There’s something really special about a January wedding; crisp fresh air, soft golden light and a wonderful sense of intimacy that comes from gathering your favourite people together at the start of a brand new year.
Laurel and Ben’s wedding at La Playa Hotel in Carmel, California, was every bit as beautiful as it was heartfelt – elegant, deeply personal and overflowing with love, joy and some seriously good party energy.
As a fashion lover and designer, Laurel wanted a wedding that exuded effortless style and sophistication, but with an unmistakable disco-infused edge when it came to celebrating. A timeless and elegant ceremony, followed by a dance floor lit up with giant disco balls and the best kind of carefree, joyful energy.
This was a wedding full of style, personality, and a whole lot of love, and I’m so delighted to be sharing it with you today. Huge love and thanks to Bridget McDonald for sharing her beautiful photography.
Made With Love
I wore three dresses on my wedding day – extra extravagant, I know. My main bridal gown was Lily, from by Made with Love Bridal
Made With Love and I purchased it from Lovely Bride in San Francisco. I was tight on time to find the dress since we made last minute changes to our wedding date, and I was thankful to have found my dress the first weekend I began looking.
Overall the experience was easy, simple and enjoyable. I wanted my main gown to be very classy and elegant, with elements of sexiness and contour.
I wore a heart shaped necklace with turquoise stones that my parents gifted me on my 12th birthday (it was also the year my parents passed).
I did wear a veil, which I also got from Made With Love online. I fell in love with the veil I wore because it was simple and had a piece that covered my face. It was very moody, which was perfect for the day since it was a little rainy outside and cloudy. Ben and I also last minute changed our ceremony location due to the weather from La Playa’s outside courtyard to inside a church. So I felt the veil also embodied the church feels.
I had an all white bouquet with calla lilies, white roses, white sweet peas and white orchids, from Wind Acre Farms.
We went with a cinnamon/desert rose pink for the bridesmaids, and the floral arrangements. The bridesmaids were able to choose their own dresses and variations of the colour, and I rented fur jackets to match considering the wedding was in winter.
Ben and I fell in love with La Playa Hotel when we discovered it together on our weekend walk. We are both from the area, Ben from Big Sur and myself from Carmel, but somehow this was both of our first times to La Playa. We loved the charm and quintessential essence of Carmel that La Playa emitted, and for me it was love at first site.
The Ceremony
My oldest brother, Chris, walked me down the aisle. Both my father and mother passed when I was younger, and I knew it would be hard to not have my father by my side on my wedding day. But I couldn’t have asked a better person to take his place. I have four brothers, so having my oldest brother walk me down the aisle was beyond perfect.
Neither of us are religious, but I did grow up in a Christian home. When we were planning our wedding, we hadn’t originally chosen a church for our ceremony, but at the last minute, we had to change our plans because of incoming rain. That’s how we ended up getting married at a local church.
I truly believe my parents brought the rain so that we would say our vows there—it was their wish all along. In the end, it turned out to be one of the most beautiful, spiritual, and magical parts of the day. Even though a church ceremony wasn’t our first choice, it was exactly what was meant to happen.We wrote our own vows to bring that personalized and intimate touch to ourr wedding ceremony.
We had two readings – the Apache Wedding Blessing, and On Marriage by Khalil Gibran. We chose these readings because they signified unity and love. We also found these readings to signify what marriage and commitment mean to us, and the life that we want to create together as onThe ceremony in the church that was beyond spiritual and intimate, and really tied the whole feel of the wedding together.
How They Met
Ben and I first met in history class at Carmel Middle School. We weren’t really friends back then, but we knew of each other. When it came time for high school, I went to Stevenson in Pebble Beach, and Ben went to Carmel High. It wasn’t until the end of high school that our paths really started to cross—our best friends started dating, which brought our friend groups together. To this day, about 15 years later, those same friends are still incredibly close.
Throughout college and our 20s, Ben and I would see each other during the holidays or summers when we were back home, always as friends. But when Covid hit, things changed. Ben moved home to Big Sur from San Francisco, and I was living in Portland at the time.
I eventually decided to move back home too, and during my visits, we started spending more time together. What began as friendship quickly turned into something more, and by the end of 2020, we were officially dating. Not long after, I moved in with Ben in Carmel, and the rest is history. We dated for two years before getting engaged and spent another year planning our wedding.
Ben proposed right after Thanksgiving. At the time, we were living in San Francisco, and that morning, we took our dog, Stevie, for a walk to our local beach. My aunt Tricia—my mom’s sister—was visiting to help take care of Stevie while we had been away for the holiday. While we were on the beach, I noticed a ladybug. Ladybugs have always reminded me of my mom, who passed away when I was young. I gently carried it to a nearby bush, feeling a quiet sense of connection to her in that moment.
Just minutes later, Ben asked Tricia to get out her camera, and before I knew it, he was down on one knee. With Stevie happily digging in the sand behind us, Tricia captured the entire proposal in photos. It wasn’t planned, but it was absolutely perfect. And in that moment, I truly felt my mom was there with me, too.
The Reception
Our rentals were from Chic Event Rentals. We incorporated tons of disco balls as an installation for their reception, and a checkered dance floor. Laurel loves pink so the flower arrangements were pink color variations sprinkled with white and greenery. Laurel’s cousin also did light installations to bring to life each detail of the wedding reception.
I had a friend design a map of Carmel that was included in a welcome gift box for each of their guests. In the box also included a personalised candle.
The beauty of the reception to all the details that came together from the disco ball installation and checkered floor, to the tabletops that were highlighted perfectly with individual uplighting, to the DJ and his fun, dance vibes and keeping the party alive.
My second dress was a last minute purchase from Revolve, and was the cheapest of them all, yet it somehow was the crowd favourite. I was worried my main bridal gown would be too heavy for a full day, and my intuition was right as it kept slipping. It was nice to have something light to slip into for the reception and first dance, and it still embodied the elements of my first dress.
Evening & Dancing
My third and final dress I had designed and made by Ericka Engelman, a local seamstress. Ben and I both love music and dancing, so I wanted a dress that was very fun, sparkly, and fun to dance in. I loved the process of having a dress designed and made just for my body, and seeing it come to life on my wedding night.
Ben and I danced to Fire For You, by Cannons. We didn’t want music that was typical “wedding” music and that was true for the song we danced to. We first fell in love with this song when it was the main song for a show we watched together, Never Have I Ever. Months later after we watched the show we were at Coachella and stumbled upon Cannons unexpectedly.
We just heard them in the distance and thought it would be fun to check them out. Low and behold the last song they played was Fire For You, and we were both so excited. We felt this song embodied our love for music, our personalities, and how we feel about each other. The song was also so fun to dance to and we felt our guests were vibing to it too during the dance.
The afterparty was at a local bar called Barmel, and it was just a great way to continue the wedding celebrating into the wee hours of the night.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
Hire a wedding planner! Honestly it is the best investment you can make for your wedding.
The whole weekend was completely stress free and we felt 100% taken care of because of our incredible wedding planner, Kate Ford at Pocketful of Plans, and her team.
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