A Wedding Weekend Full of Fashion and a Celebration of Cultures at Baja Luna

[section title=”The Planning”]
[field title=”Wedding Colors”]Pinks, whites, and greenery[/field]
[field title=”Design / Vibe / Vision”]

Our wedding was on May 26, 2024, at Baja Luna in Los Cabos, Mexico with 140 of our closest friends and family. We had taken a trip to Cabo just before the pandemic and had always wanted to share the fun of that trip with our friends and family. Since we had guests coming from various places around the world, we wanted to be able to give our guests an excuse for a fun and lively vacation as well. When it came time to plan the weekend, we wanted to prioritize being able to spend meaningful time with each guest at the wedding and to build an atmosphere of fun and joy. We worked closely with our planners, Grace and Jessica at Amy Abbott Events, to curate the weekend’s events and locations with those goals in mind. I can’t imagine our wedding without the Amy Abbott Events team. They were detail-oriented, creative, and truly so wonderful to work with. Their level of service far exceeded our wildest expectations and made the weekend go by completely stress-free. Ultimately, we chose Baja Luna as our wedding venue, because we wanted a venue that was hidden from the prying eyes of resort guests and wanted amazing food. Transparently, I also saw Baja Luna in a TikTok and immediately sent it to Josh. Josh and I love to eat and wanted to make sure we were able to share the phenomenal Baja cuisine with all of our guests and Baja Luna did not disappoint. We had multiple guests comment on how they had never had wedding food so good. Some stars included the sea bass ceviche, braised brisket, and churro cart with dipping sauces. We wanted to focus on bringing culture, food, good energy, and good tequila (we kept Clase Azul flowing all night) to our wedding weekend. We wanted a good blend between what Los Cabos had to offer and our essence as a couple. One of our primary goals of the weekend was for our guests to let loose and have fun. Even before the official wedding events started for all guests, Josh and I went out to bars and clubs with the 40 or 50 guests who had already arrived in Cabo on Thursday and Friday as an unofficial prelude to the weekend ahead.

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[field title=”Proposal Story”]

Josh and I met in 2018 through what can only be described as countless right decisions and coincidences; some might even say fate. I had just driven back to San Francisco from Lake Tahoe with some of my co-workers at the time, Won Soh, was stuck in what felt like an eternity of traffic; so when he asked to share an Uber from the rental car location to a Superbowl party he was headed to, even the major extrovert in me balked for a second. Once he gave me the address, I realized the party was in the exact building I was living in at the time. When we arrived at my building, I was so excited to go home and take a long nap, so I, again, balked when Won asked if I wanted to swing by the Superbowl party he was headed to. It was only when he mentioned that the girl hosting the party had just gotten a new puppy that I immediately warmed to the idea of swinging by. When I arrived at the party, Josh and I hit it off after he cracked a few cheesy dad jokes about one of the commercials. We ended up talking for so long that his friends were waiting by the door long after the football game had ended, joking that they’d never be able to get him to leave. Shortly after the game, Josh messaged me on Instagram, saying “I don’t know how, but I’ll admit you won the dog’s affection today” to which I responded “Honestly, you put up a valiant effort but it was never a fair fight”, which kicked off the next 58 months of us dating before Josh proposed. Josh summarized our first encounter well in his vows, by saying: “We met at a Superbowl party you weren’t interested in, directly after a ski trip to Tahoe that you… also weren’t interested in. I’ll never stop thinking how lucky I am that between all of that, you decided to take an interest in me. Given football, beers, and strangers wouldn’t entice you to come, I’m glad you at least wanted to see the dog there. I’m not sure if I have my cynical dad jokes to thank, or a force of nature, but talking to you that night turned out to be the most important conversation of my life.” Who proposed? When and how? Shortly after meeting at the Super Bowl party, we went on a short hike in the Marin headlands to a beautiful viewpoint called Slacker Hill. While admiring the view, a stranger commented on how sweet we looked together and insisted on taking a photo of us together. 58 months later, in November of 2022, Josh took me back to Slacker Hill and used that photo as the cover to a photo book he had put together, with one page for every month that we had been dating and “Will you marry me?” on the 58th page. Afterward, we celebrated our engagement with a night in Sonoma at dinner at our favorite restaurant, SingleThread Farm, before heading back to the city the next day for an intimate dinner with our immediate families.

