“California was like the third spouse in our wedding,” jokes Joshua Gaynor, who married Adam Cohen-Aslatei on the brilliantly green grounds of a private country club in Los Angeles last July. Joshua is a New York City native and Adam grew up in Montreal (the pair now resides on Manhattan’s Upper East Side), but it was a chance meeting at a Beverly Hills charity event at Adam’s family home six years ago that brought them together.

“We ended up talking all day,” says Joshua, vice president of communications for Fendi. “I was supposed to stay in L.A. one more day and extended a week. We spent every day together.”

Nightly phone calls and plenty of air miles helped to sustain their long-distance relationship over the next three years until Adam relocated his job to New York (he now works as marketing director for Jun Group) and planned a surprise proposal on the beach in Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico. “He wouldn’t tell me anything,” says Joshua. “He was being weird and cagey, and he’s not like that at all. He’s the nicest Canadian person you’ve ever met.” Adam then popped the question with a woven yellow-gold band from Bottega Veneta. “It was truly magical,” recalls Joshua.

The ceremony, performed by Rabbi David Wolpe, took place under a chuppah made from intertwining willow, olive and cherry blossom branches. Olive trees were placed throughout the dinner area and a crisp palette of white flowers and lush greens wound down the long communal tables.

“We wanted everything very fresh, very California,” says Joshua, who wore a navy blue Lanvin tux, while Adam wore Burberry in a similar shade.

Singer Frenchie Davis serenaded the couple with Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” for their first dance and returned after dinner for a Donna Summer medley that Joshua says “took the roof off.”

Guests gathered for a traditional cake cutting of the vanilla, chocolate and tiramisu confection, whose topper perfectly represented the couple: two grooms, one climbing up a tier of the cake and the other with his arm outstretched. “It’s so us,” says Joshua. “One is always helping the other.”

FLORIST Ines Garstecki of Flowermaid ENTERTAINMENT Frenchie Davis, DJ Michelle Pesce RENTALS Town & Country DESSERT Delice Bakery STATIONERY Ellen Weldon Design SUITS Lanvin, Burberry RINGS Bottega Veneta.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY Aria Isadora & Steve Lucero for BFA Weddings.
WRITTEN BY Melissa Magsaysay.