My daughter, Aubrey, and her college sweetheart, Terrence, were engaged on August 23rd, 2021. His proposal followed the traditions of asking permission and getting down on one knee. From that moment on, there was little to do with planning a conventional wedding. They did it their way!
“I never envisioned my wedding when I was a little girl. A wedding wasn’t anything I ever planned or dreamt of. I certainly played dress-up, though! I got to watch thousands of brides come to Headpiece.com for their wedding accessories. Even among those beautiful brides, I never pictured my own wedding. But I loved trying on different headpieces, veils, and jewelry. I always loved sparkle, and before we got engaged, I told Terrence— I trust the ring you pick for me will be the one I love but make sure it sparkles! He definitely delivered on that!”
Engagement shoot by Arlyne Renee Photography
“I definitely black out for some of it, but the words I remember are, “I love you so much, and I want to go on this life journey with you. Will you marry me?” He proposed in the middle of the street one block from the ocean.”
Wedding Gown Weekend
Something Bleu Bridal, Saratoga Springs, NY
Sisters Aubrey and Brielle
Something Bleu Bridal is one of my premiere bridal salons that carry our veil collection. I have had a wonderful relationship with them for many years. My daughter, Brielle, found her wedding gown there. I encourage all my New Jersey Brides to take the trip to Saratoga for an unforgettable and pampering experience.
We arrived to a welcome sign featuring a bride on a mountaintop overlooking the Ausable Chasm in the Adirondacks. The model was wearing our sleeved veil and headpiece design. Something Bleu’s photoshoot made the cover of Saratoga Bride Magazine! This greeting was a wonderful way to begin our search for the perfect wedding gown.
“Something Bleu was the only place I planned to go. I was confident I would find my dress there, having modeled in many of their gorgeous gowns for Headpiece.com. Owner Marissa helped me try on gowns and was so kind and empowering throughout the process. I will always remember this special weekend choosing my gown with my mom, sister, and fairy godmother, Denise.”
“Going to Something Bleu is always a dream! This experience was no different. I loved watching Aubrey play dress-up, even in some dresses we knew she would never pick. But when she walked out in THE dress, we just knew. It was made for her.”
“When I got married five years ago, Aubrey was my sidekick. She visited venues, helped me pick my dress at Something Bleu, planned an awesome bachelorette in Charleston, and helped my mom plan a gorgeous bridal shower. When it was her turn, she made it clear she wanted none of that!”
Bridal Accessory Design
When I asked Aubrey about her bridal accessories, she said two things: Mom, I don’t want a veil, and Mom, I trust you.
“Through the years, I have spent so much time designing for Aubrey, and she has spent much time modeling for me. When you combine those experiences, you begin to know each other on a higher fashion level. I saw Aubrey with a hairstyle loaded with different style hair pins made of rare freshwater pearl, crystal, and stone. I also envisioned her with a veil but not in the traditional sense.”
I designed her bridal accessories with rare Freshwater pearl, AB crystal, white opal, and clear stone wired in 14K gold. Her earrings were absolutely amazing!
Brielle sent me the color of her gown. I had a few crystals left in the discontinued color of light Azure and combined them with white opal, clear stone, and Freshwater pearl. This combination of accessories for a seaside wedding Matron of Honor was the perfect accent to her pale blue chiffon gown.
“Aubrey, what if I could give you the illusion of a bridal veil with out it coming from a comb on your head?”
I designed a veil to drape from her waist made from luxurious hand-painted floral tulle from Italy. It was tediously embellished with white opals, clear stones, and pearls.
A 1922 sketch by Erté inspired me to design jeweled sleeves made of Freshwater pearl, and crystal, with a flounce at the wrist.
I always loved the pale blue silk jacquard fabric I used for Brielle’s engagement skirt. She left the skirt with me after her engagement photo shoot on Martha’s Vineyard. I decided to restyle it into a mother of the bride dress for Aubrey’s wedding.
