Chillest Coastal Wedding

Mea and Stephen’s wedding brought together the glamour of old Hollywood with modern, colorful twists. Held at the historic La Valencia in La Jolla, also known as the “Pink Lady,” their vision seamlessly blended the Mediterranean and coastal California vibes. With a desire to honor Mea’s Greek heritage and create a fun and memorable experience for their guests, this wedding was a perfect combination of tradition and coastal charm.

Our design/vibe/vision: Old Hollywood Glam mixed with some fun colorful modern twists! Romantic colors on the coast, classy and fun were the primary words we used to describe it. La Valencia has a classy, Mediterranean x coastal California energy, which blended perfectly for us to honor traditions (I am Greek so we wanted to combine some Greek traditions) with a bright colorful coastal vibe. Our goal was for everyone to walk away with a memory of how fun the weekend was – and we encouraged this through the colorful popsicle sticks, unique florals, velvet seating area, illustrator and bringing wigs late at night on the dance floor.

Mea and Stephen’s wedding was held at the historic “Pink Lady” of La Jolla. Being steps from the ocean, La Valencia’s Mediterranean feel mixed and old Hollywood charm was the perfect location to compliment Mea & Stephen’s wedding vision.
They really wanted a memorable experience for guests! They had an amazing live illustrator that drew personalized drawings for guests. Another fun element was the seating chart! They decided on a popsicle champagne wall with custom popsicle sticks with each guest’s name and table number. With it being such a hot day, this definitely a big hit for the guests! Lastly they wanted guests to be able to relax and enjoy the ocean views so they added a beautiful pink lounge set on the balcony that overlooked the water.
Since Mea is Greek, they added traditional greek elements to the wedding ceremony such as the Stefana, which are two crowns joined together by ribbon to symbolize unity which are placed on their heads. Another sweet element is Mea’s godfather (Nouno) married them, he was also a part of Mea’s parents wedding so it was that much more special. -From the Bride

How did you two meet? What were your first impressions of one another? We met at brunch in San Francisco! Our mutual friend had just moved to the Bay Area and Mea invited him to brunch, meanwhile Stephen was sitting at the table next to us, unaware his long lost friend had moved out west. In the same moment, Stephen met his future wife and reconnected with one of his favorite friends (who was a groomsmen in our wedding!). What part of your wedding day was/is most important to you? We held our vows in private ahead of the ceremony. Honoring each others words and having this intimate, romantic moment to connect one on one before the ceremony was really special to us ahead of celebrating with our loved ones.

Another highlight was the dance floor, bringing together our favorite people from all walks of our lives. Everyone coming together, laughing and enjoying themselves to our favorite music was a moment we will never forget.

Tell us a funny story relating to your wedding day or relationship! Stephen is notorious for losing things and the day before our wedding lost his vow book. With the rehearsal and welcome party scheduled to start soon, Stephen rewrote his vows in a spiral bound notebook. Mea planned to start her vows sharing her shock that Stephen had not lost his vow book but moments before she began reading them he showed her the mismatched navy blue notebook and the day kicked off with many laughs.

Our dog Bear, a giant Newfypoo, also had to be a part of our wedding. He was included in our cocktails and for photos but he made sure his presence was known. The day following our wedding, Bear escaped from our hotel room and was found wondering the lobby while everyone was at the pool. This was quite the surprise for anyone at the hotel seeing him explore the hotel alone and he was then ‘forced’ to stay with us all day (which was his goal!).

Describe a hurdle you had to overcome in your relationship or during your wedding planning. We both tend to be ‘yes’ people so learning to say ‘no’ was a hurdle for us. We are grateful for all of the help and support we were given during the wedding planning journey, however there can be many opinions thrown at you and together we assimilated to prioritize our wants. Any special ways you incorporated your family or family history into your wedding day? Our family is Greek so we honored our culture within the ceremony with Greek wedding crowns, or Stefanas. The Stefana are crossed three times and joined by a ribbon which symbolizes the beginning of the couples unity. My Nono, was our officiant and he helped to lead our Greek dancing late into the night! My bouquet held a locket with charms for my grandfathers who have passed so they were close to my heart and with us all day. What is the best thing you’ve learned from one another? Mea motivates me to be a better person and always offers grace. I’ve learned to do more good and offer more respect to people through watching Mea. – Stephen

Stephen is passionate about everything he does and he has taught me to always remain enthusiastic. -Mea What was your favorite part about planning your wedding? We really enjoyed the creative journey to include fun elements throughout the day where we could surprise our guests and make sure everyone felt included and special!

It was a hot San Diego day so our guests were given their table numbers written on popsicle sticks in champagne! For our favors, we had an artist creating live illustrations of our guests. We held a brunch, pool party and bonfire the day following the wedding to keep the fun going!

What is your favorite thing about each other? Mea is the most fun person to be around! 🙂 Stephen is always making me laugh! We are adventure partners and love to explore – experiencing new places and things together is something we plan to do forever. From getting engaged in Tulum, to scuba diving in the Galapagos Islands, to our upcoming Honeymoon in Japan, anywhere we go together feels like home. Photographer: Pauline Conway Photography / https://www.paulineconway.com/ / @paulineconwayphoto
Venue: La Valencia Hotel / https://www.lavalencia.com/ / @lavalecniahotel
Stylist / Planner / Designer: Always Flawless Productions / https://www.alwaysflawlessproductions.com/ / @alwaysflawlessproductions
Floral Designer: Flores Arturo / https://floresarturo.co/ / @flor.esarturo
Dress Boutique: The White Flower Bridal Boutique / https://www.thewhiteflower.com/ / @thewhiteflower
Dress Designer: Martina Liana / https://blissbridalwedding.com/ / @martinalianabridal
Cake Designer: Susie Cake Bakery / https://susiecakes.com/ / @susiecakebakery
Makeup Artist: Shelby Mcelroy / https://www.makeupbyshelby.com/ / shelby.mcelroy.mua
Hair Stylist: SoCal Hair & Makeup / https://www.socalhairandmakeup.com/ / socal_hmu
Mens Formalwear: Suit & Supply / https://suitsupply.com/en-us/ / @suitsupply
Rentals: Adore Folklore / https://adorefolklore.com/ / @adorefolklore
Stationery: Fat Rabbit Designs / https://www.etsy.com/shop/FatRabbitDesigns / @fatrabbitdesigns
Film Lab: Photovision / https://www.photovisionprints.com/ / photovisionprints
Rentals: Catalog Atelier / https://catalogatelier.com/ / @catalogatelier
Illustrator: Jessup Illustrations / https://www.isjcreative.com/ / isjcreative
Popsicles: Dixie Pops / https://dixiepops.com/ / @eatdixiepops
DJ: Nick Weiss Music / https://www.nickweissmusic.com/ / @nickweissmusic
Videographer: Blue Tiger Films / https://bluetigerfilms.com/ / @bluetigerfilms