Couture Bride Marries in Los Angeles
Wedding at Pasadena Princess
Richard & Sharmagh
A message from the bride
How did you meet? We met in high school (Richard's senior year and Sharmagh's junior year). Richard was the new kid at the school and Sharmagh invited him to her Sweet 16 birthday party beginning of the school year. Not knowing anybody at the school, Richard showed up at the birthday. At that time, neither of us knew that was the start of something so amazing and life changing.
Describe your experience with wedding planning : Funny moments ~ Being together as a couple for 13 years before being married, we had many firsts wedding planning. We saws sides of each other we had never seen before. The bride was calm as can be, while the groom became groomzilla and wanted things perfect to the T, and perfect is exactly how we saw it all come together in the end. All our vendors admired Richard for being so involved during this entire wedding planning process. They mentioned they've never seen a groom so detail driven and task orientated as he was. They all mentioned it was funny how it's usually the bride who plays this role, the bridezilla.
We truly believe that everything happens for a reason. The vendors we chose for the wedding all really held a special place in our hearts for many reasons and they all had a special meaning and reason for why we picked to go with them. We couldn't be happier and still talk about how we feel so blessed and lucky that everything went so perfectly for us that day. We're forever thankful and have made such great friends throughout this process. We would recommend them all to our closest friends and family and look forward to working with them again in the future.
To all the brides/grooms to be, our advice to you is to trust your gut and do what feels right for the both of you. You maybe told otherwise from everyone else, but that day is about you two and that's truly all that matters in the end. Do what makes you two happy.
Describe the moment he proposed: The proposal happened during a trip to Portland, Oregon as a ten year anniversary gift from Sharmagh to Richard. I was shocked and completely speechless when I saw Richard get down on one knee and popped the question on a trip I planned for him. He knows my love for waterfalls and took the opportunity to propose when we visited the tallest waterfall in Oregon, Multnomah Falls. Our plan before Richard proposed was to hike the scenic trail and reach the top of the waterfall.
My sister and her husband also joined us on our Portland trip, and this was nothing unusual as we travel all over the world together always. I feel lucky to say my brother in law is also a photographer who insisted we take pictures before hiking the trail, as he stated the lighting was good and we all still "looked good", haha! Somewhere in the middle of taking our pictures Richard started saying the sweetest things to me.
I was a little confused at first as to why he is talking to me while were trying to take pictures, but secretly loved that he was pouring his heart out to me. I got distracted from taking photos and was just listening to all he had to say. It still had not hit me what was about to happen. He held my hand and turned me towards him, kissed me, and got down on one knee. Suddenly, the world felt silent and all I can see was him. He asked me to marry him and no words were come out of my mouth. I remember smelling the freshness and feeling the breeze of the falls and not being able to speak, I was just nodding my head yes. He wanted to hear me answer his question out loud so he asked me to marry him twice. I was finally able to say "YES!!!".
Any more advice for future brides?: Make yourself a timeline of tasks and deadlines and really stick to your plan. There is nothing better than feeling on top of things and organized when it comes to wedding planning. The more organized you feel, the less stressful the planning process is which allows you to really enjoy it all.
Richard and I would go to the beach, park, etc. and finalize all wedding decisions with as little stress as possible. We definitely explored many options with all vendors before making any decisions and we couldn't be more happier with our choices. It is time consuming but very worth it! In the end, you know you did all your research and are at ease knowing you picked what is best for you.
Wedding Reception Design Theme: We wanted a warm/soft ambiance. We decided to have a simple and clean look that also looked elegant and timeless. We picked our color scheme to be white, creams, and nudes to create that look and trusted to leave the rest up to our vendors to make it all come to reality.
We did not want those colors alone to look dull, so we incorporated gold tones in our tables and chairs to have the perfect pop of bold color and bling!
What are your favorite moments of your wedding day?: Favorite moment ~ We both agree that our favorite moment of our wedding day was our first dance. It may seem like a stressful moment to many (making sure we got all our steps right and we're on beat), but it was the total opposite. After all the planning and anticipation leading up to this moment and a room filled with 400 guests, all we saw was each other.
When Rene, our photographer, sent us a photo of our first dance we were both blown away on how beautiful it looked and how neither of us realized we were floating on a cloud while dancing (the fog from the fog machine). We were so into each other that we forgot about everyone else.
Vendors
PHOTOGRAPHY: RENE ZADORI PHOTOGRAPHY
CINEMATOGRAPHY: RENE ZADORI PHOTOGRAPHY
FLORAL DESIGNER: PETALS LA
COORDINATOR: SIMPLY GLAMOROUS EVENTS
BRIDAL DRESS DESIGNER: KAROZA BRIDAL (CUSTOM MADE BY KARO, DESIGNED WITH BRIDE)
MAKEUP ARTIST: FACES BY ROB
HAIR STYLIST: MELO’S TOUCH
GROOM’S TUX: WILLIAM AND COMPANY
PORTRAIT SESSION LOCATION: PASADENA PRINCESS
RECEPTION VENUE: PALLADIO BANQUET HALL
RECEPTION RENTALS/DRAPING: PALLADIO BANQUET HALL
CAKE TABLE: RENTAL AVENUE
CAKE: CAKE STUDIO LA
RECEPTION ENTERTAINMENT: DJ JACK , AMIN SAXOPHONIST
STATIONERY: AP DESIGN