Coincidentally, Emily Easom and Olivia Vierra planned proposals to each other on the exact same day: July 15, 2023. “I proposed first that morning by surprising Emily at work,” Olivia says. “I had secretly asked for the help of a few members of her team to help pull this off, but my proposal almost didn’t happen because Emily had secretly requested the day off work to propose to me.” Emily is a firefighter in Bolinas, Calif., so her chief asked her to come in for a quick meeting anyway and brought her to the Little Mesa cliffs overlooking the ocean, where Olivia was waiting for her. “It was an intimate, emotional proposal.”
Olivia had planned an engagement party for later that day at her childhood home. “Little did I know, it was going to be a joint engagement party,” she says. “When I arrived at the house, my dad brought me around to the backyard where I was expecting all our friends and family to be waiting, but instead it was just Em. We were both just as emotional for this proposal! After Em proposed, our family and friends, who had been watching from inside the house, all came out through the back doors and we celebrated the night away!”
It was the perfect way to kick off their wedding journey, which would culminate in a wedding in central California at Gainey Estate Vineyards. “We chose Gainey for its beautiful scenery, Spanish-style architecture, and delicious wine,” Olivia says. They let the venue guide the aesthetic. “I drew inspiration from the idea of a garden party in your own backyard.”
Olivia went into her dress search with an open mind, but found the one at her very first appointment: a high-neck Carolina Herrera. “When I first tried on this dress, I was stunned by her!” she says. “She was classic with a modern flair, making it a piece I felt was timeless. The dress brought with it a sense of sophistication and elegance, so I wanted my jewelry and hair to match this. I wore pearl earrings and opted for a slicked-back bun.”
Emily decided on suiting and had a custom look designed by Emily Meyer, a queer, female-led label. “For a while, Emily was deciding between a dress or a suit, but in time, she decided that a suit embodied who she was and what she would feel most confident in on our wedding day,” Olivia says. “She wore a vintage sapphire ring, given to her by her mom, as her something blue.” Both brides opted for natural makeup looks and worked with Janet Villa and Glam by Cece to bring their vision to life.
On September 6, 2024, the duo exchanged vows beneath the iconic oak tree at Gainey Vineyards, where Back Porch Flowers had flanked the altar with white and green florals. “The ceremony was the only part of the day that felt like time had finally slowed down,” Olivia remembers. “Of course, our nerves were high, but there was an overwhelming feeling of peace once we joined hands at the altar.”
The two wrote their own personalized vows, and reading them aloud was one of Olivia’s favorite parts of the day. “We felt that our vows needed to be our moments of owning and celebrating our coming out stories and the journey it took to get to where we were that day,” she says. “While my vows leaned a little more traditional in their wording, Em’s were perfectly and uniquely her own.”
As the sun began to set, guests moved to the outdoor reception space, dimly lit by candles and string lights and featuring whimsical, airy floral arrangements atop fern-green linens. Testa Catering served a meal of local dishes like Santa Maria-style top sirloin, honey garlic chicken, and vodka pasta during the speeches. “We felt very strongly about having our moms speak to highlight and celebrate the incredible women they are,” Olivia says. Then the newlyweds danced to “Magic” by Colbie Caillat and “The Game of Love” by Santana featuring Michelle Branch, to which they opened up the dance floor.
“Our first dance was one of our favorite moments; however, a close second was our mother-daughter dance,” Olivia says. “This is a new tradition we started at my older sister’s wedding, where my sisters and I surprised our mom with a dedicated dance. This time, Em and I had both our moms, Em’s sister, and my two sisters all on the dance floor. We danced to the iconic ‘Miracles Happen (When You Believe)’ by Myra to have a little Princess Diaries moment and a subtle nod to how our love story started in San Francisco!”
There was an after-party in the Barrel Room at Gainey, and then an after-after-party. “Of course, we had to keep the party going,” Olivia says. “So we decided to end the night at Maverick Saloon in Santa Ynez!”
