Monica and Ryan’s Persian Estate Wedding

By Victoria Gonzalez

Expectations run high for every planning bride, but when a wedding planner herself is blushing in white, it’s an elevated scenario. Fortunately for Monica, the maven behind Create Events there were a few elements that would make her big day totally different from that of her previous clients: The venue and her heritage.

Certain it would have been next to impossible to narrow down just one venue, she opted to tie the knot at a family friend’s estate in Poway instead.

The ceremony was sugar and spice and, yep, everything nice, courtesy of the bride’s Persian traditions.

Consider a dusting of sugar atop the couple’s heads and a honey ceremony, whereby the bride and groom dip their fingers in a jar and feed it to one another before sealing the deal with a kiss, blessing their communications as always being sweet and symbolizing prosperity throughout the marriage.

For the dress, Monica says she relied on the talents of Mitra at Glen Center Alteration in Bel Air to pull together the perfect ensemble: a lace short dress and chiffon skirt attachment.

“As a wedding planner, I see so many beautiful dresses but I have never seen a client do this before so I thought it would be an original way to have ‘two dresses’ even though it was only one,” she says. “Entering the ceremony site with a formal gown and ending the evening in a fun cocktail dress was perfect for my wedding. I kept the formal look up until open dance.”

The reception, textured with details of of gold and wood, was a scene straight from Monica’s wedding-planning dreams.

Beyond the candle lights softening the mood and cascading flowers from Florals by Stacey, there were other not-to-be-missed touches: a memorial tree with photos of family, friends, and pets who would have attended the wedding; recipe cards in the invitations for guests to leave family recipes for the newlyweds; and a Dom Pérignon champagne bottle that doubled as a guest book, from which the couple plans to pop the cork on their one-year anniversary.

Cautious of everyone’s palate, the bride and groom called on multiple food vendors to incorporate menus from Flamin’ Salmon, Gyros House, Kaminski’s BBQ, Mendocino Farms , Sushi Hana, and Taco Bros, as well as desserts from Dream Fountain Catering.

But it was the moment the Persian music came on that Monica will never forget.

“I remember seeing 200 plus people get up and charge the dance floor—it was crazy!” she says. Turns out, there’s even room on a big day for a wedding planner herself to be amazed!