Creative & Modern Outdoor Wedding at Long Beach Museum of Art in California

Brides celebrate their love in a creative and modern outdoor wedding at the Long Beach Museum of Art in California.

Surrounded by their closest friends and family, Linda and Zanneta tied-the-knot in an artsy and creative wedding next to the beach. Their California Art Museum venue had breathtaking ocean views and an open landscape for both an indoor and outdoor ceremony.

The pair’s vision of a modern but also very unique wedding was achieved through countless details. From their complimentary color palette of teal/turquoise and coral, rose gold and ivory, to their special florals (with artichokes, dried mushrooms, and lotus pods), and even Zanneta’s gowns (which were made and designed by her mother) together created a truly beautiful and unique wedding day they’ll never forget!

For more on their love story and details from their creative and modern outdoor wedding, keep reading below.

• Couple: Linda Bennett and Zanneta Peart
• Location of Wedding: Long Beach Museum of Art (Long Beach, CA)
• Wedding Date: Juneteenth (June 19) 2021
• Photographer : Matoli Keely

Quick Facts:

• Wedding flowers: I’m really not a “flower” girl. Both Linda and I love greenery, but I had seen that done a lot in weddings and wanted to have something that stood out a little more. Eventually, I settled on “tropical-meets-desert florals with an artsy vibe”. I wanted lots of nontraditional blooms and asymmetry, and Teresa did an absolutely smashing job at executing that vision for us within budget.
• Favorite item on menu: The Portobello Chimichurri dish was amazing for us vegans!
• First dance song: Initially, we wanted Summertime Magic by Childish Gambino, but we couldn’t get our moves together for an upbeat song so we ended up dancing to Best Part by Daniel Caesar featuring HER.
• Advice for brides: The day goes so so so so fast. Breathe, eat something, pack your essentials days in advance, leave yourself extra time for problems to get solved, and try to stay present in the moment because it will feel almost as if you weren’t even there after it’s all over.

How they met…

The pair first met online in the summer of 2019.

At the time, Zanneta decided she was going to have a “hot girl summer” before leaving NYC for California and she reactivated her OkCupid profile in the hopes of meeting some new people.

To their surprise, their profiles were a 98% match! They both swiped right and Linda messaged Zanneta. But several days passed before Zanneta noticed the message. When she finally did reply, Linda didn’t respond. She thought “Zanneta replied too slow and couldn’t be bothered.”

So, in a last ditch effort, Zanneta sent a quick message saying “I rarely log in so if you do reply back, use my phone number instead of the app.”

Taking a chance, Linda reached out to Zanneta’s phone and after their first date, they clicked instantly!

The proposal…

A few months after they connected, the new couple found themselves in a predicament. Zanneta was moving to Northern California (as was planned), but Linda (who was also ready to leave NYC, but didn’t have a plan yet) stayed behind.

Dedicated to making things work, they continued their relationship long distance for a few months. On New Years 2020, the couple met in NYC for a New Years Eve celebration.

“We were supposed to have gone to a NYE celebration in Manhattan, but Linda complained of feeling sick to her stomach… so we ended up having a quiet evening at Linda’s house bringing in the new year.”

At the strike of midnight, Linda appeared with a ring and asked Zanneta to marry her! She said yes in a heartbeat!

Their emotional “first look”…

How did you know they were “the one”?

Zanneta reveals that “consistency, respect, communication, effort, and ease were always components of [their] relationship” and helped her realize Linda was the one for her.

“Even when I moved 3000 miles away,” she reveals. “Linda was always clear about her intentions and how important I was to her. She put her money where her mouth was and I always felt safe and prioritized in our relationship.”

Cultural elements…

After exchanging vows in their ceremony, the couple jumped the broom.

“It seemed like a fitting nod to our ancestors on Juneteenth as they were unable to freely celebrate their love.”

Their wedding style…

Outdoor, artsy, modern, relaxed, nontraditional.

Their wedding looks & favorite wedding accessory…

On their big day, Linda sported an emerald green suite with a mandarin-collar linen shirt. Zanneta wore an off-white 3D lace deep-v strapless sweetheart trumpet wedding dress.

“I couldn’t afford any of the ones I fell in love with (they were all $10K or more),” says Zanneta. “So I sketched one and my mother (Dr. Gwendolyn Smith) took on the massive undertaking of creating a pattern from scratch, sewing it, and embellishing it with all the tiny 3D flowers.”

Her favorite wedding accessory was a pearl and rose gold “backlace” (back necklace) from BHLDN; however, it was so badly tangled that it was left out of many of their earlier photos.

More wedding details…

It’s all in the details for these two lovebirds.

For one, they decided to keep their big day relatively intimate and pandemic-safe. To do this, they only invited 45 guests and kept it to people they keep in touch with regularly.

They also kept their costs low by creating some of their decorations themselves. It also really just made things all the more special and unique!

“We handmade a few of the details like the leaf place-cards, the acrylic signage, the picture frame signage and the social distancing bracelets,” Zanneta says. “We also made it a point to hire an entirely Black and mostly female vendor list (with the exception of our amazing wedding coordinator Adam Corsaro-Peyton of Unoaked Events, and our LBMA reception location), because we realized just how few vendors of color we were seeing recommended during our search…”.

Marrying on Juneteenth further inspired them to find ways to recognize and contribute to their community.

Zanneta adds, “Our officiant was a close and mutual friend Tiffany Atkins, our DJ was Cameren Farr (a friend of ours), and our baker was Justin Waller (a friend of a friend), Hair Stylist was Rae Lynn Hair Studio, MUA was Raya J.”

Best memory from their wedding…

For Zanneta, “it was either the very emotional “first look” in the museum, or seeing Linda absolutely come to life on the dance floor during the reception.”

Advice for other engaged couples…

Linda and Zanetta’s advice for other couples is not to feel pressured to spend more than you have on this day.

“It goes so quickly, so make it about what’s important, and only include those who are important to you.”

Also, realize things will go wrong. And that’s okay.

“The only thing that really matters is having your people celebrate your union with you at the end of the day . . . the details won’t be so important after it’s all done.”

And they lived happily ever after…

Looking for more creative and modern outdoor wedding inspiration?

Click here.

Vendors:

• Venue- Long Beach Museum of Art
• Wedding Planner- Unaoked Events
• Photographer- Matoli Keely
• Floral Designer- Figure Eight Events
• Rentals – Signature Party Rentals
• Chair Rentals- Crowned Rentals