Wedding | Alexia & Luca

5 hours ago

5 min read

Tell us a little about yourselves!

Hello and welcome to the L.A. Club!

We’re a couple living in Paris, both working in advertising. Alexia is from Britanny, whereas Luca is from Paris, and we also have a cocker spaniel who played an integral part of our wedding.

We met five years ago through work and have been together for about 4 years now. We’re both two creative spirits who love to spend our time trekking outdoors and partying with friends! Sometimes both at the same time.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

We had the civil ceremony in Paris. The location was quite easy to decide as it is where most of our family and friends are based. It was in the 16th Arrondissement of Paris’ Town Hall, a beautiful building with a wonderful celebration room. Truly an idyllic Town Hall to get married in Paris!

For the celebration, we decided to do it in Luca’s parents’ country house in the centre of France, in Nibelle. It’s a beautiful old barn bordering the Orléans Forest with plenty of garden space for us to put everything together and party. As we spend quite a few weekends there, the place holds a special place in our hearts and in our relationship. As we often go there, it allowed us to really spend the time picturing how we wanted all the tables, decorations, furniture, to go for the main day.

It was a perfect place to create this laid-back celebration of our wedding, and, most importantly, have the space to have a full-on party there!

How many guests did you have?

Around 75 guests.

What was your budget?

We spent where we needed to and created a lot of things ourselves that we’re really proud of. We built the white bars where the drinks and food was placed, Luca prepared all the food and dips for the apéritif, and we sourced the material for some of the seats from Luca’s sister’s workshop in London, exclusively with leftover fabrics. It was worth every single centime!

Tell us about your outfits.

Alexia:

For my dress, I didn't want something particularly traditional. I searched for a long time and found it quite difficult to find something that suited me. I looked at lots of very different sources of inspiration, wanting to find something original, but had quite a bit of trouble finding the right balance.

I discovered Uni Paris by chance and, as soon as I tried the dress on, I immediately felt at ease in it. It had more of an "evening" feel, almost "gala"-like, with that lovely low-back design I loved so much. I found it chic, elegant and a little different from what you usually see in a wedding dress. That's really what won me over.

Luca:

I wanted my suit to feel sufficiently formal and unique for my wedding, but have a few twists here & there to make it modern and laid-back. That’s why I chose a custom three-piece suit in navy from a thin Italian pure wool, with a double-breasted waistcoat but compensated the formal with a white band collar shirt with cuffs.

This unique combination turned out to be exactly what I had imagined and I couldn’t have been happier.

Both our outfits were surprises for each other. It was amazing to discover our respective outfits just a few minutes before going into the Town Hall!

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

We both wanted a wedding that was not classical, a moment that would feel unique to us and our guests. That’s why we decided to create a concept around our wedding : the L.A. Club.

As it was a wedding where we only had close friends and family, the idea was that everyone present was part of our Club, the L.A. Club, Luca & Alexia’s club. With a small wink to the fun and pizzazz associated with L.A in our collective imagination.

From the invitations to the decorations, every part echoed this concept throughout the day and into the night. A photobooth with many unique pictures created like magazine covers, colourful stickers made to look like brand goodies, or 2m canvases of the event hand-painted by Alexia’s brother and Luca’s sister.

Our invitations, the first part of your wedding you share with your guests, echoed this theme. They came in three separate cards, all in different shapes and sizes. One of the cards was inspired by a motel key tag and had no other purpose that being a souvenir for our guests to keep. Another card in the invitations even had written “This is not a wedding invitation”, an introduction to the vibe we wanted people to come with : this is a celebration, a big party, but it won’t be stuffy.

We were so happy to see that everyone was totally embarked by the concept, keeping the invitation tag in their homes or putting the stickers on their phones to keep as a memory for the near future.

It was also important for us to feel as if planning the wedding wasn’t a chore. We talked about it a lot but were never overwhelmed by the scale of what we were organising together with help from our close family.

Working in advertising and organising huge campaign for clients also helps : you’re used to coordinating several teams, different vendors, working with plenty of invoices and managing a budget.

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?

The most important probably was wanting this event to be a representation of ourselves, something that felt unique, in which our guests would see both of us. This transpired through the designs, the decoration and every little detail present on the day.

Any tips for couples getting married?

Try and make your wedding feel like nobody else’s. The invitations, the photo booth, or even the food served go a long way into making your wedding feel entirely yours. That’s what we loved about it: we knew there would never be another wedding like this.

Also, please party like there’s no tomorrow. It’ll be worth it!

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

We absolutely loved our photographer, Alia Paienda, who Alexia had met long before we got engaged through pilates. Alia is a multi-talented artist, who had played violin during one of her sessions, and they had got to speaking after that.

It was a joy to work with someone with whom we felt a connection from the start, who spoke the same creative language as us and who loved throwing herself fully into the wedding and our concept behind it. Thank you Alia!

We also loved Les Bonnes Gueules, who prepared the dinner. A small team and a brasero, ready to make amazing food for everyone in a laid-back and unusual manner for a wedding. They were so kind and the food was amazing!