A Beautiful Beverly Hills Wedding At The Maybourne

Sharing all the details of my friend’s beautiful Beverly Hills wedding at The Maybourne earlier this year!

Earlier this year, Dane and I were invited to my friend Alysse’s wedding out in California. Alysse and I met in college at Penn State (we were in the same sorority – Gamma Phi Beta!) and have stayed in touch through the years, often with lives overlapping (There was a big family trip out to Hawaii, Dane works with Alysse’s cousin Mel in DC, and I have done work for Alysse’s sister Christine through freelance writing). Small world! Anyway, from the moment Alysse and Eric’s wedding invitation arrived, I knew it was going to be a really special day and we wouldn’t miss it.

Worth mentioning here the invitation was a ridiculously cool golden mirror that had their wedding details etched into it. My mailman was so intrigued we opened it together on the porch and he gave it two thumbs up for being one of the coolest things he had ever delivered!

A Beautiful Beverly Hills Wedding At The Maybourne

We flew into Los Angeles on Friday and took an Uber to The Maybourne, which..if you have never been is opulent, yet young and fun. We had a couple hours before the weekend’s events began, so we took the time to enjoy the rooftop pool and I cannot begin to tell you how good the sun felt after leaving rainy DC. Bonus points because they had sunscreen on demand! We ran into Alysse’s family and got to hug everyone before everything began, which was so special.

The rehearsal was just around the corner at The Hideaway (super walkable from The Maybourne), but the hotel offered us car service, so we hopped in. The theme of the evening was “Pops and Patterns” so it was a sea of colorful cocktail attire and lots of delicious Mexican bites and cocktails, but I think the best part was reuniting with so many friends from college who I hadn’t seen in YEARS. I actually have zero photos from this night, because I was very busy eating and talking LOL

Dane and I called it an early night because #jetlag but how stunning are these two? I mean seriously…

Photo courtesy of The Big Affair

The next day Dane and I woke up early (again, jet lag) and met up with another friend from college, Kim. We walked all around Beverly Hills and grabbed breakfast at Egg Slut before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the big night. In my mind, I knew the wedding was going to be equal parts beauty and glam, but I don’t think anything could have prepared me for the actual event. I’ll let this preview do the talking…

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A post shared by Richard Sáenz – Destination Wedding Videographer (@royalfilms)

All I can say is that the wedding ceremony, cocktail reception, and reception were above and beyond any wedding I’ve ever been to – the penultimate culmination of love and wedding day magic – and I don’t say that lightly. Some of my favorite details included: The invitation (it set the bar for the whole weekend!), welcome champagne to enjoy on the rooftop during the ceremony, the ceremony flower arch was made of flowers that honored lost loved ones, the officiant was equal parts funny, emotional, and engaging – hands down one of the best I’ve ever listened to – and the couple’s handwritten vows made me cry, carving stations at cocktail hour that included things like shrimp and crab and made-to-order pasta dishes (hello? yes) plus plenty of time to mingle and hang out with guests, live music from a string quartet (what is it about musicians that really set the mood?), multiple bars in the reception ballroom so there was never a line to grab a drink, and having both the ceremony and the reception in one place so that we didn’t have to worry about being late to anything and could truly just relax and enjoy the day.

Like I told Alysse and Eric after we got home, the entire weekend was such a beautiful testament to the love they’ve cultivated in their lives and we were so happy to celebrate with them! Now, what you’ve all been waiting for…photos!

The Big Affair, the photographer they used for the entire weekend, was kind enough to share some of the professional photos with me to use for this post and they’re beyond stunning. All I can say is that wedding photography has come so far in the past decade it makes me want a re-do of my own photos, LOL! Please enjoy these truly jaw-dropping snaps…