David and Kimberly's Wedding in Santa Monica, California

In the days leading up to the wedding, Dave and I stayed with my family at the gorgeous Palihouse Hotel in Santa Monica. My bridesmaids and I had our hair makeup done early in the morning in the penthouse, while Dave and his groomsmen prepared in a separate suite.

Because Dave and I are both Catholic, our official ceremony took place nearby at St. Monica Catholic Church, where Dave’s grandparents, parents, and sister were also married, and where his family had been parishioners for decades. To match the grandeur of the venue, I wore the Vreeland ballgown by Rivini and held a simple bouquet of red roses from Moody Blooms. Dave felt the music would be a crucial part of the ceremony and insisted on a string quartet, pianist, cantor, and French hornist—based on the mood of the guests, he was right.

After a short afternoon break, our guests were shuttled to the Ebell Club in Long Beach for the reception, which had been exquisitely decorated with a tropical floral twist, courtesy of Moody Blooms! We walked down the aisle for a second time for our personal vows—this time unaccompanied—to Nicholas Britell’s “Agape,” and in my second ballgown: the Emily by Marchesa Notte, which guests came to call the cloud dress!

After some laughter and many tears, the cocktail hour began, and Dave and I squirreled away for a quick respite upstairs. We eventually descended to Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” in my third and favorite gown, Galia Lahav’s Anna. In what was our favorite moment of the evening, I pretended to have a surprise for the groom, and began singing Sam Smith’s “Lay Me Down.” When Dave pulled a secret microphone from his pocket and joined in for John Legend’s part, the crowd went wild! No one had known, but this was a duet that we had practiced for nearly as long as we had planned the wedding, and to have it executed exactly as we imagined was more than we could have hoped for.

After the pouring of the champagne tower, the evening passed into moving speeches, a delicious dinner and dessert catered by Trés LA, and some amazing music and dancing courtesy of Flawless DJs, before continuing onto our afterparty at Belle’s Beach House in Venice. For many at the party, it had been a 20-hour day, but it was the most perfect day Dave and I could have imagined, and we’re so thankful to all of the vendors who made that happen. We’ll be sure to treasure it in the decades to come!