What better way to wrap up the 2014 wedding season than with a Smog Shoppe Wedding and a gorgeous and compassionate couple. Alyssa and Abe’s Smog Shoppe wedding was held at a favorite venue of ours on La Cienega in Los Angeles It seems that with each subsequent visit, the living wall on the building’s west facing side grows more and more dense with sedum pachyclados...but enough about smog and succulents, this December evening, it was all about Alyssa and Abe who, after spending the past 5 years together, were about to get hitched. Flanked by groomsmen and his best man (his son Drew), Abe stood anxiously awaiting the first glimpse of Alyssa. As she made her way down the stairs to her father’s arms and Abe got the first look at his stunning bride, pulses were almost audibly racing; she was. simply. a vision. Alyssa is much more than just a pretty face however, and I knew this from our initial conversation several months back. Alyssa, who used to be a producer for the highly respected Al-Jazeera network and a writer for Time magazine, told me that they would be forgoing a traditional wedding registry. Instead, friends and family could donate whatever they liked to help relief efforts in Gaza after this year’s humanitarian crisis there. Alyssa had covered Israel/Palestine as a writer working in the middle east and this seemed like an incredible gesture of altruism that I really connected with. Despite having nearly 200 guests at their Los Angeles wedding, they made the time to visit with everyone and their wishes – of having it feel like an intimate gathering of friends and family – really did come to fruition. The wedding details were all orchestrated by a talented group of friends – Alyssa’s bridesmaid, Arjuna Durrant, hand drew each of the guests faces on magnetic escort cards as a wonderful souvenir, her friend Sarah Reddish from Arrow Art Studios did all of the signage and caligraphy, and friend Ashley Mueller from Ash + OAK did all of the bouquets, and the wonderfully talented team from Next Saturday Affairs did the event decor. Another fun detail was the temporary tattoo station which was saw action all night. From the moment guests first saw Alyssa, to the tear-laden speeches, and the father/daughter and mother/son dances…you couldn’t have squeezed another drop of emotion out of the evening and that’s why we love clients like Abe and Alyssa so much!
