Evil Eyes and Elegant Décor in Rainy, Playful Wedding Day at Villa Loriana

Twenty minutes before walking down the aisle, a sudden downpour of rain came crashing down over Villa Loriana. It cleared away just in time for the ceremony, but it wasn’t until the middle of Asli and Kieran’s vows that the sun broke out and shone over the newlyweds. The duo met in their very first week as UCLA freshmen and became fast friends yet remained platonic until their senior year. To pay homage to their friends-to-lovers journey, Kieran and Asli’s wedding was filled with callbacks to their romance. Instead of numbers, tables were named after impactful locations in the couple’s love story: the escape room they met at, the neighborhood they lived in, the place where they had their first date and more. Before the couple even began dating, they bonded over their love for music—particularly Rufus du Sol, and thus, the couple’s recessional song was a custom arrangement by Toby Alexander of “Treat You Better,” played live by a string quartet as they walked back up the aisle hand-in-hand. The day was filled to the brim with references to the couple’s respective cultures: patterned linens and touches of green to represent Kieran’s Irish background, and everything from evil eyes to a Mediterranean family-style menu to honor Asli’s Turkish heritage. “One of the most meaningful moments was Asli’s mother-daughter dance,” says wedding planner Samantha Nason. “They performed the Harmandalı, a traditional wedding dance in Turkey. It was a tribute to Asli’s grandfather, who used to perform it at weddings before he passed—sharing that moment with her mom was incredibly emotional and special.”