Madison + Jeff by Ali Beck - Together Journal

Think secret garden meets summer soiree.

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

Hi there – excited to meet you! My name is Madison, and I’m a 30-year-old interior design-obsessed, sunshine-chasing, bookworm. I’m living my dream life with my husband, Jeffrey, and our 2 Pomsky pups – Kuma and Kai – in our bungalow home in Venice Beach, California. Jeff is a music-loving, adventure-junkie, creative who perfectly complements my reflective introversion and love of comfort with his bold extroversion and desire to always be trying something new. We fill our days enjoying long walks outside, hosting late nights by the firepit with our friends-turned-family, or snuggling up on our couch to watch movies or play games with popcorn and a good bottle of Zinfandel! We’re both engineers by trade and are so fortunate to have built careers that allow us to balance our technical backgrounds with more creative applications. We’ve both found our successes in the tech space – I’m a Product Manager for Uber Eats, and Jeff is a Hardware Product Designer at Meta.

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

Jeffrey and I met in a way we’re sure so many other young lovers find their soulmate… after being paired together for a scavenger hunt on day 1 of an internship 😉 Flashback 10 years ago, we were both in college and had accepted 6-month jobs at Hasbro in Rhode Island – the beloved kids’ toys & games company (Monopoly, anyone?). I was coming from Boston, and Jeff from New York, so we were transplants in a brand new state and city and didn’t know anyone. Now we can’t say it was love at first sight while we were searching for Mr. Potato Head… but it was an instant friendship. Jeff had plans to host the big group of interns and make sure the Summer kicked off strong. I do remember being struck by Jeff’s generous, compassionate, and magnetic personality. Jeff says I stood out for being confident, put together and well dressed– an “adult” among the childish interns. From that initial friendship, our attraction quickly built until we became truly inseparable. We made the most beautiful memories during those 6 months, from weekend trips to the gorgeous beaches of Newport to strolls along the Providence river to our favourite date night tradition of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream on the famous Thayer Street.

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

When we got engaged, we had plans to leave the Bay Area for Los Angeles. We realised that our wedding would evolve to become a farewell to SF, bringing together all of our amazing friends and family to the place where we built up our relationship. When you’re getting married in the heart of California’s wine country surrounded by lush vineyards, it’s only natural to take inspiration from your surroundings. October in Sonoma is an especially beautiful time of the year, with the final feelings of summer lingering in the warm sunshine pouring over the hills, the gorgeous greenery, and fragrant flowers at every turn. With a backdrop as stunning as our venue at Cornerstone, we wanted to complement rather than overpower, bringing in thoughtful elements of fun and whimsy, while still keeping the vibe elevated and refined. Think secret garden meets summer soiree. We leaned into the organic beauty surrounding us by opting for dusty sage colours for the bridal party and hues of light blues and purples for pops of colour in our florals. We used natural rattan elements for warmth and to keep a cohesive styling and tie in throughout the event, with beautiful rattan chairs for the ceremony and dinner, accent pieces like our rattan room divider turned seating chart, rattan picture frames for our custom bar menus, and rattan blanket baskets by the fire pits. It was really important to us that we incorporated personal touches throughout the design – we loved that our guests were greeted with handmade newspapers detailing the schedule, our special people in the wedding party, and a heartfelt thank you to everyone for travelling from near and far to celebrate with us. We also had custom ”Drinks on us” cocktail napkins printed with our dogs Kuma and Kai’s faces and names, a selfie mirror feature with a custom printed message for our guests, and personalised matchboxes and menus for each of our guests.

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).

When we first saw our venue, we both immediately fell in love. The tall hedges, winding pathways around the property and art installations made it feel like you were exploring a sprawling estate, never knowing what to expect around the next turn. What was really special is that we had three distinct areas for different parts of the celebration so we were able to surprise and delight our guests as the night went on – from the ceremony by the Lily Pond Lawn to dinner under the twinkling lights of the circular Dining Garden Tent to dancing and drinks in the upscale Garden Barn. We love how our florals accented our outdoor spaces and are so glad we invested in a few larger, grounded floral statement arrangements – they made all the difference as the focal point for our ceremony, the star of our selfie mirror station, and framing our head table for dinner. Outside of florals, with both of us being design-minded and detail-oriented, we invested a lot into finding the right rentals and creating an amazing atmosphere for our cocktail hour and dancing. We set up two lounge areas with velvety soft couches and boucle chairs, stone and marble coffee tables, and fun accent pillows. And completely upleveled what could have otherwise been a rustic feeling barn to instead be a cozy, dancy party lounge with oversized disco ball ceiling installation, accent decor throughout, and an on-demand espresso and coffee bar cart.