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[section title=”The Fashion”]
[field title=”Wedding Gown”]

Fashion was a huge part of the weekend for me. Mixing old and new was one of my primary goals, along with incorporating color across as many events as possible; truly getting a bit of something new, something old, and something blue. I worked with Ambrosia from Sincerely Ambrosia (who I also found via TikTok) on styling for all 9 looks. Ambrosia was truly instrumental in helping push me outside of my usual comfort zone and I’m so grateful for her guidance on every step of the way. First up: on Friday, I wore a white silk Khaite dress for photos on the beach with our photographer, Sarah Falugo. Given all of the looks we had, we made sure to carve out some extra time for photos. Sarah truly made every single photo shoot feel so natural and fun. As Josh and I were reflecting on the weekend, we both agreed that the times we spent taking photos with Sarah were some of our favorite times of the whole weekend where we were able to just enjoy each other’s company and be ourselves. My favorite part of this look was when we started to run towards the water and Josh lifted me and got completely soaked in the process! Josh wore a Rag and Bone knit shirt and (soaked) Paige tan chinos. For our Family Shabbat dinner, I wore a Spring / Summer 2004 tropical orchid-covered Versace gown which we sourced multiple sizes too big and my amazing tailor, Lisa Hoang, helped make it fit like a glove. I paired this dress with matching orchid earrings and some pink platform Christian Louboutin heels for a colorful moment in the jungle. This dress was truly a dream. Josh wore a custom Suit Supply navy suit, a custom Proper Cloth shirt, and Aurélien loafers. After we wrapped up with our families and Rabbis, we went out to a club with some of our close friends. I wore a beaded blue ocean-themed Clio Peppiatt Dress with matching coral earrings as an homage to Cabo. The next day, we kicked off the day with our pool party where I wore a Spring / Summer 2018 Chanel swimsuit and silk coverup. My tailor, Lisa Hoang, also helped turn some of the hemmed portions of the swimsuit cover-up into a headband for an awesome 70s-inspired look. When we were planning these looks, Josh and I were watching “Why Women Kill” and I was so inspired by Lucy Liu that we went for a 60s / 70s inspired blue eye, big curls, and a headband. Nicole Iyer from Samara Beauty truly crushed this look and it was one of my favorites of the weekend. Josh wore a Bottega Veneta swimsuit and an embroidered shirt by Wax London. Later Saturday evening, for our Ketubah signing, I wore a custom hand-embellished nude/gold dress made by Lisa N. Hoang, who I found on TikTok. When I was looking for a dress for this event, I had so many different ideas, but I knew I wanted to use an AAPI designer for the look regardless of what I did. After searching for months, I couldn’t find anything I was inspired by so I decided to go a custom route. After I saw a TikTok Lisa had posted, I immediately reached out. I sent Lisa some inspiration and she immediately sent me back sketches and her thoughts. She was truly a dream to work with. For this dress, I wanted to incorporate red and gold which are lucky colors in Chinese culture. Red is linked to love, success, happiness, prosperity, luck, fertility, honor, and loyalty, while gold is a symbol of wealth. The dress was a two-part dress made up of a structured and hand-beaded mini dress with thousands of red and pink Swarovski crystals and a detachable inner tulle skirt, and I lovingly referred to this dress as my “jellyfish dress” throughout the entire process. I flew down to LA multiple times for fittings and I loved working with Lisa so much that I begged her to tailor all of the other looks for the weekend. Josh wore a linen suit by 120% Lino, a custom twill shirt by Proper Cloth, and John Lobb shoes. On the wedding morning, I got ready in a vintage pink 1970s peignoir & nightgown which was the perfect flowy accompaniment to the warm Cabo morning. Josh spent the morning getting ready with his groomsmen and our fathers. As a part of Persian tradition, the groom is meant to not put anything on himself, so each one of his Groomsmen and our dads helped him put everything on from his wedding-day cologne (Xanaboud by Perfumehead) to his bowtie. For the wedding day, Josh wore a custom SuitSupply tuxedo, a custom Proper Cloth tuxedo shirt, and Crockett and Jones shoes. My bridesmaids wore festive shades of pink, orange, and yellow with plenty of festive texture as a nod to Cabo. For the ceremony, I chose a strapless lace drop-waist gown by Lee Petra Grebenau from their Spring / Summer 2024 collection. I must have tried on at least 50 dresses. I had the hardest time finding my dress and was convinced that I wouldn’t find one in time. Despite having a strong vision for all of the other looks for the weekend, I had no specific vision of what I was looking for for my ceremony dress which made it even harder. All I knew was that I wanted something that felt feminine while still making a statement. When I finally saw my dress in an Instagram story of a Lee Petra Grebenau trunk show at Jaxon James Couture Bridal in West Hollywood, I booked the next flight down to try it on. Once I tried it on and found out it was made to measure right to my measurements, it made the decision even easier. I loved the dramatic long train and the intricate lace details. After the ceremony, I changed into a Spring / Summer 2016 intricately beaded Versace gown. When we first sourced this, it was not only multiple sizes too big but also in need of some real TLC. My tailor, Lisa Hoang, painstakingly deconstructed the dress and re-beaded major portions of it so that it fit like a glove and was sturdy enough to withstand dancing! A true labor of love in the name of (almost) vintage fashion. I danced the night away in a fun short Danielle Frankel dress and Stuart Weitzman platform heels until 2 am! I had brought another pair of shoes but was having so much fun on the dance floor that I never even left to change into them.

