When the Planner is the Bride
When people find out that I’m a newlywed myself, one of the most common questions they ask me is what it was like to plan my own wedding. Was I a bridezilla? Did I dream about my wedding as a little girl? How did I narrow down the final design elements with so many options to choose from? Keep reading for all the details about my wedding!
Levon and I met over six years ago through my cousin who introduced us. After a couple of years of dating, we had decided to stay at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel for a night. We went for a stroll in the resort’s beautiful garden area and passed an area with lots of rose petals on the ground. I immediately thought we were about to walk into somebody else’s wedding, but then Levon turned to me and popped the question. I honestly didn’t see it coming! A photographer captured the proposal and I’ll always treasure the photos of my surprised yet excited smile.
Instead of staying at the hotel, we decided to drive back to LA to share the news with our friends and family and as we got home our loved ones were already there eagerly waiting to celebrate with us! With a little bit of help from our family and friends, Levon had managed to plan a surprise engagement party for 160 people without me knowing about it, which was another wonderful surprise! My mom and cousin were in on it and because they knew I wanted to feel comfortable yet beautiful on this special night they had picked out three different dresses for me to choose from for the celebration. It ended up being a magical night!
Contrary to what most people may think, I did not have our wedding design all planned out in my head in advance. I am a Virgo who loves to be organized and creative, but growing up I was never that kind of girl who daydreamed about what my wedding would look like. However, I did always know that I wanted to wear a Monique Lhuillier gown so in a sense one could say that my initial design ideas for the wedding centered around what I would wear! I started dress shopping a couple of weeks after the engagement and booked our favorite vendors two weeks later.
Levon and I knew we wanted a grand and luxurious wedding in an intimate setting with a whimsical and romantic vibe. We had originally planned to get married at a large indoor venue in LA, but as the pandemic hit we had to give up the original date and venue and we joined the millions of couples who sadly had to postpone their wedding. At this point we just decided to get legally married and have the wedding celebration later when the time was right. As we got closer to the second wedding date we realized that we would have to postpone a second time. They say the third time's the charm and it was for us! On May 22, 2021, Levon and I were finally able to have our wedding and celebrate with most of our friends and family like we had wanted all along. The guest count was slimmed down from 500 to 180 and the new venue’s style called for a different design than I had originally envisioned, but in the end, we truly loved every single detail of the day.
Our wedding venue, Verdi Garden, has a beautiful, but rustic vibe with wooden floors and an industrial feel. In order to elevate the space and make it more sophisticated I focused on creating a dimmed ambience with lots of greenery, white florals, and an abundance of candlelight throughout the decor. I worked with an incredible group of vendors that I love and trust and who know my style inside out. On the day of the wedding, my Event Du Jour staff helped me put together the finishing touches so that I could relax and enjoy every special moment!
Looking back on planning my own wedding I don’t think anyone would call me a Bridezilla. I am comfortable with my style and once I started planning the day I knew exactly what I wanted and I didn’t stress too much about the design. Because I planned several other weddings during the pandemic and constantly ran into obstacles that were out of anyone’s control in the process I realized that there’s only so much you can plan during an unprecedented time! I always tell my couples to enjoy the planning process and when it was my turn to be the bride I took my own advice and just went with the flow.
Six months into married life I am still walking on air and I wish I could do it all over again. I am grateful that my job allows me to help clients bring their wedding visions to life and now after having recently gone through the planning process as a bride I can honestly say that I know exactly what it’s like to walk in my couples’ (wedding) shoes!
Planning and Design: Event Du Jour | Floral Design: Heavenly Garden and Eddie Zaratsian | Photography: Armen of: Kris Kan | Video: Eric Film | Rentals: MTB Event Rentals and Fancy Tables and BBJ Linen | Lighting: Amber Event Production | Candles: Vogue Candles | Dancefloor: Dance Floor Depot | Cake: Rafis cakes | Stationery: Cordially Invite and Truly Madly Ink | Signage: Golden Moments Design | Favors: A Little Favour | Entertainment: DJ Hakop and Harout Pamboukjian and Kinga Bacik | Venue: Verdi Garden | Bridal Gown: Monique Lhuillier | Bridal Shoes: Dior