A Jeff Newsom wedding is always a timeless affair, but when we saw Sonia and Vincent’s wedding, we knew it would surely stick in our memories as a favorite post from 2014. The pair captured the “urban, thriving, and vibrant” atmosphere of LA so flawlessly with their eclectic and colorful celebration. Scroll slowly, you’ll want to make sure you take in all of the moments from this one!

The Couple: Sonia and Vincent

The Wedding: 6.8.2013 – The Culver Hotel and SmogShoppe, Los Angeles, California

The Design: Our wedding was inspired by our love of growing up and living in Los Angeles; we felt that SmogShoppe represents everything that is beautiful about the city — urban, thriving, and vibrant. I’m also attracted to bright colors and floral prints– which softened the venue’s concrete and masculine space. Special and unique details include bright floral print bridesmaid dresses, a standout head table dressed with a lace, sparkly, white linen layered over a coral-colored linen, vintage cans for centerpiece containers, a topography chalkboard sign for the bar hand drawn by Vince, and a Claire Pettibone dress with a floral lace illusion back detail.

The Moments: Sonia – I have two favorite moments: (1) Saying our vows. We wrote them ourselves and did not share beforehand, but they were both surprisingly similar and we both referenced the same line from one of our favorite songs. Our guest laughed and cried with us — it was special! (2) My second favorite moment was meeting Vince’s grandmother for the first time. She was so lovely and sweet!

Vince – My favorite moment was my first look at Sonia in her wedding dress. Her dress was not only stunning, but it was also my first time seeing her all day. The anticipation of walking down the aisle, coupled with the sound of her shoes coming down the steps did very little to dampen some pre-wedding jitters — it was worth the wait!

The Photography: Jeff Newsom was perhaps the easiest decision we made while planning our wedding. His artistic vision is unique to his photos, and we felt he was the only photographer who could really capture the theme we were hoping to achieve. The best thing about working with Jeff is how comfortable he made us feel in front of a camera. The hardest thing about working with Jeff is choosing which photos to hang on our wall because there are simply too many amazing shots to choose from!

The Advice: Be confident with your ideas and vision for your wedding. Listen to input from others, but trust your gut instincts. Our parents were initially not on board with the idea of having our wedding in a former car shop, with non-matching linens and chairs, family-style dinner service, etc. But we tried to include them in our planning as much as possible, and we eventually won them over with our version of a perfect wedding.

The Wedding Team:

Photographer: Jeff Newsom
Event Coordinator: Michelle Dixon of Eco Caters
Ceremony Venue: The Culver Hotel
Reception Venue: SmogShoppe
Videographer/Film Maker: Ryan Sin Photography
Invitation Designer: Anna Michelle Cards
Catering: Eco Caters
Florist: American Harvest Flowers
Cake and Dessert: Porto’s Bakery & Cafe
Wedding Dress: Willow by Claire Pettibone
Bridal Accessories: Pearl earrings borrowed from the Mother of the Groom, diamond and gold bracelet from the Mother of the Bride, Badgley Mischka (shoes)
Bridesmaids’ Apparel & Accessories: Modcloth
Groom’s Apparel & Accessories: Theory (suit), J. Crew (shirt and tie), Lakeshore Lavaliere (tie clip), Johnston and Murphy (shoes), Giant Robot (socks)
Groomsmen’s Apparel & Accessories: Mr. Tuxedo (suit), J. Crew (shirt and tie), Lakeshore Lavaliere (tie clip), Giant Robot (socks)
Hair & Makeup: Kelly Zhang
DJ: Tim Wong Productions
Live Music: Blue Like Jazz
Rentals: Town and Country Event Rentals, La Tavola, Etablir Vintage Event Rentals

Thank you Sonia and Vince for sharing your amazing urban wedding with us all!