The components that make up a wedding are each important; however, the two that are most important in my eyes are the music and the photographer. The different types of music played at a wedding set the mood for the entire night. Simply put, if there is great music playing, everyone will have a great time. Meanwhile, you need a photographer to capture all the memories made. Because our wedding is multi-cultural, we wanted to find the perfect DJ so that both sides of the family could enjoy what was playing.

Wedding photography has been evolving and becoming more popular throughout the years. Photographers and couples are coming up with new ideas to differentiate and personalize their photos. We recently came across an article in Huffington Post about photographer Jeffrey Lewis Bennett who has been creating wedding GIFs.

Photo source Huffington Post

Couples have been choosing new and different ceremony locations for their wedding. In order to accommodate them and the guests, many banquet halls have introduced a ceremony room. This helps avoid traveling to different places for the ceremony and reception and saves time to enjoy every minute of the wedding. The ceremony rooms are usually customizable to bring to life the couple’s vision of their ideal setting and to meet every aspect of their planning and coordination needs. 

Here are examples of banquet halls in Los Angeles where you can host both your ceremony and reception.

Metropol Banquet

Metropol Banquet recently introduced their beautiful Ceremony Room seating up to 180 guests.

One of the decisions I didn't have to to make was whether or not to have a wedding party! Serj and I always knew that it was important and meaningful for us to have our closest friends and family standing right next to us on our wedding day. With that said, allow me to introduce our wedding party and how we chose each person...

Serj, Nairie, Avo, Maral and I

Invitations are the first impression of your wedding. You can design and personalize your invitations in various ways. This year there are many new invitation trends and ideas to meet every couple's needs. The best part is these trends can be applied to all aspects of your wedding for a consistent theme.

Here are the 10 top trends. 

1. Metallics

Metallics are big for weddings this year. Gold, silver, broze and copper finishes are added as foil borders, flourishes, and other decorative motifs to invitations.

Photo source Wedding Paper Divas

The most fun I’ve had so far during all of my wedding planning has definitely been trying on bridal dresses. Until I was engaged, I never really had a style of a dress that I liked or a general look that I wanted. When talks about a dress came up, someone said to me “You can wear a mermaid dress for a lot of different occasions but you’ve never going to be able to wear a ball gown dress again.” With that said, the search for my ball gown dress was on!

The wedding gown is one of the most important purchases for the bride. However, the dress is incomplete without the appropriate accessories. The perfect dress needs the perfect jewelry. Choosing accessories can often seem like a challenge. You want to find jewelry that makes a statement, but you don't want them to overpower your hairdo and elegant dress. Your accessories should enhance your overall look, not distract from it.

Photo by Golden Picture

Choosing the right wedding cake is one of the most important wedding planning decisions. Your cake is an icon at your wedding reception and usually the main dessert for the event. Therefore, the design and taste are both essential. You can choose your cake based on your personal style, themes and color schemes, the season, floral arrangements, and even details from the bride's dress or jewelry. To help you choose the right style, we've provided you the hottest trends.

Size

As wedding celebrations have become larger in count, so have cakes! Couples are choosing big and tall or multiples cakes for their wedding.

Photo source Royal Cakes

When it came to choosing a photographer, we knew the options were plenty. We had seen so many beautiful photos all over Instagram and Facebook. So we visited the Harsanik.com directory and started e-mailing photographers for quotes and requests for meetings. The roadblock we hit almost immediately was the costs. Most photographers offered packages, which included engagement photos, wedding day photos, videos, and all sorts of extras, which ultimately raised their prices. We saw prices that ranged between $6,000 and $13,000.

Arby and Anita recently got engaged at the Beautiful Pelican Hill Resort. Arby went the extra mile to plan an amazing, surprise proposal for Anita. We interviewed Arby and Anita about their engagement and fell in love with their story. We are very excited to share all the details about this picture-perfect, romantic proposal. 

Here’s what Arby had to say…

"Without a doubt I’ve always known I would propose to Anita at The Pelican Hill Resort in Newport Beach. Not only is it the most elegant resort in California, but also it was nearby the shore where we had our first date, and that’s where I wanted to pop the question exactly two years after. I knew I wanted it to be at a very special location and Newport Beach was the perfect place. I always knew Anita liked the cushioned square look, and after months of researching I found what looked like the perfect ring and most flawless diamond. The whole planning took about six months to finalize and complete.