There’s a saying in Hollywood: “it’s all about who you know”, and for Libby Jaynes and Brett Hansen, it was a client known to both of their respective employers that ultimately brought them together. Libby and Brett first became acquainted via the phone calls they traded for work, and eventually, their professionalism gave way to flirtation. It was not until they attended the taping of their mutual client’s television show that they finally met face to face and decided to continue their conversations over dinner.

Four years later, on December 6th 2003, Brett asked Libby to meet him for yet another important meal at the restaurant within the Hotel Bel Air. Unbeknownst to Libby, he had spent that morning with her father and that afternoon picking out the most romantic table, all in preparation for the perfect proposal. Libby, suspecting he was up to something special for her birthday only a couple of days away, was surprised and elated when after dinner, Brett asked her to marry him. The couple spent that night in a suite at the hotel and began their fifteen-month engagement the best way possible, together.

Heeding the advice of Libby’s sister (she’d been married two years earlier) to resist the urge to jump right into wedding planning, the couple spent the first few months of their engagement just enjoying each other. Once planning began, however, it was driven by a specific strategy: to create a clean, elegant and fabulous Saturday night wedding celebration that not only reflected their deep commitment but their strong and unique personalities.

Such inspired criteria meant choosing a worthy venue, and the couple’s vision was realized within the dramatic and romantic art deco space of the downtown Los Angeles restaurant, Cicada. So, in between the crucial February “sweeps” season associated with Libby’s TV development job and the busy staffing schedule Brett handles as a writer’s agent, the couple’s 165 guests gathered on March 13th, 2004 for a touching affair replete with traditions and remembrances of the Jaynes and Hansen families.

Since Brett is 6’10” tall, a custom ten-foot huppah was constructed to house the couple during the ceremony, setting the stage for their wedding’s striking decor. The monochromatic theme was designed around Libby’s taste for the intense color of blood red roses and everywhere you looked, flowers were bathed in soft candlelight. Tables were swathed in burgundy linens and topped with square centerpieces covered in gold overlays. Each vessel was brimming with a cushion of deep red and contrasting lighter roses and surrounded by a dozen leaf-wrapped candles tied with golden twine. “It felt rich and luxurious”, recalls Libby, “without being over the top”.

As a creative and playful addition, Libby and Brett personalized the tables by spending time prior to the wedding taking hilarious black and white photos of themselves holding the different table numbers. Their guests loved the displays so much that they became unintentional favors without one single marker remaining by the end of the reception.

Recalling their own favorite meals seemed like the best way for the couple to plan the evening’s menu. After a cocktail hour boasting an open bar and passed hors d oeuvres, guests dined on handmade gnocchi with pesto sauce, arugula salad with beets, toasted hazelnuts and goat cheese crostini and filet mignon in a red wine reduction, accompanied by fingerling potatoes, a sweet potato puree and pencil thin asparagus. Their all white wedding cake stood out from the room’s dark backdrop with it’s different shaped tiers and decorative textures garnished with Libby and Brett’s new monogram in white chocolate. In addition to the cake, the dessert course was enhanced by a selection of cookies and fruit hand-dipped in chocolate.

Just in case their guests managed to dance off their dinner, Libby and Brett also decided to incorporate one more favorite thing of theirs into the wedding: Krispy Kreme doughnut favors. Each guest left with a pink bakery box of the glazed treats, secured with more gold twine, to enjoy during the car ride home after an energized night.
 
Libby and Brett could not have enjoyed the fruits of their yearlong, labor of love more than they did that night, but they felt most proud of keeping the countless details leading up to the wedding from crowding their engagement. The couple advises, “You did have stuff to talk about other than the wedding at one time in your lives. It’s so important to remember your relationship during the planning process.” For Libby and Brett, it made reflecting on their wedding while on their Hawaiian honeymoon that much sweeter.