The Wedding Story
Claire and Chris Old Hollywood wedding in the Paramour Mansion
Claire and Chris got married on Saturday, October 22 in a secret Silverlake, CA mansion, which was only revealed to their 140 guests when Twin Valet shuttled them to the mighty entrance gates. The inspired crowd marveled at the mysterious beauty of Silverlake’s Moreno Estate and celebrated gorgeous Claire and handsome Chris till late into the romantic night. With the Hollywood sign visible from one of the terraces guests enjoyed the vibe of an old Hollywood wedding in the Paramour Mansion. Chris, writer of the Captain America series (with his best man Stephen McFeely) wrote the quirkiest Thank You speech I have heard in my 10 years of wedding planning. After Claire’s witty welcome we were back to ROFL… It showed perfectly why Chris and Claire truly are a match made in wonderland.
How did we start?
With their love story: Claire and Chris both worked on “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” but met only when Chris magically appeared at her tea-birthday-party in London. They dove into fantasy worlds and philosophies and enjoyed each others sharp and smart quirkiness. Was it a few hours or a few days later that they both realized they missed the other? Claire loves these stories; romantic tales, fairy-dusted with Alice in Wonderland bits and sprinkles of dark English humor. Into the rabbit hole we jumped to explore grand ma’s lace and rusty keys, vintage tea pots, Italian ceramics and purple plants, wondrous cookies and unique and crazy wedding quotes.
How to make eco = magical ?
My team got their wands out and we went into DIY mode: Lots of love and attention went into the escort cards: mini envelopes with a vintage tea cup sticker and the guest’s name in old typewriter font honoring all those writers in the crowd. Instead of ordering online we supported a local business and the crafty guys from Copy Central in Burbank delivered a punctual, pretty and precise job.
Alice’s “looking glass” handmade in Merano, Italy, waited for guests at the reception table : open the envelope with your name, find a key stamped on a handmade paper with a tiny number, your table number. Use looking glass to decipher, find your seat in wonderland…wait for the cold hand on your neck…Wait, what? The Moreno Estate, also called the Paramour Mansion is the former home of oil princess Daisy Canfield. Her car plunged off
Mulholland Drive in 1933 and her ghost was sighted several times. Rumor is that she was murdered and is looking for peace… The mansion certainly is the beautiful and slightly eerie place where phantasies can run wild.
We chose purple and beige tones in reference to the mansion’s tobacco colored walls and rustic brick tower and the owners amazing decor; lush sofas and curtains, countless chandeliers and huge fairy tale mirrors, breathtaking paintings and antiques, and the general feeling of old world charm.
As there weren’t too many purple plants in bloom our florist Giedra mix and matched plants with cut flowers where needed.
Other eco-cool aspects:
– pots and plants were carefully chosen by us to fit into Claire and Chris gardens, which were recently started to be landscaped.
– we contracted mostly local vendors. Giedra from GD Designers is a neighbor of my own office in Silverlake, so is Lark, the bake shop and Jimmy, the artist, who manifested some of our decor ideas: labels, signs and the amazing table number booklets with love quotes (spiked with dark English humor) chosen by Claire.
– items from family collections and wardrobes made the ambiance personal, quirky and.eco sexy. Chris’ mom flew in a ton of vintage decor and family linens. The wish fulfilling candies were guarded by a waving plastic Queen Elizabeth and to keep the English happy, we had not just coffee but a tea bar complete with English “biscuits”.
BBJ Linen delivered the silky “purple smoke” linens which we had decided on after a mock up session in their studio. “Elm Concierge” added a vivid splash of purple linens for the cocktail and side tables. Colors certainly popped at the pool where the bartenders served tasty cocktails made with Grey Goose liquors (the one with lavender sirup was just otherworldly) on purple bars with red vintage votive candle holders.
We passed an English signature drink for fun but also to avoid guests waiting at the bars. The “Kitchen”, Pasadena served delicious hors d’oeuvres which we had chosen together at a voluptuous tasting with Claire’s mum and dad.
After the high spirited cocktail hour a beautiful reception area awaited everybody: not that I am totally fond of Chiavari chairs anymore but the dark rose wood and vibrant cushions we chose were fairly regal in this setting.
“Flowers on Mars” ambiance lighting supported the beauty of the mansion with subtle up-lighting effects and over head string lighting. Old Hollywood in the Paramour Mansion was romantically lit up.
Claire and Chris handpicked several hours of music from Chris multifaceted collection from Fred Astaire to disco… DJ Roger presented in his relaxed elegant style and the party was swinging late into the night – until the ghost of Daisy appeared at our old Hollywood wedding.
Event Production&Design: Eco&the Princess
Catering: The Kitchen, Pasadena
Rentals&Construction: Classic Party
Special linens: BBJ
DJ: Roger from Angel City Entertainment
Photography: Docuvitae
Cake: Lark, Silverlake
Valet: Twin Valet
Florist: GD Design, Silverlake
Taxodermy: Dana, the owner of the mansion
