Tell us a little about yourselves!
Jeremy and I have been together for almost 7 years now. We live in Los Angeles, CA and most of our free time is spent playing some type of dress up - we swing dance and collect 1930’s+40’s vintage, and we also are pretty heavily involved in the fantasy costuming scene around here. We’ve lived in our little condo with my dog Bonnibel for 3 years now, slowly collecting vintage furniture and creating our perfect life together.
Why did you decide to get married where you did?
We originally had planned to do it in 2021 here in LA but when the world shut down, we instead took our best friend and our amazing photographer to Big Bear, where we got ‘officially’ married at the top of the Castle Rock trail on All Hallows’ Eve (or dawn, rather). Afterwards, we realized we wanted to celebrate with everyone.The Cicada Club was our first choice - we’ve been dancing there to live swing bands for years and the venue was the perfect place for us. The beauty and vintage design in there was all the decor we really needed and it had a perfect dance floor, stage for our band, and beautiful atmosphere for our guests!
How many guests did you have?
We had under 80 guests. Honestly, it didn’t feel small, we’ve got a tight knit circle and were happy to celebrate with those who came! The Shalom Imaginative captured our day.
What was your budget?
Our budget was 25k. We actually came in a little under that when all was said and done!
Tell us about your outfits.
For two vintage-collecting swing dancers, this was obviously important. For months I tried to find the perfect 1930’s vintage wedding dress and failed. I even began the work of making my own (I’m a sewist) but nothing was actually bringing together the vision. Jeremy knew he’d be wearing a vintage 1930’s Palm Beach blet-back white suit jacket and so I wanted something suitably matching while still being danceable and ‘me’. I found it in the gorgeous ‘Lucy’ dress by Alexandra Grecco, which was a season or two old when I found it. But it was perfect. I paired it with these pearl and gold giant architectural earrings from Ruby Jack, and my gold 1930’s style ‘Emily’ dancing shoes from Re-Mix Vintage Shoes. My hair flowers were a beautiful green orchid piece that I’ve had for years from a vintage seller. My reception dress was 1930’s Gold Bullion Ace Gown. It was a museum piece from Demetra Vintage.
Jeremy’s black and white suit look was paired with a 1940’s vintage Salvador Dali painted peacock tie I got him for his 29th birthday, vintage tie bar with his initials, and green leather dancing shoes from Slide and Swing.
What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?
It was most important that we had music and dancing. For our entire relationship, that’s been the core of our traveling, our social life, our friends, our style. We were so excited to get to share that with all of our loved ones and to get to have the band we loved play. We’ve been friends with the band leaders and members for years and were so happy they were able to perform. They arranged a version of our first dance song, “It’s Been A Long, Long Time,” to play live and it was magical.
Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?
Our favorite element, which was carried over from the elopement, was using our wedding scimitar to cut the cake. I don’t know why everyone doesn’t incorporate swords more into wedding planning. It was a wedding gift from Jeremy to me at our Big Bear ceremony and we made sure to use it again to cut the cake on the wedding day.
Any tips for couples getting married?
Do it together and have fun with it. If it started getting stressful, we’d pause and reflect. Like, did it truly really matter if something wasn’t perfect? If so, then we prioritized it! But most of the time, it didn’t. What mattered was that we were doing it as a team and that it truly reflected us as a couple. We have zero regrets on any choices!
Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?
I would like to honestly express how incredible our friends are. The band we hired are dancer friends, our DJ too. We put so much of our own effort into this. My best friend Vera knew exactly how to do all the flowers and hair because she’s a hairdresser and also a huge vintage lover - I don’t think I could have entrusted that to anyone else.
Jeremy’s Best Woman, Julie, shocked us all when she put together all of the bridesmaid bouquets and my bridal cascading orchid bouquet on the morning of the wedding when my original bouquet was delivered and completely wrong.
Jeremy did all of the orchid table centerpieces and I did all of the designs and graphics for the event and invitations. It was perfect. I’m so proud of the day and every time I look back on it, I’m so honored by the family we’ve created and how talented and amazing they all are.
Photographer: The Shalom Imaginative @theshalomimaginative | Planning: by Olivia, Bridesmaid Vera and Officiant Ashley | Flora: by the Best Woman Julie | Men's Boutonnieres: by Olivia | Ceremony & Ceremony Location: The Cicada Club @cicadarestaurant | Celebrant: a friend of the couple | Hair: Bridesmaid Vera | Cake: Porto's @portosbakery | Stationery: designed by Olivia | Live Music: Jonathan Stout and His Campus Five Featuring Hilary Alexander @campusfive | DJ: Niko Koya | Ceremony Dress: Alexandra Grecco @alexandragrecco from Stillwhite @stillwhite | Reception Dress: Demetra Vintage @demetravintage | Suit: Vintage | Hair Flowers: by Bridesmaid Vera Davidson | Engagement & Wedding Rings: Rambling Rose @ramblingroseoc | Shoes: Re-Mix Vintage @remixvintageshoes (Olivia) , Slide and Swing Barcelona (Jeremy) @slideandswing | Earrings: Ruby Jack @rubyjack__