Where and when did you meet and how did you know each other was ‘the one?’

DREA: I met my husband John on a dating website. I had been on 67 first dates in the period of about a year a half. I dated all kinds of interesting guys – but never really had that moment when I thought “this is the guy I should be with.” When John and I went on our first date, I thought he was awesome. We had great conversation and he was thoughtful and funny. But in my mind, there was no chemistry. It took me about 24 hours to realize that I had been dating people with whom “chemistry” for me meant that I felt I was needed. That I was filling a void in someone else’s life. With John, he didn’t need me to fill any void in his life. He was great on his own and looking for a companion to add to his already great life. I decided that was exactly the reason why I needed to see him again. Since then, we’ve had a wonderfully fulfilling, stable relationship with tons of real chemistry – a respect, admiration and attraction for each other. I feel so incredibly lucky to be the person he chose to marry.

JOHN: What I liked most about Drea at first was her creativity – how many people do you know who majored in art AND math in college? She was smart, funny, kind, interesting, adventurous. And pretty. Fairly soon I realized I was always enjoying myself with her, no matter what we did, and she both challenged me and supported me constantly. I think that’s what’s made our relationship stable and fulfilling.

Where and when were you married?

DREA: We were married in our backyard because we feel so comfortable there and we could have complete control.

JOHN: I have a sister in Paris, which limited when we could get married, so we were married on August 20th – exactly 6 months after I proposed. So the back yard had the advantage of being available on short notice. It was also incredibly important to us that our wedding be casual, personal, and FUN. Having it in our backyard was one way of ensuring that it was all those things. Finally, the size of the yard created the perfect upper limit on the size of the wedding, which kept the wedding personal and fun.
 

What was your favorite memory of the day?

DREA: It’s tough to say what my favorite memory of the day was. It was like being in a dream. We felt completely surrounded by the people we love most in the world and I felt so happy and at peace that I have this incredible guy who will be on my team for the rest of my life. The wedding coordinator we had for the day said that she was surprised and maybe even a little worried about how calm I was as I was sitting having my hair and makeup done and waiting for everything to start. It’s hard to explain how I felt in that moment – how completely at peace I felt – and it’s lasted the 3 weeks since then.

One decision we made that I felt was a good one – we had 2 of our favorite and funniest friends MC the night, instead of having a DJ. Their performance was completely memorable because they know us so well. And many of the moments in their performance, including an interpretive dance they did to the main titles of “Six Feet Under” (long story) had me laughing so hard I was crying.

JOHN: There’s a scene from the TV show Chuck, where Chuck’s sister obsesses over twinkle lights at her brother’s engagement party, insisting it has to be “magical.” I don’t have any one favorite memory of the evening – although the interpretive dance to Six Feet Under was pretty special – but several times during the evening – once during the ceremony and a few times during the reception – I remember looking out at everyone and thinking that we were having exactly the wedding we wanted, with exactly the people we wanted with us. Which was, in fact, pretty magical.
 

If you could do it all over again is there anything you would have done differently?

DREA: I can honestly say that I don’t think either of us would have done anything differently.

JOHN: Me neither.
 

Do you have any tips or suggestions to help brides while planning a wedding? And/or tips on how to save money on a wedding?

DREA: I work in television and so planning events feels very similar to pre-production on a shoot, so it’s not an uncomfortable place for me. But I think for most people who don’t plan and make lists, I would recommend getting started as early as you can and just taking one thing at a time. I looked at a lot of photos online, which was helpful since we did all of our own decor and lighting. I shopped quite a bit in downtown LA for fabrics, our rings, flowers – everything was cheaper there but you had to roll up your sleeves and dig for it AND be willing to bargain! We liked the DIY, rustic look so really went for it with our signage and the whole look of the wedding.

I highly recommend carrying around an iPad or photos in a binder so that you can talk to the vendors and tell them exactly the look you’re going for – or if you have a number of inspirations, to ask for their advice.

JOHN: On a DIY wedding like ours, have a good sense of what you are able to do yourselves and what you’ll need professional help doing. We knew we wanted a lot of lights, and while we were able to string them, we did hire someone to run power to the back of our yard and put in poles that supported cables to which the light strings attached. The same person actually built our arbor, but I designed and built the system for putting up the curtains quickly.

Guys, think of this as an excuse to use power tools.

Thank you Andrea and John for sharing your amazing wedding with us!

Here are the vendors that Andrea and John used for their wedding and highly recommend.

Angela Tam / Robert Paetz Photography / Isabel Gonzalez / Cris Flowers / Wood Ranch Barbecue / Icing on the Ring / Ben Pila (Guitarist) / Host Helpers (Bartender) / Smart Party Rents / Nina Storm (Coordinator) / Beadniks (Beading on dress)