The shop was so crazy that I only began designing my dress three days before leaving for the wedding in California.
California Wedding Weekend Surprise
When Aubrey began wedding planning, she told us she wanted to get married on the beach and rent a beautiful Airbnb in California. This was all we knew, and as time passed, we received little information regarding their wedding. Then we were told they wished to plan their wedding and have it be a surprise for the immediate family.
“We’ve always enjoyed the element of surprise even going back to our earlier years when we were dating long distance. We constantly surprised each other and would show up at each other’s houses. For our wedding, we wanted to surprise everyone else. We wanted to truly do it “our way!””
Family members arrived in Los Angeles and were given an address to put into Maps. It took one and a half hours to drive through L.A. traffic and eventually find our way up a very steep and windy road in the Hollywood Hills.
“I was so excited about all of it! Every moment was so special that one didn’t reign higher than another; guests arriving in California, surprising the guests with our luxury Airbnb, our amazing dinner via party bus, limos to our secret wedding, seeing everyone’s faces when they realized the wedding destination. It was all so fantastic!”
Aubrey and Terrence’s five-day wedding hideaway is nestled in Hollywood hills with celebrity neighbors and views.
“I wanted the wedding to feel like us. Food we loved, people we loved, and up in the California hills. We planned everything with one thing in mind...what we truly wanted. We weren’t going to make decisions with anything other than our happiness, peace, and fulfillment in mind.”
Aubrey and Terrence’s Wedding Day
Wedding Photography by Genevive Rose Photography Editing by Arlyne Renee
BRIDAL ACCESSORIES | Headpiece.com GOWN | Flora SALON | Something Bleu Bridal HAIR | Sarah Combs Hair MUA | Tavena Beauty GROOM’S SUIT | Teresa Cristaldi FLORALS | Olivia’s Mum SWEETS | Couture Cakery CATERING | Chef Dora Presents PLANNER | A Social Affair Events
Aubrey told us limos for the guys and girls were arriving at 12:30 p.m. to take us to the wedding. Hair and make-up began in the early hour of 6:30 am so we would be ready and dressed in time.
Aubrey and her Matron of Honor, Brielle
“I have designed for thousands of brides. Having my daughters together in one room wearing my creations is the ultimate satisfaction. I love what I do, but being here this day, at this moment, was the pinnacle of my career!”
“I wasn’t expecting to be invited to see Aubrey as she finished dressing. This isn’t something we typically do in my culture. That is usually a special moment between the bride and the mother. Receiving the invitation made me feel like more than a mother-in-law to be. I felt more like “Momma Fullum.” I absolutely love my new daughter!”
I remember this moment so clearly. Aubrey asked that Lisa come up to the room. It was natural and beautiful. I asked Lisa if she could help put Aubrey’s arm jewelry on. This, to me, was the moment we joined as families.
“I told my mom the day before the wedding that I didn’t want to try everything on together until the real moment. I wanted the first time I saw myself as a bride to be raw emotion. Once I had my hair and makeup done, my hair accessories and jewelry put on, and the veil attached to the gown, I felt so beautiful and unique. I remember smiling big and feeling happy yet calm.”
“Seeing your son about to become someone’s husband makes his mother pause to reflect on the boy he was and the man he has become. The little boy brought me unspeakable joy. The man makes me proud. Seeing him dressed on his wedding day was indeed special. He is handsome and filled out that wedding outfit like a model! But what I saw this day was all the qualities that drew Aubrey to him. All the qualities that will help to sustain and grow their relationship.”
“Teresa proposed the idea to design my wedding attire, and I said let’s do it! I sent her the color palette that I liked but outside of that, I told her to express herself freely. I was open to wearing whatever fabrics and designs she wanted to put together. I have always been a big, muscular guy. Teresa designed my clothes as if they were made for my exact body type. Form fitted in the right places with room to breathe and move around freely. I loved that it showed off my shape without constricting my movement.”
