Wedding | Maya & Aaron

Jul 13
3 min read

Tell us a little about yourselves!

Though we both grew up in LA, only a couple of miles apart, we somehow met while living at opposite ends of the country—Maya in New York and Aaron in Santa Cruz. We eventually found our way back home and have spent the last 12 years growing up together, building a life, and collecting an ever-growing cast of wonderful people around us.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

LA is home. It's where our families are, where most of our friends are, and where we've spent more than a decade building our life together. It wouldn't have felt right to celebrate anywhere else.

How many guests did you have?

Sixty-five. It felt like the perfect size—small enough to spend time with everyone, but big enough to watch all our favorite people meet, dance, and become friends.

What was your budget?

Worth every penny.

Tell us about your outfits.

Maya found her dress after a very overwhelming trip to Kleinfeld's that was initially intended mostly as a reality TV pilgrimage. She couldn't stop thinking about one particular Nadia Manjarrez dress, tracked it down at the designer's studio, put it on again, and immediately knew.

Aaron was set on a double-breasted suit and found the perfect one at SuitSupply. The details were especially meaningful: shoes he designed through his family's leather business and a vintage tennis-themed pocket square gifted by Maya's brother just before the ceremony.

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

We wanted the day to feel unmistakably like us. That meant involving the people we love wherever possible: Aaron's mom made cookies for every place setting, Aaron's sister designed the stationery, Maya's mom illustrated a timeline of our relationship, and our officiant was the friend who introduced us. The wedding felt like a patchwork of contributions from the people we love most, which made it feel deeply personal from beginning to end.

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

Bringing together all the people we love in one place was the most important thing to us. We wanted the wedding to feel intimate, welcoming, and full of conversation, laughter, and dancing. We cared much more about creating a joyful atmosphere with great food, flowing drinks, and a packed dance floor than we did about following every wedding tradition.

Any tips for couples getting married?

Get ready together if you can. We spent the morning eating breakfast with friends, listening to our wedding playlist, and soaking it all in before disappearing to get dressed. The first look still felt special, but starting the day side by side made the whole experience feel more relaxed and celebratory.

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

We felt incredibly lucky with every vendor involved.

Our planner, caterer, florist, and general miracle worker, Kai's Catering & Events, is a dear family friend who created not one but two weddings for us after a rain forecast forced a last-minute venue change. We trusted him completely—even down to the details we never wanted to think about (“please don't make us choose napkins”)—and he made everything feel effortless. The day was beautiful, the transition was seamless, and the food was so good that guests are still bringing it up months later. We consider that a tremendous success.

Our photographers, Visonette, were one of the easiest decisions we made, despite being one of the things we worried about most. We're both a little awkward in front of a camera and wanted photos that felt natural rather than overly posed. From our first conversation, they put us completely at ease, and on the wedding day they blended in so seamlessly that many guests said they barely noticed them. Then the gallery arrived and we were absolutely floored. Somehow they managed to capture not just what the day looked like, but what it felt like. We keep finding new favorite photos every time we look through them.