Alexa Namiye Shitanishi was very impressed when her blind date, Andrew Dean Pavlovich—who she had been set up with by a mutual friend—snagged two hard-to-get seats on their first date at the Elephant Bar at the NoMad Hotel. “I only recently learned that he had bought a couple drinks in exchange for their seats,” Alexa reveals.
After three-and-a-half years together, he proposed at the Rosewood Miramar Beach in Montecito in their oceanfront room on the balcony. “It was perfect,” Alexa remembers.
Once engaged, the pair knew they wanted to get married in the same Los Angeles hotel, where Alexa’s parents wed in 1972, and invoke old Hollywood glamour while embracing understated elegance. The color palette was a classic black and white for their September 4, 2021 wedding, and they hired Alex Deagle of Lyndsey Hamilton Events to bring their vision to life. Copper Willow Paper Studio set the tone for the event with a beautiful invitation suite with pops of green.
Since the wedding was outside in the summer, Alexa knew she didn’t want her wedding gown to have sleeves or be too heavy. She ended up picking an Oscar de la Renta dress that was so different to anything she had tried on. “The flowers were reminiscent of a Hawaiian lei—where my grandfather was born—and were also versatile in that they could be raised on top of the shoulders for a halter neckline or draped down the back,” the bride says of her gown.
On the day-of, Alexa got ready with Stacie Ford Beauty Co., who gave the bride a natural beauty look. To complete her ensemble, she wore a pair of vintage Verdura earrings and her grandmother’s engagement ring. “I was very close to my grandmother, and my middle name, Namiye, is her Japanese name as well,” the bride shares. Alexa also held a beautiful bouquet from Celio’s Design. And the bridal party complemented Alexa in Amsale dresses, a sari, and a Tom Ford tuxedo—worn by the man of honor.
Drew looked ceremony-ready in a white Tom Ford jacket and Stubbs & Wootton slippers adorned with palm trees. “I liked the idea that the two of us would be in white as a contrast to the wedding party in black, against the lush green gardens,” Alexa says.
To dance at the after-party, the bride changed into Naeem Khan’s Gatsby dress and Jimmy Choos, and the groom switched into a bespoke green jacket made of bamboo from Beyond Measure Custom.
The ceremony was officiated by Alexa’s cousin and Drew’s brother-in-law. “‘Moon River’ played during the procession—one of my mother and my favorite songs,” the bride shares. “If there is one actress who embodies the intended aesthetic of the wedding, it would be Audrey Hepburn.”
After being announced as husband and wife, the newlyweds joined their guests under a draped tent with elegant furniture from Revelry Event Designers. The two had their first dance to “If I Could Build My Whole World Around You” before sitting down to dinner. Wolfgang Puck catered the affair, and the famous chef even stopped by for the couple’s wedding tasting.
Dancing kicked off in the ballroom for the after-party. Their band, Everyday People from West Coast Music, played everything from standards to Motown to ’90s R&B and “Footloose.”
Given travel restrictions due to the pandemic, the new mister and missus planned a mini-moon to Mexico following the wedding. “A couple days into the trip, there was a hurricane and flooding which closed all the roads, beaches, and restaurants—not ideal and a bit scary, but the hotel staff did a wonderful job with the circumstances,” Alexa recalls. “It was certainly an adventure and good first test to our marriage!”
