After writing and perfecting a song for Ayana over the course of four years, Joel surprised her with its debut musical performance right before their first look! Photographer Katch Silva captured the couple’s incredibly emotional first look among other uniquely moving moments at the couple’s chic coastal California venue, Catalina View Gardens. As if we needed to be more in love with this wedding’s style, Ayana’s Berta Bridal gown featured a classic trumpeted silhouette with show-stopping details like an illusion French lace back and an ultra plunging neckline!
The Couple:
Ayana and Joel
The Wedding:
Catalina View Gardens, Rancho Palos Verdes, California

The most important part of planning our wedding was structuring the day so that we could really appreciate each big moment without feeling rushed from one thing to the next. It had to feel like a momentous experience for us, and not the completion of an itinerary. Doing a first look, trimming traditions that weren?t important to us (cough, the bouquet and garter toss, cough) and just really streamlining things made it so we could really enjoy our own wedding!
From Joel: I was writing a song for Ayana for four years, and it became a running joke about whether I would ever finish it and play it for her. Secretly, I worked with our photographer and wedding planner to debut the song before our first look. I played it with my back to her with just the glass wall of this beautiful greenhouse b...