Hollywood Wedding At The Woman’s Club of Hollywood

It may come as no surprise that I’m an avid wedding blog reader.  I always love seeing the wedding of a fellow blogger after following their planning process.  I started reading The Juliet Notes way back when I was engaged and have always loved her whimsical, romantic style.  Her wedding, photographed by the extremely talented duo Katy & Ari Schneiderman, did not disappoint and was all, impressively, done on a strict budget, in Hollywood, no less.  It is absolutely stunning, evoking that old Hollywood glam and intimate romance seen in weddings of the past.  Juliet looks like a starlet on the red carpet in her gorgeous custom made gown.  The whole evening is just magic.  Click here to see even more from this heavenly Hollywood affair!

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From the Bride… It was extremely important for us to have a small wedding with only our family and closest friends. We knew early on we wanted everyone dining at one big square table by candlelight and we let that guide our direction for the rest of the wedding. We also didn’t want to exceed our budget of $5000.

I searched wedding blogs endlessly for inspiration. Throughout this process I started my blog, The Juliet Notes, which led me to a new blog friend, Katy from I Am Chasing Thirty. She also just so happened to be an incredibly talented photographer. Having her and her husband, Ari photograph our wedding was the best decision I made.

I wanted my wedding dress to look unique and was lucky enough to find the most wonderful local designer, Marcia Goncalves to make my wedding dress.  We went together to pick out the fabric and she even made a muslin version of the dress to try on before starting the final version. She took my vision and turned it into a reality.

Ian and I made our invitations together and sent them along with a pretty piece of paper folded in an envelope with instructions to write us a little love letter with advice, memories or well wishes and to bring it with them to our wedding. Instead of a guest book I purchased a handmade wooden box with our names on it for people to place their “love letters” to us in.

After searching endlessly for an affordable venue in Los Angeles that suited us we decided to have our wedding at The Woman’s Club of Hollywood, which was rich with old Hollywood history (Jean Harlow and Carole Lombard attended school there and Charlie Chaplin was a frequent visitor). There was an empty room upstairs so I thought we could get creative and turn it into a little chapel. We made the arch at the front of our “chapel” with PVC pipe and a large roll of white tablecloth runner cut into varying lengths. We then lined the window seals with small votive candles and hung a self-made “Chapel” sign above the entry.

A family friend became ordained and performed our ceremony. It was so meaningful to have someone who loves us be able to marry us. Ian and I wrote the ceremony together.  It was really important that the ceremony fit who we are as a couple and our beliefs.  We gave out little notes to our guests upon arrival with a message from Ian and me along with lyrics to the song “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys with the explanation that we wanted to sing this song all together after being pronounced husband and wife. It was really beautiful to have all of our loved ones singing with us after such an important moment.

In the months leading up to the wedding I had started collecting mismatched china dinner plates for our reception along with vintage books and tea tins. For the big square table we combined many rectangular tables to make up one table. This sat 25 perfectly. Instead of place cards we wrote a letter to each one of our guests explaining how much they mean to us and laid it on their dinner plate. We wanted the only light source to come from candles so we bought varying sized mason jars, filled them with candles and lined them around the table. I stacked the vintage books and filled tea tins and small bottles with baby’s breath and other flowers I had gotten the morning before the wedding at the LA Flower District. I knew I could handle making the centerpieces but wanted to put my bouquet and boutonniere in professional hands. I went straight to Holly Flora since I knew Holly would be able to create a perfectly beautiful, romantic arrangement. She did not disappoint. The chandelier candle holders were hung with twine, which gave it a rustic look.

We had a projector play “An Affair To Remember” on silent all night long. Ian worked his technical magic and turned the Technicolor film into black and white for a more dramatic look. We feasted on Indian food (Ian’s favorite, being from England) and butter cream cake (my favorite being I love dessert). We were lucky to have a friend and great performer play piano and act as our wedding coordinator for the day. He surprised us by bringing our wedding cake out on a wheeled cart, dancing beautifully with the cart to Dean Martin’s “Sway”. At the end of the night we were gathered with those most dear to us sipping champagne talking about how perfect the evening was. It was indeed.

Photography: Katy & Ari Schneiderman / Floral Design: DIY, The Bride / Bouquet & Boutonniere: Holly Flora / Wedding Venue: The Woman’s Club of Hollywood / Invitations & Paper Goods: DIY, The Bride & Groom / Hair & Makeup: Sister of the Bride & Groom / Wedding Coordinator & Pianist: Nigel Columbus, Friend of the Bride / Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka / Wedding Dress: Marcia Goncalves / Bride’s Bracelet: Gilded Elegance / Bride’s Hair Flower: Lo Boheme / Letter Box: Nana Montana Studio / Wedding Cake: Cake & Art / Catering: Gate of India / Rings: Ron Yates of Belloria and Titanium Jewelry