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

Above all else, we wanted our wedding to truly be a representation of us as a couple – that our guests would have fun and feel like we were their super hosts for a weekend of magic and memories. Don’t lose sight of what truly matters to YOU, no matter what the latest trends or norms tell you. Weddings are expensive, so be prepared – do your research and prioritise what’s most important… we like to ask ourselves “what will we and our guests actually remember a year from now?”. They probably won’t remember the $20 plate chargers you upgraded to or the premium champagne upgrade for your toast – but they will absolutely remember the fun photos they took at the photo booth you hired and the late night espresso that gave them the energy to stay on the dance floor until the very last song. Last tip – don’t be afraid of a little DIY! Of course, know yourself and your limits – I would never take on doing my own florals or hair and makeup… but designing signage and favours on Canva and Etsy? Sign me up! Not only did I find ways to save so that we could invest more into other areas of our budget, but I had so much fun doing it!

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

Each and every one of our vendors made our day so magical, and we still have so much gratitude to them all. Our photographer, Aleah from Ali Beck photography, was the sweetest and warmest presence we could have hoped for. Not only did she make it feel so natural for us to be in front of the camera, but she captured EVERY SINGLE candid moment – without us ever even noticing she was there. Same thanks go to our wonderful videographer, Priscilla, from Oil and Wine – between her cool and calm demeanour and her gorgeous craft in storytelling, our videos will be cherished forever. Another standout vendor was our florist, Becca of Sunrose Florals. I couldn’t name a single type of flower I wanted at our wedding – but Becca was able to take all my visual inspiration and my obscure ask for “wispy but not boho” and turn it into the florals of our dreams. My hair and makeup artists – Sam of Makeup by Samantha Keefauver and Missy of Willow and Gold – were the best duo to make me feel like my most beautiful self for the big day. When I say my makeup looked just as flawless 10 hours later after dancing like crazy, I mean it – magic! Finally, we couldn’t have done it without our wedding planner, Sonia from Under the Vine Events, who made sure every little detail all came together perfectly for our big day. From coordinating across all of our vendors (and we sure had a lot of them), to meticulously executing all the design details day of, to going above and beyond in handling clean up and tear down so we could enjoy our after party – she was there for us with a reassuring smile and “of course, I got it”.

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

If you had asked me the year before what we would be wearing at our wedding, I don’t think I would have described anything like either my dress or Jeffrey’s tuxedo. I had always pictured myself in a simple and modern white dress – and would have said it absolutely would have NO sparkle or beading or detail. And next to me would be Jeff in a sleek all black tux. Fast forward to our wedding, and I was in a strapless dress with an intricate lace and sequin bodice and side panels, next to Jeff in a brown tuxedo jacket. As our wedding vision evolved and I could picture more of what our summer garden wedding in wine country would be, the moment I tried on my Pronovias Novak mermaid gown, it just felt right… and it helped that my mom and sister both immediately started crying. I shockingly loved a dress with details, and I could just picture myself walking down the aisle to meet my husband, sitting at the head table under the dining tent, and twirling under the disco ball in the barn. After I found my dress, I just knew we needed to find something unique for Jeffrey. When you randomly stumble upon the very last unit of an otherwise entirely sold out and discontinued lightweight summer linen tuxedo jacket, and it just so happens to be your fiancé’s size, AND checks your boxes for being a gorgeous, unique colour and texture… It’s simply meant to be.

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

Jeffrey did such a phenomenal job with my engagement ring, and it definitely set the stage for our wedding rings. He sourced a near-perfect old European cut diamond from the 1930s and then custom-designed the entire ring with a previously-Tiffany jeweller. The 18k gold band is slightly tapered, with a contrasting platinum six-prong setting that holds the gorgeous diamond – it is simple yet detailed, modern yet timeless. The platinum setting complements the diamond, and its subtle detail hides in plain sight. I paired it with an 18k gold wedding band with 11 micro diamonds in a V-shape to complement and hug my engagement ring. Jeff opted for an 18k gold brushed band with a single diamond accent on the underside to tie into my ring. We both got our wedding bands from local jewellers in San Francisco at the Love & Luxe shop.

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?).

Photos and videos are the most vivid and tangible way to relive the magic of your wedding day over and over, and we are so glad that was an area we really invested in. It’s not often you get all of the most important people in your life in one place, dressed to the nines, smiling, laughing, and dancing their hearts out. Having those moments captured so beautifully is something we will cherish forever. We also hired a content creator – Ashley with The BTS Bride – to capture iPhone video and photo content, which was delivered to us 2 days after the wedding. It was so nice to feel like our whole wedding party could be truly present and device-free, but still have all the content we could want as a sneak peek well before the professional photos and videos were ready.

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

After our ceremony, we joined our guests at the cocktail hour where we got to quickly say hello and thank you to all of our favourite people before we snuck away to take our golden hour portraits and soak in finally being officially married. The sun was starting to dip low over the hills in the distance, the golden light was bathing everything in a beautiful glow, and the breeze was carrying my veil behind me as my husband held me close. I remember looking out over the scene of all our friends and family together, our pups playing in the grass nearby, and all the details and hard work we had put into planning this celebration just coming together in absolute perfection – I felt this indescribable happiness in that moment and I swear my heart expanded; cementing my love for Jeffrey and the beautiful life ahead of us. Jeff’s favourite moments were our private moment after the ceremony before we stepped out to greet our guests as husband and wife, improvising a subtle mistake in our first dance, and him tossing our pup Kuma in the air to let everyone know it was time to party.