After a series of bad dates, makeup artist and Melt Cosmetics Co-Founder Lora Arellano was just about to take a break from online dating. Then she matched with Shawn Smith. “He was the last one I gave a chance to!” she laughs. “And we hit it off since day one. We were both single parents with similar goals in life. He balances me out in every way, and my friends and family immediately fell in love with him. Once we decided to meet each other’s kids and I saw what a dedicated father he could be, it sealed the deal.”
A year-and-a-half later, Shawn proposed on a birthday trip with friends—and Lora knew right away where to turn for help planning the wedding of their dreams. “Shakeh Haroutounian of Laurel Events LA has helped me plan so many events for myself and my business,” Lora says. “We always have the same vision and agree on almost everything. I’m very detail-oriented, and so is Shakeh.” She had a creative vision from the start. “My dream wedding has always been moody fall colors,” she says. “It started with just plums and greens, but as the planning progressed, I wanted to incorporate deep reds.”
Lora’s creativity extended to fashion, too, and she prioritized finding a stellar dress that would beautifully showcase her tattoos. “My favorite wedding dress designer is Zuhair Murad, and I fell in love with one of his dresses from the fall 2022 collection at Lovella Bridal,” she says. “The beading reminded me of art deco design; the dress had a classic vintage feel, with a detachable skirt that I removed toward the end of the night.” She altered it to remove the sleeves and better showcase her ink sleeves. “It also had a [interior] slip, which I opted out of wearing so you could see my leg and body tattoos peek through.” To complete the look, she wore Jimmy Choos and a halo crown by Etsy seller Cayla Couture. Her look was classic and elegant yet untraditional.
Shawn, too, mixed things up. “My husband wanted to skip the traditional route and wear a colored tux for the wedding,” Lora says. “He found a beautiful olive green tone and had a custom suit made at Indochino. It tied perfectly with the wedding color scheme, and we encouraged our guests to wear our wedding colors of black and green.”
On October 21, 2023, Lora walked down the outdoor aisle at Serra on Vine in the heart of Hollywood. Orla Florals created a floral chandelier from greenery and deep rouge hanging blooms above guests’ heads, and a harpist strummed as Mexican agua frescas were passed around. “I was so nervous—nervous I would trip on my dress, nervous I would mess up the vows, and just nervous about all the eyes on us!” Lora remembers. “But in the moment, everything went by so fast and smoothly. I wish I could relive it over and over again.” Their five-year-old son brought up the rings, and the newlyweds kissed, then an all-female mariachi band closed the ceremony.
It was one of many nods to Lora’s heritage. “Being first-generation Mexican-American, I wanted the whole wedding to have little touches of my culture,” she says. “During cocktail hour, we used papel picado strung over the bar and passed around Mexican-inspired hors d’oeuvres. For our dinner reception, caterer Jennifer Naylor served mole and prawns with cilantro lime rice and my favorite Mexican dessert, tres leches cake. During dinner, I had folklorico dancers from Grandeza Mexicana entertain our guests and served spiked Mexican hot chocolate to end the night.” She and Shawn hand-picked every creative detail, from the furniture by Found Rentals to the linens and flatware sourced from Theoni Collection and Casa de Perrin.
They shared a first dance to “Eres Tú” by Carla Morrison and then participated in another dancing tradition. “One of my favorite moments of the whole night was when we incorporated a dance called ‘Vibora de la Mar,’” Lora says. “I remember going to weddings growing up, and I would see the couples do this: The husband and wife stand on chairs, and guests take turns getting up and forming a snake. They run through the venue holding hands, going under and around the bride and groom until the tail end of the snake gets so long someone collapses! It sounds insane, but it was so much fun. And my husband had fun experiencing this piece of my culture.”
There was an after-party at The Hollywood Roosevelt, and then the newlyweds ended with yet another celebration of Mexico—a week-long honeymoon.