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[field title=”Bridesmaid Dresses”]My bridesmaids wore festive shades of pink, orange, and yellow with plenty of festive texture as a nod to Cabo.[/field]
[field title=”Groomsman Attire”][/field]
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[board_carousel title=”Cocktail Hour”]

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[section title=”The Details”]
[field title=”Food & Drink”]

Ultimately, we chose Baja Luna as our wedding venue, because we wanted a venue that was hidden from the prying eyes of resort guests and wanted amazing food. Transparently, I also saw Baja Luna in a TikTok and immediately sent it to Josh. Josh and I love to eat and wanted to make sure we were able to share the phenomenal Baja cuisine with all of our guests and Baja Luna did not disappoint. We had multiple guests comment on how they had never had wedding food so good. Some stars included the sea bass ceviche, braised brisket, and churro cart with dipping sauces

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[field title=”Florals & Decor”]For the flowers, we emphasized pinks, whites, and greenery to compliment the beautiful tropical backdrop. My overall vision was to keep everything feeling very organic with texture and draped elements. For example, for our escort cards, I wanted it to look like the flowers were growing out of the table that we had placed the escort cards on.[/field]
[field title=”Wedding Cake”][/field]
[field title=”Readings, Ceremony Music, Reception Songs”][/field]
[field title=”Special Detail #1″]

I had reached out to Sarah Falugo before Josh and I were even engaged. I love the editorial yet authentic eye she brings to wedding photography and we’re so grateful to have had her on our team.

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[field title=”Special Detail #2″]On both the Ketubah signing night and the night of the wedding at midnight we did a “Gol Baroon” which is a Persian rose petal tradition where all of the guests encircle the bride and groom and throw rose petals on them while the song “Yar Mobarak” by Shahram Solati plays.
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[field title=”Special Detail #3″]

On the inside of Josh’s wedding band, we engraved “我愛你” which means “I love you” in Chinese, and on the inside of my wedding band, we engraved “عشق مني” which means “my love” in Farsi.

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[board_carousel title=”Reception”]

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