Genevieve + Coleman by Joséphine N Manet Photography

We wanted it to feel bright, playful, colourful, happy, and fun.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

We live in sunny Santa Monica, California, a few blocks from the beach. I’m a graphic designer working in Entertainment and specialising in product design—I also moonlight in the wedding stationery world. Coleman is a software developer and co-founder of a digital pathology company. We both love drinking Fernet at dive bars, hanging with our two orange cats, doing word puzzles, and yelling at the TV during football games.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

We met in the summer of 2017, the good old-fashioned way—on the apps. We were both living in Baltimore at the time, my hometown, as I was going to grad school at MICA, and Coleman was getting his company oﬀ the ground. We had a marathon first date of looking at art, eating Mexican food, and drinking drinks, and both knew that our fates were sealed!

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood and style of your wedding. (theme, key styling elements, florals, colour palettes etc.).

We wanted it to feel bright, playful, colourful, happy, and fun—like a big summer dinner party full of laughter rather than a wedding. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, and both bristled at the thought of a super traditional wedding that felt more elegant and serious—beautiful, but just not us! We wanted to optimise the party vibes, so we opted for a less traditional order of events: we had our cocktail hour first and welcomed in all of our guests, then did a very quick ceremony—including a lottery to select witnesses—while people were seated for dinner. Irwin’s at the Bok Building was the perfect backdrop, with a fabulous golden hour Sicilian dinner and an incredible, eclectic, design-forward interior. It was perfectly us, taking the traditional trimmings of a wedding that felt meaningful while putting our own funky spin on things.

What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee, etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).

Following in the rooftop summer party vibes, we wanted to maximise colour and the season. As a graphic designer, all of the paper goods were especially important, and so I designed the suite and day-of goods to be a colour explosion with motifs of tomatoes and moths in celebration of late summer.

Overall, we leaned into bright oranges, yellows, reds, and greens with fresh produce and local florals in the arrangements. Our florist, Caroline Florals, absolutely knocked it out of the park. We told her we wanted everything to feel very fresh from the garden, wild and homegrown, and she delivered! Our guests ended up snacking on some of the tomatoes on the table, and everything was donated to the Bok Building’s Community Fridge after the event.

What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

Throughout planning, we honed in on a few key words—unfussy, playful, vibrant, funky—and made sure that every decision we made, from superficial things like decor to the actual structure of the event, aligned with these words. It was a helpful exercise that kept us on track to have an event that really captured us. We loved having an event that made guests say, “That’s so you guys!” It didn’t feel like we were putting on any airs or trying to be something we weren’t, and it made both planning and the actual day feel so natural.

Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?

Having a smaller wedding, we didn’t have a ton of vendors, and so their presence and excellence were that much more special! All of the staﬀ at our incredible venue, Irwin’s, made the night so dreamy. We had many guests telling us it was the best food they’ve ever had at a wedding, and the whole vibe felt like having a meal at a friend’s (very cool) rooftop. Our photographer, Joséphine, is not only so talented and captured the day impeccably, but also a wonderful person who put us at ease and was like our fun sidekick all day. We already mentioned Caroline, but she truly captured our vision for the florals and was a dream to work with. And our DJ, Wes of Domino Dancing DJ Co, is incredible—so professional, managing our unorthodox timeline perfectly, and a total blast, keeping the most killer dance floor going all night. We were so lucky to have vendors who innately understood our vibe and made the day so easy and fun!

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, and is there a story?

I had seen Sasha by Daniella Frankel sometime before getting engaged, and when dress shopping, it remained my North Star—nothing else compared! I was able to try it on at LOHO in LA, and it was a done deal. I complemented it with a back necklace from AB Ellie, emerald and pearl earrings that I made myself, and satin t-strap pumps from Jeﬀrey Campbell. Coleman wanted a green-toned suit to complement his colouring (and the palette of the event), and ended up with a wool/silk/ cashmere blend from Enzo Custom. He wore a watch that I gifted him for his 30th birthday and classic Allen Edmonds.

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

I’ve always wanted an emerald ring—can you tell yet I’m not big on neutrals?—and we went shopping together at Sofia Kaman, local to us in Santa Monica. They totally got my vision and worked with Coleman to finalise the design. They ended up reserving a gorgeous emerald that I tried on in a diﬀerent ring, and I love how it popped with my gown, marigold bouquet, and red nails! For our bands, we went with very simple, masculine gold bands, also from Sofia Kaman.

What were one or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).

The venue and the food were not only important to us personally, but also set the stage for all of our key words for the big day. We wanted a place that felt laid-back and unique, and after inquiring with venues in a bunch of diﬀerent cities across the US, we knew that Irwin’s would have that vibe plus incredible food and beverage. The team there—special shoutout to Caitlin, their amazing event coordinator—puts so much love and warmth into the food and space while also having impeccable service. I also splurged on the actual production of our paper goods: die-cut tomatoes, Letterpress cards, envelope liners, vintage stamps, you name it. This was like my Super Bowl as a designer, and I wanted to fully realise all of the details of what I made!

Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?

We did our cocktail hour first as a way to welcome everyone to the event and kick oﬀ the party. We had expected people to trickle in around 6ish, but little did we know, all of our guests had been enjoying the Philly skyline views at Bok Bar just across the hall. When the doors opened at 6, we saw all of our friends and family at once, cheering in the doorway. It was such an overwhelmingly joyful moment, and I felt sort of like walking into your own surprise party! We ended up doing an impromptu receiving line and personally greeted each of our guests with a hug (drinks in hand!), perfectly setting the tone for the night.