Brooke Ann Leadbetter and Adam Christopher Phebus met at the community table at Laurel Hardware in West Hollywood. “The night we met, we created a bucket list,” she says. “We have been checking things off ever since…”
After dating for a year, he proposed in Joshua Tree—where they first fell in love—with an antique cushion-cut ring. “We went on a hike, and when we got to the top, we both sat down—I was leaning against him,” Brooke remembers. “He then asked me to adventure through life with him and be his wife; when I looked down, there was a ring in front of me. It was just the two of us, and he didn’t get down on one knee—I would have hated that.”
Once engaged, the two planned for a small February 13, 2021 wedding in Costa Rica. “We knew we always wanted a smaller wedding, however, due to Covid, our number was even smaller than anticipated,” the bride shares. And next summer, they’ll be having a big Alaskan Reception, since Brooke grew up in the largest U.S. State.
For their tropical winter wedding, guests stayed in the rented out Pranamar Villas for three days and partook in several events leading up to the ceremony. And planner Natalia of Unique Co. brought the couple’s vision to life in a way that they never could’ve imagined.
Brooke obsessed over her bridal wardrobe for a year and decided on the Belmont gown from Sarah Seven to walk down the aisle in. “I went back and forth a lot regarding a veil, but, at the end of the day, it wasn’t me…too bridal!” she exclaims. To complete her ceremony ensemble, she also wore earrings and a bracelet from Christie Nicolaides and Cult Gaia mules and held a beautiful bouquet from D’Bambú.
“When it came to hair, I didn’t want beach waves or anything expected. I found this Dolce & Gabbana shoot, and all the girls had retro Hollywood, glam curls; I knew immediately that was it for hair!” For all beauty looks, Brooke trusted makeup artist Tambara Sabate and her cousin Whitney Houser.
After saying, “I do,” the bride changed into a Retrofete number that she found on FWRD. “I then collected inspo from Whitney Port’s hair at her wedding and did a slicked back bun and changed out my pearls for my mother’s diamond studs…oh, and went barefoot!” she says.
For Adam, they found an amazing “darkened coconut”-colored linen suit from J.Hilburn and an “almost-blush” button-up with seashell buttons—perfect for the location. And after searching high and low, the couple stumbled upon a brown ombré pair of shoes from Magnanni to tie everything together. “He looked so handsome!” Brooke gushes. His spontaneous second look consisted of Onia swim trunks and a white linen button up. The bride adds, “I was having too much fun to care!”
On the Costa Rican sand, Brooke’s cousin Whitney also married the two and knocked the ceremony out of the park. “It was pretty spectacular to be able to look at Adam and then gaze at the ocean, while the birds chirped in the palm trees,” the bride recalls. “It was almost like a spiritual experience!”
Once officially wed, guests headed to the cocktail hour, while the newlyweds snuck away for wedding portraits. Brooke rejoined her girlfriends for photos, and famous DJ Diplo happened to walk by the group. “One of my girlfriends screamed ‘DIPLOOO,’ and he immediately came over and took a photo with us,” Brooke remembers. “We all freaked out, even though majority of my girlfriends work with celebrities all the time in L.A.”
The surprise encounter caught them all off guard, but once recovered, they enjoyed a plated dinner, and the new Mr. and Mrs. cut their cake from Cakeology. On the dance floorr, the band played for the first three hours, before the DJ (not Diplo) took over for two more. “Lots of shots were consumed that evening!” Brooke assures us.
Looking back on everything now, the bride still dreams about her wedding almost daily. “I always thought it was a cliche to hear brides say that their wedding was perfect, but ours truly was,” she says. “It was everything I could have imagined and 10 times more.”
