Modern Ace Hotel Wedding

If ever there was a venue that just seems to only get better throughout the years, it has to be the Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs. Newlyweds Les and Lauren were instantly drawn to its cool charm, which mixed perfectly with their retro-inspired vision for their wedding day. As always, Studio Castillero worked magic behind the camera!

From the bride, Lauren: The style we envisioned for our wedding was that we wanted to create a bohemian, desert party! Les and I both love classic rock and décor from the 60s and 70s. We wanted to incorporate a cool, vintage vibe into our own wedding. We also wanted our guests to feel comfortable and be able to have fun! So many of our guests traveled from Texas and beyond, that we wanted their entire experience to be memorable and feel like a vacation.

Flower recipe: My bouquet and the bridesmaids’ bouquets had a mix of tea roses and wildflowers. The boutonnieres for Les and his groomsmen were made with strawflowers and a leaf from our magnolia tree in our own backyard. The large planters that decorated the ceremony and the table arrangements used succulents and cacti also from our own backyard mixed with an eclectic assortment of florals. On the chuppah our florist used protea flowers, strawflowers and firecracker flowers that we found at the Floral Mart in Downtown LA.

Our color scheme was loosely based on the image we displayed behind our cake table: Sunset with Joshua Tree Silhouettes by Dave Getzschman. We fell in love with the photograph and one of our friends graciously printed the image on an adhesive vinyl that was hung behind our cake table. It was a stunning way to cover an otherwise plain white wall. We created so many of the elements for the wedding: the escort card board and escort cards, the table numbers, the place cards, the menus, the programs and all of the welcome bags. We had a great time working together on all of these items!

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Our advice for couples planning their weddings now would be to not be afraid to incorporate your own style into your wedding. Les and I wanted our wedding to feel like a reflection of ourselves, so we bent a lot of “traditional wedding rules.” We were thrilled with how everything turned out and truly feel that it was the best day! We also ended up having our wedding on a Thursday which fit better with our budget and encouraged guests to stay for the remainder of the weekend. It was great being able to spend the additional time with our out of town guests in Palm Springs and felt like a vacation since we were able to enjoy the weekend post wedding!

View all images from this wedding in the gallery

Wedding Music:
Processional: “The Rain Song,” Led Zeppelin; “Here Comes the Sun (instrumental),” The Beatles
Recessional: “All You Need is Love,” The Beatles; “Little Wing,” Jimi Hendrix
First Dance: “Thank You,” Led Zeppelin

Wedding Location: Palm Springs, CA / Photographer: Studio Castillero / Florist: Lyly Stefanowicz / Venue, Caterer, and Cake: Ace Hotel & Swim Club / Wedding Dress: Sarah Seven / Wedding Shoes: J. Crew / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Joanna August – Ceremony / Groom’s Suit: Express / DJ: DJ Eric Cooper / Wedding Invitations: Love vs. Design / Vintage Car: Regency Car Rental / Joshua Tree vinyl backdrop: “Sunset with Joshua Tree Silhouettes,” Dave Getzschman