Tell us a little about yourselves!
We met in April of 2012 and 3 months later we were living together. We’ve been inseparable ever since. “My favorite thing about Andi is her pure spirit. I love her beautiful and rich smile and the way her cheeks lift up. You can see the kindness in her eyes. She is always inspiring me and has shown me that there are more ways to find worth in life and of people. She has a profound ability to feel and I think she is the most natural sense of a being I have ever met. She also makes me laugh. I love her beyond words.
"I love George's absolute lust for life. He is the most optimistic, kind, patient, and loving human being I have ever met. He has always made me feel safe and secure and I can't wait to feel this way with someone for the rest of my days. I am completely the luckiest woman on Earth to have found him. He is also very handsome! And makes me laugh soo hard every day!”
Why did you decide to get married where you did?
We got engaged in January of 2022. After that we just started talking about what we wanted the day to be like. We thought about getting married at the courthouse here in Las Vegas and doing a dinner with our friends and family on the strip. However, we have been in the wedding industry for 7 years and work a lot in Las Vegas. We wanted it to feel special and new to us and not like we were working. Andi googled “pretty courthouses” and the Santa Barbara Courthouse was one of the first to pop up. It was also close enough to where most of our guests would be traveling from.
How many guests did you have?
52.
Tell us about your outfits.
George went to a local suit shop in Las Vegas called Mastroianni Fashions. He used to shop there for suits with his late father throughout his adolescence. It had been years since he purchased a suit there, but he felt as though it had to be the first place to go. Within 30 minutes of his arrival he found the linen Corneliani suit he was to wear. When he went back in for the fitting a few days later and the owner of the shop, a man named Tasos, came out and recalled his memory of knowing and befriending George’s father for many years. Somehow, George was not aware that Mastroianni Fashions had been owned by a Greek family for the past 50 years and even his own grandfather would shop there for cufflinks and sport coats since the 1970s. As it all fell into place, an immense catharsis was present in his soul and it made him feel as though his father’s spirit was there with him. Finding that suit was in his destiny and it couldn’t have felt better.
Andi wore a tea-length dress from Self-Portrait . She really wanted to show off her Loeffler Randall shoes! Her favorite article of clothing was her veil from Rock N’ Veil. She will keep it forever. She also wore a necklace that has been worn by the women in her family for generations on their own wedding days.
What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?
Getting married! It had been 10 years in the making! We ended up having a short engagement because we just wanted to do it! We really wanted to enjoy every moment and be fully present for it all and for it to really feel like us. Not too showy, just simple, sweet, and surrounded by our loved ones.
Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?
We have an incredible group of friends that we consider our extended family, so it was important that they were able to be there. All of our friendships go back years as many of us never left our home town of Las Vegas. To add to it all, George has been a musician and has been in a band with the same friends since his teenage years. Since the Santa Barbara Courthouse did not allow for amplified sounds, we had the idea to have George’s bandmates play their acoustic guitars during the procession of the ceremony.
They played ‘Just like Heaven,’ and ‘Here Comes the Sun.’
We asked George’s older brother, Mike to be the officiant for the wedding because he has always been a great role model and mentor in our lives. It felt very special for him to perform the ceremony.
It was also very important for us to plan our own wedding. We have had the privilege of photographing hundreds of weddings over the years and we wanted to do something that was simple, elegant and that allowed our vendors to be as expressive as they wanted with our ideas. It could not have turned out better!
Any tips for couples getting married, particularly during the pandemic?
Take every moment in. The day flew by and it feels like a dream looking back on it. Also, George wants to add, Go get married! It will be the best thing you ever did!
Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?
Albany Katz and Sarah, our photographer and her assistant, captured it all so perfectly. We are both photographers and have been taking portraits of each other throughout our entire relationship. We both had our film cameras on us the night we met and have photos from that night. Needless to say, photography was a very important aspect to us. And we’re just so happy with their work from our day!
Breanna Jane Botanicals’ florals were absolutely stunning. She went above and beyond and executed our vision perfectly.
Nicole and the staff at Sama Sama Kitchen really showed how well oiled they could run an event. The space there helped to provide for an intimate evening with our guests and the food and service was absolutely divine!
Photographer : Albany Katz @albanykatz | Ceremony Location : Santa Barbara Courthouse @santabarbaracourthouse | Reception Location : Sama Sama Kitchen @samasamakitchen | Celebrant : Michael Foskaris, Groom’s brother | Hire : Just for Fun Party Rentals @just4funpartyrentals |
Ceremony Space : Fiesta Stage | Flora : Breanna Jane Botanicals @breannajanebotanicals | Makeup : Beauty by Brittney Hunt @beautyxbrittneyhunt | Hair : Andrea Villa @andreavilla_hair | Catering + Beverages : Sama Sama Kitchen @samasamakitchen | Cake : Frances Baking Co. @francesbakingco | Stationery : Minted Weddings @mintedweddings | Volkswagen Beetle : Luke Ohrn
| Andi's Dress : Self-Portrait @mrselfportrait | George's Suit : Corneliani from Mastroianni Fashions @corneliani_official | Engagement + Andi's Wedding Ring : Brilliant Earth @brilliantearth | George's Wedding Ring : Zales @zalesjewelers | Andi's Shoes + Purse : Loeffler Randall @loefflerrandall | Andi’s Veil : Rock N’ Veil @myrocknveil | Andi’s Earrings : Agmes @agmesnyc | George's Watch : Skagen @skagendenmark