On Bianca Bryant and Scott Bastek’s first date, they boldly decided to meet up every day until they either fell in love or called it off. “We enthusiastically went all in and got purposely snowed in a few weeks later in Lake Tahoe,” Bianca laughs.
After nearly three years together, Scott proposed in Lake Tahoe with the help of Bianca’s mother. Both families were joined, so Bianca and Scott could host Christmas together. “My mom had always told me growing up [that] the man I would marry would sing ‘Ten Minutes Ago’ from the 1957 Cinderella, one of my favorite childhood stories,” Bianca begins. “Unbeknownst to me, she had passed on this tip to Scott, and he spent the day attempting to memorize in between Christmas errands. He came down the stairs singing the song and ultimately presenting me with the ring he designed.”
Once engaged, the couple quickly determined they’d get married in Portugal, as they’d spent an amazing month there earlier in the year. “Being the planner that I am, I proceeded to research every palace-turned-hotel and Valverde Sintra Palácio de Seteais was the venue for us,” Bianca states. “The frescoes covering the entire interior, the gardens, the view over the valley towards the ocean—it perfectly combined Scott’s love of classic grandeur and my focus on details, history, and originality.”
Together with Jasmine Lazzari of The Wedding Co., Bianca and Scott created a magical fantasy world of Sintra, infused with their own colorful California aesthetic. Over The Moon Editor’s Pick Photographer Thierry Joubert was behind the lens all weekend, and Li Ward set the tone with a beautiful invitation suite.
“Besides the groom, the dress was the most important aspect [of the wedding] for me,” Bianca laughs. “I began to describe my wedding wardrobe aesthetic as Roman Holiday meets 1960s Barbie meets European glamour. . .niche, but I know what I like!” With that set, she matched the event’s design with an Ines Di Santo wedding dress that featured a dramatic train and Manolo Blahniks. Makeup artist Bé Miranda and hairstylist Zé Carlos Taipa applied her bridal glam. For the rest of her wedding weekend wardrobe, Bianca chose vintage looks at Happy Isles and paired them with her family’s antique jewelry.
Scott looked handsome in a custom tuxedo crafted in Loro Piana textiles with Ferragamo shoes and his father’s cufflinks. “I wasn’t someone who always dreamed of my wedding, but Scott ended up looking exactly as I would have imagined my husband would look on my wedding day when I was a little girl,” Bianca beams.
On September 15, 2023, in the lemon grove, Bianca walked down the aisle with her father to meet Scott and their officiant, Michael, under a floral arch by Christophe Giudici and Decoflorália. The couple exchanged their own personal vows. “I had mentally been writing my vows in my head to Scott for years, and it was the most meaningful experience of my life to be able to finally say them to him in front of everyone we love,” Bianca shares.
At the reception, guests dined on Portuguese dishes and wines, followed by the couple’s lemon curd wedding cake. Bianca’s parents, Scott’s mother, the maid of honor, the best man, and a few key others stood up for heartfelt speeches. “Hearing how Scott’s friends see how he’s evolved with me and vice versa was special to hear; again, where else besides a wedding do you get to hear and say so much about your love publicly?” Bianca asks. “Getting married in your 30s means there’s so much life lived before we met and made the speeches fun for our 160 guests to hear the stories of what we got up to before meeting.”
Then, it was time for dancing with ALR Music’s nine-piece band. “A classic big band is one of my favorite aspects of a wedding,” Bianca says. “If you can’t dance to Frank Sinatra at a wedding, when can you?”
The newlyweds had their first dance to “Oh Baby” by LCD Soundsystem, and it was one of Bianca’s favorite parts of the night. “It’s not a traditional first dance song, but one Scott and I have seen live together and always loved,” the bride shares. “Scott actually choreographed our entrance—tough to do without knowing the proportions of my giant train—and it felt like the culmination of all the work leading up to the wedding.”
Late into the night, one of the couple’s favorite deejays Tony Zuccaro from Miami played a set, followed by the bride’s brother. “It was so special to have my sibling involved in the way he shines most, performing,” Bianca smiles. “My mother-in-law kept attempting to go to bed, then she’d reemerge downstairs again and again in her gown because she’d hear another song she simply couldn’t miss.” A wedding so good, it keeps calling you back to it.
