Ethereal and Sophisticated Winter Wedding at Hotel Californian

Amanda Wachtel and Josh Goldstein were both East Coasters bound for California. But their lives intertwined somewhere in the middle, when each of them found themselves in Chicago. Amanda was nine months from completing her psychiatry residency at the University of Chicago and then would be en route to Los Angeles to start her career. Josh had just made the drive from SoCal to Chicago to join the company that acquired his LA start-up. On the journey to his new home, Josh had scrolled through his account on The League and landed on Amanda’s profile. The two met over drinks in Chicago’s West Loop, and, as Josh recalls, “In person, she did not disappoint.” Amanda forewarned Josh of her plans to move to LA. He simply said, “Wow, I’m planning on heading back there as well.” While dating the pair escaped the cold Chicago winter with a trip to Santa Barbara where Josh told Amanda he loved her. Soon after, they found their new home in LA and a few months later, Josh proposed while the couple was vacationing in Italy. Amanda’s dream Marchesa wedding gown, with its hand-appliquéd white flowers, bronze beading and light gray organza, became the inspiraiton for the winter-themed wedding at Hotel Californian. Wedding planner Nina Moore worked with florist Anna Le Pley Taylor to design an interlocking arch of white branches reminiscent of the birch trees that flourish on the land owned by Amanda’s paternal grandparents in upstate New York. Amanda’s mother hand-engraved the invitations, escort cards and place cards. The couple decided to forgo a wedding party, instead focusing the ceremony on the two of them and their love. The event design was ethereal and sophisticated, with one thousand white hand-turned reflexed roses. Because Amanda grew up playing on a classic Steinway piano with her dad, she dreamed of hearing this music as she walked down the aisle. With a little determination, her team made this a reality and managed to get a grand piano on the roof of Hotel Californian.