My dear friend and designer, Teresa Cristaldi, flew from Italy to California to bring her talents and a new patented fashion design system to design a fitted custom suit for Terrence.
Here I was, the mother of the bride, and designer to many brides, leaving for a wedding destination unknown but filled with excitement and pure joy.
Newport Beach, California
The limo pulled up in front of a magnificent waterfront home in Corona Del Mar. I assumed they rented this home for the wedding, and I suggested we use the bathroom before the ceremony. Aubrey politely replied, “Mom, we can’t use their bathroom. People live there!” The limo door was opened. Luxury cars were driving by and sharing their joy for the bride by yelling from their cars, beeping their horns, and flashing their lights. I still had no idea where she was getting married! Quietly, a beautiful woman appeared from the narrow walkway between the luxurious seaside homes. She approached the limo and said, “Aubrey, the yacht is ready!”
Photo by Lisa Mendiaz
Upon arriving in Corona del Mar, Aubrey exited the limo and walked along the 280-foot dock to meet her dad midway and take her the rest of the way.
“It was really easy to hug this guy. I may have been giving Terrence my daughter, but I was gaining a son-in-law who truly loves her. How can you ask for more?”
“I purposely didn’t envision how Aubrey would look on our wedding day. I just wanted to experience it in the moment. She blew me away as she does every day. She is my person, and there is no one else that I would rather be standing on that boat dock with.”
Aubrey and Terrence didn’t imagine their wedding day on their own. They had ideas, but with the help of event planner Lisa Mendiaz and artisan baker Jasmine Clouser, their dockside ceremony and intimate wedding celebration aboard a private yacht were fit for Hollywood celebrities.
“Planning their wedding for the immediate family made it so special and intimate. The element of surprise for their guests from the Airbnb in the Hollywood Hills, limo service to Corona Del Mar for the ceremony, and reception was quite fun to be a part of.”
The magical wedding team; Jasmine, Aubrey, and Lisa.
“This was my first wedding aboard a gorgeous private yacht—-amazing! Every detail of Aubrey and Terrence’s wedding seemed so thoughtful and intentional. Their wedding was beautiful, intimate, romantic, family focused, and not conforming to what everyone expects in a wedding, doing it their way to perfection.”
“The veil was my favorite accessory and definitely made my gown. It added more elegance and made me feel more bridal. Seeing it blow in the wind, knowing that I felt beautiful doing it my own way, really helped the whole experience feel authentic and true to me.”
Toward the night's end, we all found our way to the main cabin to enjoy time together. Many spoke, while some prepared; others used the moment.
“It was so nice to hear so many of our loved ones say something. It was intimate for our families and just a beautiful time for us to relax and be together surrounded by love.”
“You need to struggle before you end up with the right person. It’s how you know it is the right person. Aubrey and Terrence both have a deep relentless passion for tattoos. I happen to have one that speaks to this occasion very succinctly. It says “ad Astra per Aspera” which is the only Latin I learned before I quit it the last time. It means “to the stars through great adversity.” Aubrey’s star was Terrence.
The two of them have so much in common. If you talk to them, it’s like the same scriptwriter is working in both their brains. They both speak the same language, share the same values, and respect each other to the core. While no person or relationship is perfect, I would describe their interaction with each other as “effortless.””
Schuyler Hunt
“Sitting on the boat as it left the dock, overlooking the water, listening to the music, hearing laughter and conversation around me...I sat silently and absorbed it all. I couldn’t have felt more blessed in that moment. I wouldn’t change a single thing about our wedding weekend. We were intentional about creating an energetic environment in which that could be accomplished. It was perfect!”
“I would highly recommend an intimate wedding to other brides. It is liberating! It is fun to make your wedding every aspect of what you want. Life is too short. Do what makes YOU happy, especially on YOUR wedding day!”
See you next month on the Fourteenth
