A colorful, floral filled wedding at Rolling Greens on digital & 35mm film. Isabel and Alex got married at Rolling Greens, a beautiful green oasis right in the heart of the city. It’s the best of both worlds, getting married in bustling DTLA in a venue space that is filled with funky plant life and dark industrial edges.
Some words from the couple:
What were some inspirations for your wedding?
We really wanted our wedding to be representative of the life that we’ve consciously created together, and were vowing to continue to create until the end of time. For us, that meant just throwing a really lively, inclusive party where our guests had a lot of space to mingle and dance and enjoy themselves. We made sure the food, the drinks and the playlists were top tier, and let the immaculate vibe of Rolling Greens DTLA speak for itself.
What are some adjectives that describe your wedding decorations and style?
Vintage, dramatic and artistic. These were the words that our amazing florist, Rachel of Dogwood Florals, used to describe our flowers after our first initial meeting and they became the guiding lights for the overall aesthetic of our event. Rolling Greens DTLA itself embodies these characteristics, with it’s interesting mix of organic, funky plant life and darker grey and black industrial edges. So it really became about hunting through local thrift stores to find those perfect, quirky decorations — like gold frames for our signage and mis-matched grey plant pots for our seating chart — to bring the vision together. We chose gold-rimmed plates and gold flatware to bring a bright element to everything. And of course our fashion choices were similarly on theme. Alex’s turquoise suit was custom made by Pocket Square Clothing in DTLA, and Isabel got her Markarian ceremony dress from Loho Bride in WeHo. Her second look was a vintage Jessica Mcclintock 80’s dress that she scored for 90 bucks off Etsy, expertly tailored by Lara at Folklore Dress Studio.
What did you love about your day/location/venue?
We can’t say enough amazing things about having our wedding at Rolling Greens DTLA. Our wedding was a chance for a lot of our family and friends to visit us in Los Angeles for the first time, so choosing a quintessential LA venue was really important to us. Rolling Greens DTLA is so expansive and open, with clusters of succulents and other desert plants expertly grown throughout. It was the perfect place to show off exactly what we love about LA…I mean, where else can you host an outdoor wedding reception in October?! Plus, it came with a pizza oven! It was a little daunting to have to coordinate so many rentals to fill out the large space, but we were really fortunate that our amazing planner, Allie of Pop the Champagne Events, was an absolute pro and made the whole process seamless.
Where there any important cultural traditions that you incorporated that felt really meaningful to you?
We included the glass-breaking ritual that’s customary for Jewish wedding ceremonies. But we tweaked it so that both of us could stomp on the glass — something that Isabel’s moms, Paz and Carin, had done at their own wedding.
Anything nontraditional you incorporated into the day that made the celebration more unique to you?
Off the genius recommendation of Nate from The Shalom Imaginative, we rented a large space at the Hoxton DTLA to get ready together, along with all 18 of our bridespeople and groomspeople, plus immediate family and a few selected friends. In total, I think there were about 35 of us lounging and laughing and sipping on espresso martinis leading up to the ceremony. As a thank you for being a part of our special day, we thrifted fun shirts for everyone in our bridal and grooms parties to wear, so it almost felt like a big, silly slumber party. Being surrounded by all of our favorite people helped us start the day off relaxed and excited and so, so loved. And even though we hung out with each other for most of the morning, we were still able to do a mini-first look moment!
Best decision during wedding planning?
To just let ourselves not care about the things we didn’t care about! We didn’t want speeches, or a photo booth, or printed out programs or menus or a cake-cutting. Instead of searching for subconscious meanings or trying to alter our preferences to be more traditional, we just accepted that we didn’t want those things and moved on. Wedding planning is an emotional process as is, there’s no need to heap self-judgment and shame onto yourselves on top of everything else you’re feeling. We also just really trusted our gut feelings during the entire process, and that always led to something beautiful. Alex immediately knew that a wedding at Rolling gGreens DTLA was *it* from the second we toured; Isabel intuited that The Shalom Imaginative would capture our day exactly the way we wanted just from their instagram feed. And we were both right!
Something you would do differently if you had to do it over?
We were really fortunate to plan a wedding at the same time as a bunch of our best friends, so we had a seemingly endless supply of tips, tricks, advice and support leading up to our day. We felt quite prepared and like we were able to avoid a lot of common mistakes. The easy answer is of course “Spend less money” but on the whole we feel like we did a good job thrifting and DIY-ing for cheap where we could. Big weddings are unfortunately just expensive to throw, especially in a city like Los Angeles, and our mentality was just like, “We’re only doing this once so we may as well go all out!” and we’re happy we did!
Most memorable part of the day?
Alex’s 4 cousins performing our first dance song (“Forever and For Always” by Shania Twain) live was a really special moment. Tearing up the dance floor with all of our favorite people in the whole world was another highlight. (huge shout out to DJ Kai of Second Song LA!)
Photographed by Vanessa on both film & digital.
VENDOR CREDIT:
Wedding planner & designer: Allie Shane of Pop the Champagne Events // Venue: Rolling Greens DTLA // Photographer: The Shalom Imaginative // Floral design: Rachel Williams of Dogwood Florals // Glam team:
Emily Lynn + Co. // Gown Designer: Loho bride // Suit Designer: Pocket square clothing // Short veil + bow for bride’s 2nd look: Nastygal // Bride’s ceremony shoes: Sophia Webster // Bride’s reception shoes: vintage Prada // Groom’s shoes: Cole Haan // Catering + Desserts: Schaffer la // Rentals:
La pinata party rentals + stephanie’s linens // Paper goods/signage designer:
Invitations by bride and groom’s friend Topher Hendricks; wedding signage by bride and groom’s friend Sshley Pawlak // Frames, plant pots, and other decor thrifted by bride and groom // Music/dj: Dj kai // Officiant/celebrant:
Bride and groom’s friend Alex Merenda // Bridal tailoring by Lara Prawat of Folklore Dress Studio
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