Often it’s your venue that becomes the inspiration for the rest of the day. As soon as Tawny + Irv stumbled across the Elysian in Silverlake, California they knew it was the perfect venue for them. They wanted a venue that had a city feeling without losing elements of why they love being outdoors so much. A former mold shop, the space has a great industrial feel with a greenhouse structure in the middle of a beautiful garden filled with bamboo, succulents and fruit trees. Elysian quickly became the inspiration for many of their details!
To help us make our wedding completely about the two of us, we decided early on that we didn’t want to do anything just because “you’re supposed to do that on your wedding day.” We nixed any traditions that didn’t hold any meaning to us and only did what would make us happy. Any details that were important to us we personalized. We covered a wall with frames filled with photographs and old keepsakes that were collected throughout our relationship. We hired a friend to illustrate us and then put those illustrations on drinking glasses that we gave out as favors. We built our own photo booth and gathered props that were meaningful to us as a couple or reminded us of our childhood. We pretty much planned a day filled with our favorite things, surrounded ourselves with our favorite people and celebrated!
Sounds like a perfect wedding to us – oh, and the Kogi truck and Sweet Lucie’s for dinner? Super yum!! Thanks so much to Ben Blood for sharing these photos and congrats to Tawny + Irv!
Love Tawny’s Sarah Seven dress!
Our Favorite Memory
The most memorable moment of our wedding day was our foot washing unity ceremony and our vows. During that time we were the only people in the world. Nothing else mattered except for the promises we were making to each other that we will keep for the rest of our lives.
We wanted to be able to see our wedding through our guests’ eyes, so we set up an Instagram wall. In our program we told our guests to tag any photos they posted to Instagram with a specific hashtag. We set up a projector and had a live slideshow cycling through photos from the entire day. It was nice for guests to get comfy on the couch and watch, plus it’s also nice to be able to go back and easily see Instagram photos from our wedding!
And their wedding film :)
Our Advice
Focus on the things that will make you both happy. The whole planning process will definitely get stressful, but try and remember what's most important, you're about to marry the love of your life and you're planning a big party to celebrate! Also be sure to hire people you trust, so that on your wedding day you can focus on being in the moment and enjoying yourself.
Featured in This Wedding
J.P. McLeod
Amy Clarke
Ben Blood
Elysian
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Other Vendors in This Wedding
Wedding Dress: Sarah Seven // Bride's Shoes: H&M // Bridesmaid Dresses: Ruche, ModCloth // Hair Stylist: Tracy Anderson // Groom Attire: Zara // Catering: Kogi // Cake: Match Box Kitchen // Music: J.P. McLeod // day of coordination: Olivia Griswold from Pink Cloud 9 // floral design: Jennifer Young // drinks: Wunderbar // cake topper: Jamila Silvera // ice cream cart: Sweet Lucie's // photo booth: Tawny Alipoon Photography // custom illustrations: Genevieve Santos
