-style theater, nightclub, and 24-
hour sports bar and casino. d

perfect wedding magazine.com 97

TRAVEL

Written & Photographed by Gordon S. Cooper Above: Private dining areas at Quattro restau-
rant.
WHISTLER BOUND: WHERE TO DINE
Below: Open kitchen at Trattoria Il Giardino
One of the main attractions of Whistler, restaurant. Wine pairing with BC muscles and
British Columbia, is the diverse selection BC white wine from vintners Liquidity
for top-quality dining. Perfect Wedding
sampled some delectable fare at differ-
ent establishments, for this issue and
next. Quattro (above) is an upscale
restaurant serving traditional and con-
temporary Italian cuisine. Indulge your-
self while enjoying the Venetian interior
featuring two fireplaces and hand
painted silk chandeliers.

Bar OSO (left), by the ARAXI Group,
offers a profusion of Spanish-influenced
small plates, tapas, and house-made char-
cuterie from chef Jorge Muñoz
Santos.The basement level provides a
larger private area for chic receptions
and events.

Experience Umberto Menghi's classic,
signature Tuscan and Mediterranean
cuisine with a touch of West Coast influ-
ence at Whistler’s Trattoria di Umberto.
Sit next to the open kitchen where an
orchestra of culinary passion unfolds
before your own eyes. The staff is experts
at pairing foods with wonderful selec-
tions of BC and International wines.

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