Sometimes you come across a wedding that has so much emotion, you laugh when they laugh, you sigh when they cry, and you weren’t even there, you are just reacting to the pictures. Such is the event of Noel and Jonnie, photographed by Matt Wignall. Noel is a fashion designer extraordinaire, so no doubt that she would be decked in an adorable frock that is forever memorable. And Jonnie has more soul than the sol, as the guitarist and vocalist of the Cold War Kids. So trust me on this one, their wedding was so hip to the point that I need to write no further, just look and see.
Noel’s story is so sweet that you must hear it in her own words:
We got engaged at a Mexican food restaurant at 11:30pm, with no rings and a celebratory flan with a happy face on top of it made out of 2 cherries for the eyes and a crescent of whipped cream for the smile. I had picked up jonnie from the airport, he was coming back from a long tour through Europe, and he had asked that we go to this nice wine bar in Venice, but I begged for a seedy Mexican cantina down the street from the hotel.
That was a very appropriate introduction to our wedding planning process. The next day we got each other’s initials tattooed to our fingers, which were later layered with match gold bands of sustainable recycled gold from Brilliant Earth (awesome company).
The Wedding:
After minimal deliberation we decided on a date which was 2 months away, and after even more minimal deliberation, we figured the easiest place to do it, was jonnie’s parent’s backyard. Our budget was small, and we are both busy people and pretty easy to please so we both agreed on a casual backyard BBQ – equipped with a Taco Truck, Mariachi’s, Mexican Paper Banners, coolers of beer and wine, a keg of Tecate, and a dance floor the size of a small house. We strung the lights ourselves, hung the banners ourselves, and had an team of friends do everything from set up the sound system, to DJ to photograph and even M.C. the wedding. We made centerpieces with Catholic Saint candles, baskets of chips and salsa, and Mexican coconut candies. I also made a dessert table with an assortment of Pan Dulce, and Mexican Marzipan Candies that I bought that morning at a Hispanic Market by my house in Long Beach. We also had 2 huge recycling bins as we demanded that all dinnerware, utensils, and cups be fully recyclable (we ended up recycling every bit of trash from our wedding, barring the leftover taco meat).
After everyone ate dinner, Jonnie’s dad performed a brief ceremony, and then we danced for the remaining 3 hours to music ranging from Gloria Estefan, to Bon Iver.
The Dress:
Was a dress I found online by Camilla and Marc. I found it on Revolve Clothing. It was one of the first I found and stuck with me in my mind as I continued to look for a dress that felt like “me”. After about 1 week of intense online scouring (I have very little patience for shopping – which is ironic, given my occupation) I decided that was the one. It was lovely… various shades of ivory and beige which gave it a very vintage homespun feel. The silk was delicate, the back was ornate and unique, and the layers made for some awesome movement on the dance floor. I paired it with a chartreuse cardigan and navy suede ballet shoes from j.crew. I did my own hair and makeup which ended up not being much since I finished setting up RIGHT as the guests started arriving.
All-in-all it was just as fun, crazy, and laid-back as we had wanted it to be. We were in love with seeing all of our beautiful friends in one place, glowing and dancing.
That is why our invitations read that they were for a “wedding party”…not a ceremony or a reception…because we just wanted a party, and it was the best party we’ve been to yet.
