I recently had the great pleasure of attending the Padua Hills Bridal Show. I got to talk to some wonderful couples exploring their options for officiants. It was a true joy!
Paola y Ricardo's Little Corona del Mar Bilingual Beach Wedding
Paola and Ricardo have the cutest little boys I’ve ever seen. The youngest even wanted to be a part of the ceremony! We were blessed that the waves didn’t reach our feet…and that we didn’t get washed away by the waves. This was seriously one of the most beautiful wedding locations at which I’ve done a wedding.
April and Miguel's Banyan Tree Bilingual Lighthouse Wedding
April and Miguel’s wedding at Point Fermin Lighthouse in San Pedro, is one of my favorite weddings to date. This couple is especially joyful, funny, and sweet. It was really windy that day, I guess they were swept away in the moment!
Renya and Marisol's Magical Bilingual Crystal Wedding
Reyna and Marisol are my first lesbian couple! Their wedding was a celebration of how opposites attract, and how a birdwatcher and an investor find balance. They are also two of the loveliest women I’ve met.
Joana & Eric's Summer SOULstice wedding
Joana and Eric are two of the most “woke” human beings I’ve ever met. They both work in social justice with a strong focus on racial inequality and how to fight racist practices.
The two of them have such a fun love story, from being colleagues, to becoming friends, and then lovers.
I enjoyed performing their wedding so much. Two things we did that were really special: 1- Native American blessing celebrating the Four Directions, 2- Ring Ceremony where each person held the rings and got to speak to the couple and wish them something for their marriage, and 3- Sage. I saged the wedding space before they entered and created a sacred space for them to be married, in their own sacred energy.
Their marriage is knitted by their life’s purpose.
Mike and Allyson's Intergalactic Wedding
Full disclosure, Mike and Allyson are dear friends whom I met doing stand-up comedy in Los Angeles.
Mike is a hysterical comedian, and so is Allyson!
Performing their wedding felt like a super close family reunion with some of the funniest, most down to earth people I’ve ever met.
I fell in love with their community, and so would you. I felt so honored to have performed their Star Wars themed wedding.
Their marriage is knitted by the stars.
PATRICIA & TRAVIS'S FEMINIST & BILINGUAL LA WEDDING
One of my favorite couples, Patricia and Travis, were married in Los Angeles on a super-hot sunny day in front of their friends and family.
Patricia and Travis were very clear about what they wanted. They wanted something feminist, funny and also heartfelt. Patricia had family coming in from Mexico, so it was very important to her that the ceremony have parts in Spanish.
We went through several drafts and between the three of us, we were able to create a ceremony which truly felt like a combination of the two of them, incorporating humor, heart and the playfulness of Patricia and Travis.
Tabitha & Gavin's Magical DTLA wedding
design and florals: winston & main dinner: ledlow & baco mercat photo: marble rye photography
I am fortunate to have two amazingly talented, humorous, and creative friends who asked me to officiate their wedding: Tabitha and Gavin.
When Tabitha asked me to officiate their wedding, I was overjoyed as her friend. But for Tabitha, who is an amazing wedding event stylist and floral designer in the wedding industry—as founder of Winston & Main—to ask ME? It was also a huge honor. She would entrust me with her big day? No pressure!
I mean, she and Gavin did such a beautiful job with designing their wedding, that it was recently featured on Green Wedding Shoes. Gavin modified his own jacket and cast his own buttons, created a wedding emblem, and Tabitha designed all of the flowers, the look & feel of the event and ceremony, and chose her absolutely gorgeous wedding gown and Pricilla Presley-inspired veil. Basically, they are rock stars.
I worked closely with Tabitha and Gavin on what they wanted to their wedding to feel like. They are both quirky, stylish, creative and funny, so the wedding ceremony had to be all of those things. They are also a heartfelt and sweet couple, who show their love for one another through gentle jibes and sweet inside jokes. When I asked Gavin if he had given any thought to his vows, he referenced the "Ming the Merciless" vows from 1980's cult classic Flash Gordon. I knew we'd have to incorporate them somehow.
At the end of them filling out a questionnaire and a few emails back and forth, I sent them a draft of the ceremony, which they approved on the spot!
Tabitha and Gavin, I really want to thank you for honoring me with the opportunity to marry you. Your love is so inspiring and you give everyone around you a relationship to look up to. I had an absolute blast writing the ceremony...thank you for being so open and creative, so we could have a little fun! I hope your family, friends and loved ones did as well!!
Jessica and Oscar's Cali, Colombia wedding
This is the first wedding I ever officiated for my friend Jessica and her Colombian hubby-to-be in Cali, Colombia.
I performed a bilingual ceremony for them, which was a joy to write.