Langham Huntington Hotel Wedding Photography Los Angeles 

Christopher and Ilana | 1.22.2017

Venue and Catering: The Langham Huntington 

Photographers: Michael Anthony and Jennifer Marilyn 

Coordinators and Florals: SiArt Productions

HMUA: Kelly Zhang Studios

Gown: Saks 5th Ave

DJ and Lighting: Yoav Entertainment

MC: Eyal, One Up Entertainment

Sometimes, it can take a couple of rocket scientists to plan the perfect wedding…..at least in the case of Chris and Ilana.  Chris and Ilana, both work for NASA, and had an amazing wedding at The Langham Huntington Hotel Pasadena.  The unexpected rain became an amazing opportunity for The Langham Huntington Hotel Wedding Photography.  As you may remember from our rainy Destination Wedding in Italy, the term “Sposa Bagnata, Sposa Fortunada,” or “A Wet Bride is a Lucky Bride” rings true even once or twice a year in California. 

How did you meet? (Give us all the details)

Chris and I were both interns at NASA Ames the summer of 2010 (in Mountain View). Towards the beginning of the internship, they had a training day for the interns, and so we all had to get together to listen to talks, watch a slideshow, etc. Chris, was there already when I came in, and he was cracking jokes about “how many engineers does it take to get a slideshow working.” I thought he was funny, and so afterwards, I went up to talk to him. But he had his NASA advisor with him, and was trying to impress him. So Chris ignored me (which I found out later was because he thought I was pretty and didn’t want to be off his game with his advisor).

Next, the interns kept having events, but Chris didn’t come because he, again, wanted to impress his advisor by getting as much work done as possible over that summer.  However, on his birthday (which I didn’t know it was his birthday until about a year into our relationship… he later told me that is why he came), there was a bbq, and his mom actually forced him to not work and go to the bbq.

At Ames, he and I were flirting the entire time. He kept calling me “tinker bell” saying I was delicate. But, he disappeared for about an hour with another girl intern. I got mad, but when they came back, turns out she was throwing up and he was cleaning up the bathroom/holding her hair. That girl is now one of my bridesmaids. After that, Chris went to all the intern events. He was emailing me multiple times a day too. At a beach bbq we had, I made sure to ride with Chris to Monterey (where it was). We bantered the entire car ride there and back. And afterwards, he dropped me off last, and asked me out!

How did he propose? (We are ok with the long version!)

Chris and I were in Oregon for Christmas (Chris’ family lives there). We already knew when we were going to get married (we had planned it out a while ago, in terms of the date). So I knew he was going to propose soon. I didn’t like the fact that I was expecting it any day now, and so I said something to him. He knew I wanted to be surprised. Luckily, the week before we went to Oregon, Chris was insanely busy with work. Because of that, he was forgetting things left and right. I actually packed for him for the trip. So he, in a completely serious and sad voice, said “you know, I had this whole thing planned out. I was going to propose in Oregon because my family is here, and we would have this whole party.

Unfortunately, I forgot the ring in LA.” I was sad, but understood, and was a little bit happier because now it would be a little more of a surprise when he proposed. On Christmas eve day, one of Chris’ sisters came over and was asking what we would do that night. We sat around for about an hour thinking of things to do.

I love seeing Christmas lights, so we decided to go to this display in Portland that is supposed to have the most lights in one location in all the NE. Little did I know, this was already the plan for the night… this whole hour long conversation of “what should we do tonight” was just to throw me off. We get on the road to drive to Portland, and Chris says “oh no. My sisters are running late. Oh well, we will just go in without them and meet them there.” So that is what we did.

We start walking around, and there’s this really pretty display over a wishing well. There are other people there, so I say “how about we come back” but Chris says “no, let’s wait and see what the display is, but let’s wait for others to leave. We have all night.” So we do, and we get to the display and there’s this little box, and Chris opens it.

But someone is in the bushes and says “Can you close that?? It’s not part of the display!!” And Chris says “As a matter of fact, I can’t!” and he gets down on one knee. I was so thrown off, I completely don’t remember what he said, but luckily, that person in the bushes was actually two people–his two sisters taking pictures (they didn’t recognize him at first, that’s why they asked him to close it), and his brother in law was off to the side recording everything! The box was a beautifully engraved jewelry box that plays our song. There was a huge bouquet of red roses, and a picnic basket of coffee, hot chocolate, etc. I was completely surprised! And it was a beautiful display with lights.

What is your favorite memory together aside from the proposal? Why?

We have a ton.  The first summer we were together was when Chris and I knew we were meant to be.  We were just hanging out, and wanted a snack. We went into the kitchen and grabbed some string cheese and we were both just playing with it and eating it. It sounds weird, but it was one of the first times we were both sort of “gooberish” together.

Name 3 of your personality traits

Love to joke around, talk science/math, and be outdoors. Maybe all three at the same time!

What do you think is unique about you as a couple?

The fact that we can go from one minute being complete goofballs (with each other… not usually infront of others… 🙂 ) and the next, talk about some hard science problem together. Probably go to the white board and spend all evening figuring it out. We both have the same likes/dislikes, and just fit together so well. If I had to spend the rest of my life only being able to talk with one person, I would choose Chris, and he would choose me. Give us both cheese and a white board, and we’d be happening all night!

What is your favorite music and/or songs that mean the most to you as a couple?

Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, also we love us some Taylor Swift to dance to!