LA brides looking for glamorous must-see this ornate art-deco wedding

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LA has never looked so ornate! Glittering in art-deco decor, and filled with black and gold clad fashions, this Los Angeles wedding is a seriously dazzling party.

Searching for a glamorous space where they could still throw an all-night dance party Lauren & Allysa came across Ebell in Central LA. A surprisingly chic city space, Ebell not only offered a stunning backdrop for this gilded group but also their ideal menu: soul food.

“As Lauren always jokes that she knew she loved me when I reached across the table on our first date and stole a bite of her mac and cheese,” said Alyssa, on their thoughtful feast.

But the comfort food didn’t weigh their guests down, not only did their DJ have everyone on the dancefloor until shutdown, Lauren & Alyssa found themselves still partying at 4:30 am thanks to evidence their photo timestamp (#couplegoals). In the music biz, the couple had custom printed records for guests to sign, adding another ever-so-personal detail to this dazzling day.

Our Love Story

We met at an engagement party in Los Angeles in 2012. Three years later Lauren proposed in Lake Tahoe where we spend each New Year’s.

The proposal took place in the wee hours of December 30th. Many of our friends had made the trip to Tahoe for a music festival we attend together, and Lauren had invited everyone back to our cabin for a post-festival hang. While our best friend Leah distracted me in a room downstairs, Lauren and the rest of our friends got to work transforming the upstairs into a candlelit dream.

When I emerged, I followed the candles up the stairs where Lauren was waiting for me. With one of the bands from the festival there singing our favorite song, Lauren got down on one knee and asked me to marry her.

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The Dress & Attire

We were both obsessed with our wedding day outfits. Lauren had her tux custom made and the details were amazing — she picked everything from the fabric of the jacket to the leather detailing for the lapel.

My dress was everything I had dreamed of and more — it had a champagne colored overlay and a hefty dose of sparkle that had me feeling like Met Gala Beyoncé for a day.

The Venue & Style

Our wedding took place at the beautiful and historic Ebell of Los Angeles. We knew we wanted a venue that felt glamorous, but not stuffy, as our wedding vibe was part old Hollywood, part art deco, and part epic party.

Gold was our primary color, with black and white accents throughout – one of our favorite design details was the gold sequined aisle runner (what better way to walk the path to the love of your life!). We did a mix of black and gold (sequined, of course) linens, with white flowers throughout.

Favorite Moments

It’s hard to pick a favorite moment, but what stands out to us and everyone that was in attendance was that we had a dance party with the entire room just after our introduction and prior to sitting down to dinner. It was classic us – having an epic rager before getting down to business. It was also a beautiful way to start the second part of the evening – all together on the dance floor with the people that love us.

The Photography

We had our photographer Kim recommended to us by the Ebell and when we met her, we knew she was immediately the right fit for the job.

Choosing the videographer was much more involved. We watched tons of wedding videos and found them to be so generic and stale – nothing like us. When we found Grimace Films, we loved that their work felt like really cool music videos, and working with them was one of the best decisions we made, because now we have this video that captures the day and captures us so well, in that moment, forever, like a time capsule.

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Personal Details

We both feel particularly proud of how we were able to weave personal details throughout the wedding so that the whole day felt really “us.” Lauren works in the music industry and one of our favorite things to do is to go to music shows together, so instead of a traditional guest book, we had custom records printed for our guests to sign. In keeping with the music theme, instead of having our initials projected on the wall, we had a custom gobo created to project the Prince sign (which he called “the love symbol”). He remains one of our favorite artists of all time and is someone our friends and family associate with us and our love.

Lauren’s known for her appreciation of a good Bourbon so instead of traditional flower vases on our cocktail tables we used Bourbon bottles as the vessels for the flowers. We also chose the music that has acted as the soundtrack to our love’s journey for our processionals.

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The Reception

For our dinner, we went with soul food, as Lauren always jokes that she knew she loved me when I reached across the table on our first date and stole a bite of her mac and cheese. We served a family-style feast of fried chicken, cajun salmon, collard greens, mac and cheese, and more!

We were worried our guests might be too full to tear it up on the dance floor, but our awesome DJ was playing jams that were impossible for everyone to resist. We danced the night away, taking breaks only to jump into the photo booth. The festivities officially wrapped at 11:30 pm, but the devoted followed us back to our hotel (The Line) where the party continued. Our final selfie of the night is time-stamped at 4:30 am — we’d call that a success!

Advice to Other Couples

1. Build a team you love.
2. Get a wedding coordinator.
3. Invest in a video.
4. Don’t forget, it’s about your love, first and foremost.

Invest in a wedding coordinator – and if you’re in LA we cannot recommend Deanna Tat of Chic Ambiance Events enough. Deanna was instrumental in keeping us sane and on track with details we wouldn’t have even thought of (the timelines she created were the stuff of bridal dreams), and she went above and beyond to ensure our vision came to life and that our special day was stress-free.

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The most important advice we received is to never lose sight that this day is about your love. It’s not about what linens you get, the stamps you pick for your invitations, or what type of wine you serve at dinner — what you and your guests will remember from the day is the feeling in the room, the feeling of two people who love each other and have committed to doing the damn thing and dancing their way through life, hand in hand.