Rachael + Aniel by Aly Tovar Photography

Our vision and overall aesthetic was to incorporate earthy and wabi sabi elements.

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

Bride: I’m Rachael, a wedding planner since 2016 (who finally got married herself!), based in southern CA, but also plans destinations weddings.

Groom: I’m Aniel, a general dentist based in Los Angeles, CA.

As much as we both love and are fully involved with our careers, when we’re not working and actually have time oﬀ, we enjoy traveling the world, whether it’s just us two or with our group of friends. We also love capturing film photography, watching live sports games (Padres and Chargers fans over here!), and being at home with our 8 year old pug named Katsu.

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

We are both born & raised in San Diego, CA, and ironically grew up in the same neighborhood in Paradise Hills. We formally met during college through mutual friends and usually saw each other at parties or outings with our group of friends from time to time. A special memory of ours that was the pivotal moment of how we first started dating was that Aniel (who was my friend at the time) stopped an entire party just to find my late mother’s bracelet that I had dropped. He indeed found it, which was when all our friends knew he was the one!

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

Our vision and overall aesthetic was to incorporate earthy and wabi sabi elements in a space that has old-world charm. Our original wedding plans were for us to get married in Europe, but we didn’t want to make it hard on our guests to travel outside the country. So we pivoted and thought about how we can bring elements from Europe to California. Fortunately, our venue, Serra Plaza in San Juan Capistrano, CA, had all the elements we were looking for in a space, especially the olive trees surrounding the entire courtyard. We were able to add touches of organic, earthy, sculptural florals that embody what you typically see in outdoor nature (such as Mexican feather grass and moss) & tie in cohesively with our venue’s built-in olive trees, adobe-style walls, arches, and Spanish architecture. We also incorporated objects with old souls, such as antique Turkish pots and wooden pedestals, down to sourcing cotton paper for our stationery items, such as our dinner menus & name cards for added texture that felt romantic. Our favorite color and overall wedding color palette was brown, so it was easy to incorporate shades of brown, whether that was through our chocolate brown groomsmen suits or walnut wood bentwood chairs.

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).

One thing we wanted to have was a circle-style ceremony. On wedding day, after I walked down the aisle and got in the middle of the circle with Aniel and our Oﬃciant, the feeling of being surrounded by our closest family and friends truly felt warm, safe, and intimate. What was also the cherry on top of our circle style ceremony was that it was outdoors in the courtyard with massive olive trees above us. We added nature-inspired ground floral arrangements to help shape and enclose our circle style ceremony, which allowed for such a beautiful, scenic set- up. We also wanted our ceremony to smell good, so we had our wedding planner spray our signature cologne scent all throughout the courtyard that we both used for ourselves when getting ready — Jo Malone, Sage & Sea salt. Another element that we wanted to bring to life was adding a brown carpet in the entryway to Serra Plaza. So when our guests arrived in their formal black tie (all black color-coded) attire, the first thing they would see and walk on to get to the ceremony is our brown 30-foot-long carpet. Our vision & overall concept for this was as if our guests were VIPs walking down a red carpet and then seeing our beautiful ceremony set-up afterward & all the details in between.

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

Being able to collaborate with my husband in ways that honored our relationship made this whole experience enjoyable and super fun. Hearing his ideas and getting his honest input on certain things was a diﬀerent side I got to see in him that made wedding planning that much more exciting. His eﬀorts were also a great balance considering being a bride (who is also a wedding planner) was a whole new experience for me. It was definitely the reassurance every bride needs! For couples starting their wedding planning journey, give yourself (and your partner) the grace and patience when planning your wedding, and remember that although it can feel like a never-ending journey with countless to-dos, it’s all worth being able to celebrate your love.

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

We loved every single one of our vendors — there’s a reason why we hired them! Each vendor of ours listened to our non-traditional ideas, delivered with confidence, and exceeded our expectations. For example, one of the things we did for our wedding was that we opted not to do a first look and share private vows or exchange vows at the ceremony. Instead, we heard each other’s pre-recorded vows during our Same Day Edit, which was played for the first time in front of all our guests at the reception. It was such a special moment watching this live together, surrounded by our favorite people. Alexa from Alexa Jewel Films single-handedly took this request on with grace and put together a Same Day Edit to share at our reception, and for that, we’re so grateful. We look back at all our wedding content and can’t believe that this is how OUR special day turned out, all thanks to our vendors!

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

Rachael – My wedding reception outfit was specifically unique because I got it custom-made when Aniel and I took a month-long vacation in Asia. We spent one week in Vietnam and specifically visited the city of Hoi An because this place is known as the capital of tailoring. I knew I wanted to get a custom-made dress for my wedding because the style I envisioned is something I couldn’t find back home, and I stumbled upon Lana Tailor Shop. The entire process for my 2-piece wedding reception outfit only took 3 days — from getting to choose my own fabric, to getting my measurements taken, and being able to witness the staﬀ at Lana Tailor Shop sew together everything so eﬀortlessly at their warehouse was such a beautiful and sentimental experience.

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

Our wedding & my engagement ring symbolizes our style as a couple — minimalist, modern, sleek, simplicity, but with intention. This was also the approach we wanted to go for our overall wedding design. I opted for an oval diamond engagement ring with a thin band, an eternity wedding band, and Aniel opted for a beveled edge band, all from Brilliant Earth. We feel like these designs we opted for, we’ll never get tired of because it’s true to our overall taste and styles.

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?).

Florals were a must for our wedding. It was the one decor element that I felt I could “story tell” our relationship through — modern, edgy, earthy designs & color choices. Another thing that was important to us was our music selections. Aniel and I are both known to love early 2000s hip hop & R&B songs in general, which often times our friends say, “Oh, this is such an Aniel & Rachael song.” We wanted our guests to see & think similarly, like “oh this is definitely Aniel & Rachael” throughout our wedding day, so we intentionally chose specific songs that our loved ones correlate us to.

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

There are so many moments to look back on that I sometimes catch myself still trying to process my wedding day because of how fast it all went by, but if I were to choose one, it would be that Aniel got a custom-made grill of my initials “RB” that he wore with his 2nd suit for recep?on. Not only was it a fashion statement, but it also correlates to his love for dentistry. Another element that embarks our personalities and individuality.