As soon as we saw Aldo + Sean’s handmade Ace Hotel wedding, we were totally smitten. And considering their day was brimming with teal, gold + raw wood details, succulents, bunting, piñatas, and balloons, can you even blame us?! These two decided they wanted their wedding to have a laid-back vibe – the feeling of hanging out in your backyard – and that a mid-morning ceremony, followed by a reception lunch would not only help them save on cost, but further achieve the fun, non-traditional vibe they were really going for. Definitely the kind of creativity we like to see! :)
From Aldo, Sean and I have been together for over 10 years. We missed our window of opportunity to marry back in ’08 when marriage was briefly allowed for gay couples in California; we just weren’t ready at that time. When our rights were taken away, it solidified our desire to become a married couple. Last summer, when Prop 8 and DOMA were overturned, we jumped at the chance to make it official! Who knew how long we had before our rights would be taken away again? We didn’t want to take any chances, so on the day of the ruling through tears proposed to each other and decided we wanted to do it sooner rather than later.
Big thanks to EP Love for the amazing photos + congratulations to Aldo + Sean on a beautiful day!
Aldo + Sean’s chihuahuas were their wedding party/bridesmaids (we knew we loved these guys!) + Aldo’s nieces acted as animal handlers during the ceremony! So much fun!
Our officiant was my best friend Nora, who lives in Madrid, Spain, and was too pregnant at the time to attend in person. This was certainly the first skyped ceremony we and our guests had ever heard of! Our ring bearers were our parents (Sean’s mother held the ring Sean would eventually give to me, and my father held the ring i would give to Sean).
- The impromptu mother/son dance between Sean and his mom, Ruth
- The speeches given by our friends Paul, Carlos and Fernando
- That it started to lightly sprinkle immediately after the recessional (thankfully it never turned into rain and it only lasted a few minutes); rain on your wedding day is good luck, right?
- A "surprise" performance by the fabulous Linda Gerard. only Sean and I knew she would be arriving, and it threw our guests into a frenzy when she interrupted lunch to belt out few songs!
Inflatable unicorns in the pool? Yes, please!
So much love for this amazing reception space! From the whimsical bunting, to the namesake balloons – to the camo runners topped with fun, found objects – we love that Aldo + Sean didn’t take themselves too seriously + crafted a day that perfectly suited the two of them!
It's true what they say about your wedding day going by so fast. Try to savor every moment of the day. Having a day-of coordinator really helped us be present, as we didn't have to worry about anything else but enjoying the day. And as we mentioned before, the Ace Hotel was our number one choice for venue, which were were able to afford because we chose to have a daytime ceremony and reception on a Friday. The venue was willing to cut a deal because they still had opportunity to rent out the space in the evening and it was on a day not typically reserved for a wedding.
photography: Roger of EP Love // venue name: Ace Hotel and Swim Club, Palm Springs, California // florals: Sean // cake: Simply Sweet Cakery // sean's suit: Moods of Norway // aldo's short suit: Trina Turk // balloons: Party*Lab
I absolutely love the idea of a morning wedding!
All of us at Ace are over the moon thrilled for you! Congratulations!!!
really nice!!
I look to this blog as my “go-to” for wedding inspiration. This wedding by far, had it all! I love the individual touches that you two included. Chihuahua tags, WHAT!!!!
Absolutely love the style of this wedding and you guys are adorable.
Love this so much! What a sweet couple!