It was really important to Karli and Todd that their wedding felt personal—that it be a total blast celebrating their love and families. So, they enlisted the help of Grey Collective member, and wedding-planner-extraordinaire, Bustle Events to plan and design an absolutely gorgeous day filled with love and a punchy modern vibe. The details are fun and fresh from the pink-hued florals everywhere, to the custom dance floor lettering to the geometric paper gem chandelier. We love it all and know you will too, especially in photos and amazing as these by the talented Heather Kincaid!
What made the wedding special and unique?
It was really important to me that our wedding felt personal, and not so cookie cutter or traditional, and I think that really came through in our unique style and all the personal details. More importantly though, my main desires for the wedding were that it would be a total blast (for us and our guests), and that we wouldn’t lose sight of what the day was about: love, family, and starting our lives together. I think that mindset really helped my husband and I and our families stay aligned, and allowed us to really enjoy the process while not getting caught up in the little things too much. Of course we wanted it to look awesome and beautiful, but that was not more important than the simple fact that we were getting married. Also, when the weekend came, I was done. Thank goodness we had a planner I would trust with my life, but even if we didn’t, what was done was done and we were going to enjoy every second of our wedding. If things went wrong, then they went wrong, but we were still getting married and that was SO exciting. We had so many people tell us after the wedding that it was the best they had ever been to, and I think it had to do with the relaxed vibe we set, through decor, and through attitude.
Tell us about the gown and where/how you found it!
When I first started dress shopping I had it in my head not to try on too many dresses. I also went into it completely blind, I didn’t want some specific idea or dress in my head and then not be able to find it, or even worse, be closed off to other amazing dresses I may encounter, so I decided to just be open minded. I went to a 4 different places with my mom and sister over a few months, and thought I had found the dress. It was very simple and had a gorgeous back, but I could tell my family wasn’t that amused, so my mom made a last minute appointment at Panache Bridal in Beverly Hills while we were down the street at another shop, and we raced over. It’s funny, because I was previously adamant about not going there as I thought it just wasn’t my style from having looked in the window. They had me pick out 10 dresses and on my way back to the dressing room I grabbed an 11th, which happened to be the dress I chose. It was just such a cool dress, so different, a little sexy but still sweet and tasteful, and had pockets! I felt amazing in it, and knew I’d never find a prettier or more awesome dress. A few minutes later I said yes to the dress and cried like a little baby. Then my mom, sister, and I went out for caviar and Bloody Marys to celebrate. My dress was by Inbal Dror, an Israeli designer.
What were some touches added to make the wedding personal?
Some examples of the personal touches: Our welcome bags had a mix of Todd’s and my favorite snacks as well as my mom’s homemade banana chocolate chip bread, a personal note from Todd and I, and some flash tattoos to really set the mood for the weekend: mood being fun and unpretentious. My dad and brother and I built our Chuppah together and kept it for my sister and brother to use in the future. My mom did a lot of little cute DIY projects to surprise us: She made the raddest gold cocktail stirrers, with little pigs on top. I’m a total pig lover and everyone knows it, so it was such a cute and thoughtful touch. She also made a ring pillow carrier for the ring bearer out of a Jonathan Adler “S” pillow (S for Snyder). We had registered for this pillow too so it was also a gift to us. My husband surprised me with a 1 minute video during dinner and speeches: a compilation of all the videos he’s taken of me dancing over the years and not knowing he was filming. We decided to do a tequila shot toast instead of a champagne toast, because it’s more our style. We are not really champagne drinkers so a champagne toast seemed silly to us and too formal. We declined the champagne toast that was included in our package at the Parker, and asked them to bring in our favorite tequila instead. Also, the signage was a really good opportunity to add personal touches. We came up with our own sayings that fit us and our personalities rather than something cliche or copying something we’ve seen. Funny enough, “tushy” seemed to be a common word of the night, we are tushy people after all. We wanted people to be comfortable and really enjoy themselves and adding a touch of humor in our signs helped set the tone we wanted for the day. The seating chart said:”Park your tushies here” and our amazing wedding planner, Erin, surprised us with a dance floor decal that said “Dance your tushies off!” She knew we wanted our wedding to be a total blast and the best dance party ever so it was SO fitting. We loved it. We had a sign at the bar that said: “but first, tequila” as well as a little bottle of Casamigos at every place setting for our tequila toasts. I think what made it the most personal though (and this is nothing unique), was our vows. Not only was it meaningful for us to write our own vows for our own reasons, but we got a lot of comments afterwards from guests about how much they enjoyed hearing them and that it made them feel like they really knew us better and understood our love. It was overwhelming to hear that from so many people, and made us feel happy and loved.
What was the most memorable part of the day?
For me, my husband’s surprise video sticks out the most. (A little background, my husband travels for work and was out of town a lot of the time we were wedding planning, so my mom and I had a blast doing most things together.) He introduced the video with a little speech saying that I spent so much time planning our wedding and knew every little thing that was going to take place; well, almost everything. It was his way of contributing and put together a little video of the reasons why he loves me (it was mostly me dancing and not knowing he was filming). He had been planning the whole thing ahead of time with our planner, and it was such a fun interruption that I think our guests enjoyed too. He COMPLETELY pulled it off and surprised me. I love going back and watching a recording of it at our wedding, and hearing everyone’s laughs and reactions in the background. It was a really sweet moment that I’ll never forget. Another most special moment was our first look. For some reason we were both SO nervous while getting ready, and all those nerves went away once we saw each other. I highly recommend doing a first look for all brides!!
Tell us how you met and became engaged.
We met online back before Tinder was a thing, but soon found out that we lived just 4 blocks away from each other and even went to the same high school. We had a whole history of common friends and paths which was fun to figure out, and it was like we met and never looked back. After our first date we saw each other for the next 8 consecutive days and the rest is history. We got engaged July 2015, the day before my husband’s 30th birthday (and surprise party I had been planning for him for months). The fact that we were both trying to surprise each other 1 day apart (drove our friends and family crazy) I think helped us not notice the other person was planning something. That night, I thought I was meeting my husband at my parents’ house so they could take us to dinner for his birthday, but when I arrived no one was there but Todd. The whole backyard was lit up with lights and candles; that’s when I knew something was up. He had set up a little picnic with champagne and my favorite flowers, and proposed while my dad was hiding in the bushes taking pictures. It was so special, and he wanted it to be somewhere that was special to me. Afterwards when we walked back to the other side of the yard, EVERYONE was there: my family, his family (who I secretly planned to come into town for HIS surprise party the next day, but he thought HE secretly brought them into town) and all of our closest friends. We had a little engagement party that night and celebrated and it was the best night ever. I later found out my mom and 2 closest friends where there all day with Todd, helping him set up. I have really special people in my life. Also, in case you were wondering, I still pulled off his surprise party the next day! My cheeks hurt for like 4 days after too, from all the smiling.
Photography: Heather Kincaid // Planning & Design: Bustle Events // Floral: Siren Floral Co. // Invitations: Maude Press // Venue /Catering /Bar: Parker Palm Springs // Calligraphy: Miss Multee // Band: JB Project // Videographer: Shark Pig // Linens/ Napkins: La Tavola // Rentals/ Lighting: Classic Party Rentals // Paletas: Si Paletas